Description
Title of Invention: METHOD AND SYSTEM FORRECORDINGOPERATIONS
IN A WEB APPLICATION
Technical Field
[OOOl]
The present invention relates to a computer system
including a client on which a web browser operates, and a server
device on which a web application operates, and particularly
to a technique in which the operation in web browser by a user
who uses a web application is recorded according to the
attribute of the user.
Background Art
[0002]
With the popularization of broadband, a variety of
servers has been provided with the use of web systems. The
constructionof aweb systemcanbeprovidedbyallof companies
because of a price reduction in hardware, web server systems,
and package products for service construction. The web
application provides not only conventional static screens, but
also dynamic screens with the use of a dynamic HTML (hypertext
markup language) technique or an Ajax (asynchronous JavaScript
+ extensible markup language (XML)) technique to improve
usability, thus advancing to a trend of differentiation.
[0003]
On the other hand, distinctive adverse effects of online
service arise. When a service is provided face-to-face, how
to deal with a client can be changed according to a response
of the client. However, in the case of online service, it is
difficult to look directly at a face of the client, thereby
making it difficult to grasp the response of the client. For
that reason, it is difficult to provide a detailed service
according to the response of the client.
[0004]
On the contrary, a technique is disclosed in which the
operationof amouse ora keyboardby the user on the webbrowser
is recorded to grasp a usage status of the service (Patent
Literature 3). In the technique of Patent Literature 3, the
operation of the mouse and the keyboard of the user on the web
browser is recorded, and a script program to be sent to a server
is inserted into a response of the web application. In this
case, the response represents data for screen creation of the
web application, and is described by an HTML language or the
like. The inserted script program is deciphered and executed
by a script execution engine of the web browser, traps the
operation of the mouse and the keyboard by the user on the
browser, and records the captured operation as an operation
log. A service provider collects and analyzes an operation log
so as to grasp where the user has clicked a web page, and where
the user has read the web page. Thus, the service provider can
investigate a response of the client to the online service, and
establish an improvement.
[ O O O S ]
As other related arts, several techniques for capturing
a screen of the web application, that is, information from an
HTML have been disclosed. As a method of representing a area
of a document described in a markup language such as the HTML
is, an XPath (XML Path Language) disclosed in Nonpatent
Literature 2 has been widely used. There has been widely used
a method of representing the area with the use of the XPath,
and capturing information from the screen of the web
application with the use of an execution engine of the XPath.
Also, a method of defining an information extraction rule, and
extracting information, by focusing on a table and a list
structure of the HTML has been disclosed in Patent Literature
1. Further, a technique in which a script code for recording
processing within a client is inserted into a response from the
web server in advance to save the record of the processing of
the client has been disclosed in Patent Literature 2. A
technique of grasping the usage status ofthe servicedisclosed
above is frequently provided in the configuration of an SaaS
(software as a service) or by the existing application in the
form of add-on.
Citation List
Patent Literature
[0006]
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent
Publication No. 2004-062446
Patent Literature 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent
Publication No. 2009-104267
Patent Literature 3: US 2008/0046562
Nonpatent Literature
[0007]
Nonpatent Literature 1: XML Path Language (XPath) 2.0,
W3C Recommendation 23 January 2007
http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath20/ Abstract and Chapter 1
(Introduction)
Summary of Invention
Technical Problem
[0008]
In an online business, in order to differentiate one
company from other companies, there is a need to precisely
analyze the usage status of the online service. For example,
there are needs for capturing and analyzing the detailed
operation log of the user satisfying specific conditions. As
one example of the conditions, there is a case in which the user
who puts goods in a shopping cart is to be analyzed in detail
with the inclusion of a mouse moving line. This is effective
in the analysis on the hypothesis that the user places a mouse
cursor over a portion in which the user is interested.
[0009]
In a usage status visualization technique of the web
system representative of Patent literature 3 for the above
needs, recording of clicking of buttons or links on the screen,
or keyboard input to forms are not problematic in the number
of logs. However, if the fine motion of the mouse is also taken,
the number of operation logs becomes enormous, and it is
difficult to collect the operation logs of all the users.
[OOlO]
Accordingly, there is a need to control the acquisition
of the operation log such that the operation log of only the
users satisfying specific conditions is captured in detail.
However, in the related art, semantics at an application level
of the HTML are not understood, and information at the
application level, such as the user who puts the goods in the
shopping cart, cannot be recognized, and it is difficult to
control the presence or absence of the operation log
acquisition, and the level of detail on the basis of the above
information.
[OOll]
In the above description, it is conceivable that profile
information on the user is captured from a screen of the web
application, and used for determination of the specific
conditions, with the use of Nonpatent Literature 1 or Patent
Literature 1. However, it is difficult to extract the profile
information from the web application in which information
within a page is dynamically changed, such as the web
application using the dynamic HTML technique or the Ajax
technique. This is because the above conventional art can
designate a area of the profile information, but cannot
directly designate a timing at which the profile information
is captured. For that reason, when the page is dynamically
rewritten, the profile information cannot be captured, and the
control of the operation log acquisition based on the profile
information cannot be also conducted.
[OOlZ]
From the viewpoints of the above-mentioned problems, one
object of the present invention is to provide a method and
system for recording operation in the web application, which
can capture profile information on a user from a screen of a
web application, andcontrola capturing event ofthe operation
log on the basis of that information in a method of recording
an operation log of the web application.
[0013]
Also, another object of the present invention is to
provide a method and system for recording operation which can
control the capturing event of the operation log even in a web
application in which a page is dynamically rewritten, as a
result of which an capturing event of the operation log can be
controlledon thebasis of information on an application layer,
and information for improving the application layer can be
effectively collected and analyzed.
Solution to Problem
[0014]
That is, in order to achieve the above object, according
to the present invention, there is provided a method of
recording operation in a web application, which records an
operation log on a web page by a computer having a processing
unit, in which a property acquisition definition rule for
capturing information from the web page, and a log capturing
control definition rule for controlling a recording range of
the operation log on the basis of the captured information are
provided, and the processing unit executes the steps of:
setting an information acquisition event handler of the web
page on the basis of the property acquisition definition rule;
capturing information from the web page by the information
acquisition event handler; controlling the recording range of
the operation log on the web page on the basis of the captured
information and the log capturing control definition rule; and
recording the operation log.
[OOlS]
Also, in order to achieve the above object, according to
the present invention, there is provided a system for recording
operation in a web application, which records an operation log
on a web page by a client having a storage unit and a processing
unit, in which a property acquisition definition rule for
capturing information from the web page, and a log capturing
control definition rule for controlling a recording range of
the operation log on the basis of the captured information are
stored in the storage unit, and the processing unit sets an
information acquisition event handler of the web page on the
basis of the property acquisition definition rule; captures
information from the web page by the information acquisition
event handler; and controls the recording range of the
operation log on the web page on the basis of the captured
information and the log capturing control definition rule.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
[0016]
According to the present invention, the capturing event
of the operation log can be controlled on the basis of the
information on the application layer in the web application in
which the page is dynamically changed, and the information for
improvingthe web application can be efficiently collected and
analyzed.
Brief Description of Drawings
[0017]
[FIG. lA] FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a system
configuration example of a computer systemaccording to a first
embodiment.
[ F I G . l B ] F I G . 1 B is a diagram illustrating a
configuration example of a client according to the first
embodiment.
[ F I G . l C ] F I G . 1 C is a diagram illustrating a
configuration example of a web server according to the first
embodiment.
[ F I G . I D ] F I G . ID is a diagram illustrating a
configurationexampleofaloganalysis serverdevice according
to the first embodiment.
[ F I G . l E ] F I G . 1 E is a diagram illustrating an example
of data of a operation log capturing control definition table
according to the first embodiment.
[ F I G . IF] F I G . 1F is a diagram illustrating an example
of data of a property capturing definition table according to
the first embodiment.
[ F I G . 21 F I G . 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of
the operation of a computer system according to the first
embodiment.
[ F I G . 31 F I G . 3 is a diagram illustrating a module
configuration example of the log analysis server device
according to the first embodiment.
[ F I G . 4A] F I G . 4A is a flowchart illustrating an example
of operation of the client in the computer system according to
the first embodiment.
[ F I G . 4B] F I G . 4B is a flowchart illustrating an example
of operation ofthe web server in the computer systemaccording
to the first embodiment.
[ F I G . 4C] F I G . 4C is a flowchart illustrating an example
of operation of the log analysis server device in the computer
system according to the first embodiment.
[ F I G . 51 FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example
of an initialization process of an operation log capturing
module in the computer system according to the first
embodiment.
[ F I G . 6A] F I G . 6A is a flowchart illustrating an example
of processing of an MyXHR#open function of the operation log
capturing module in the computer system according to the first
embodiment.
[FIG. 6B] FIG. 6B is a flowchart illustrating an example
of processing of an MyXHR#send function of the operation log
capturing module in the computer system according to the first
embodiment.
[ F I G . 6C] FIG. 6C is a flowchart illustrating an example
of processing of a GetInfo function which is an attribute
information capturing event handler function of the operation
log capturing module in the computer system according to the
first embodiment.
[ F I G . 71 F I G . 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example
of an operation log capturing event handler setting process of
the operation log capturing module in the computer system
according to the first embodiment.
[FIG. 81 FIG.. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of
data of property information stored in a client storage in the
computer system according to the first embodiment.
[FIG. 91 FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of
a screen of a web application in the computer system according
to the first embodiment.
[FIG. 101 FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example
of an HTTP communication related to the example of the screen
of the web application in the computer system according to the
first embodiment.
[FIG. 111 FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example
of processing of setting support of a property acquisition
definition in the computer system according to the first
embodiment.
[FIG. 121 FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example
of a configuration of a content database in the computer system
according to the first embodiment.
[FIG. 131 FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example
of an HTTP communication related to an example of a screen of
a web application in a computer system according to a second
embodiment.
[FIG. 141 FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example
of data of property information stored in a client storage in
the computer system according to the second embodiment.
Description of Embodiments
[0018]
Hereinafter, a variety of embodiments according to the
present invention will be described with reference to the
drawings. It should be noted that, in the present
specification, respective programs to be executed by a
processor unit which is a processing unit in a computer system
may be expressed as 'modules" or 'units".
First Embodiment
[0019]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment will be described with
reference to FIGS. 1A to 10.
[0020]

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a system configuration
example of a computer systemaccording to the first embodiment.
FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of
a client100 according tothis embodiment. FIG. 1Cis a diagram
illustrating a configuration example of a web server 120
according tothis embodiment. FIG. 1Dis adiagramillustrating
a configuration example of a log server 140 according to this
embodiment.
[0021]
The computer system illustrated in FIG. 1A includes one
or more (two in FIG. 1A) of the clients 100, at least one (one
in FIG. 1A) of the web server 120, and at least one (one in FIG.
1A) of the log server 140. The clients 100, the web server 120,
and the log server 140 are connected to each other through a
network 180. The web server 120 and the log server 140 may be
physically mounted on the same device. For that reason, in the
present specification, processor units and memories of the
respective devices, and further the clients may be generically
called "processing unit" or "storage unit".
[0022]
The client 100 illustrated in FIG. 1B is a computer that
uses a web application provided by the web server 120. The
client 100 includes an 1/0 device 101, a processor unit 102 that
configures a processing unit, a network interface 103, and a
memory 104 that configures a storage unit.
[0023]
The 1/0 device 101 is an input device, for example, such
as a keyboard or a mouse, which provides a user interface, and
an output device, for example, such as a display device. The
processor unit 102 executes a web browser program 105, and a
script engine program 106, which are stored in the memory 104,
and an operating system (operation system: 0s) not shown. The
network interface 103 is a communication network for allowing
the c l i e n t 1 0 0 t o communicate data through the network180. The
memory104 s t o r e s programsto be e x e c u t e d b y t h e processor unit
102, and data t o be used by those programs t h e r e i n . The c l i e n t
100 may f u r t h e r include an external storage device configuring
a storage u n i t not shown.
[0024]
The web server 120 i l l u s t r a t e d i n FIG. 1C is a computer
t h a t provides the c l i e n t 100 with a service of applications.
Thewebserver120includes a n e t w o r k i n t e r f a c e 1 2 1 , aprocessor
u n i t 122, an 1/0 device 123, a l o c a l storage 124, and a memory
125.
[0025]
The network i n t e r f a c e 121 is a communication network f o r
allowing the web server 120 t o communicate data through the
network 180. The processor u n i t 122 executes a web server
program 126, a web a p p l i c a t i o n program 127, and a module code
i n j e c t i o n program 128, which are stored i n the memory 125. The
d e t a i l e d o p e r a t i o n o f t h e r e s p e c t i v e p r o g r a m s w i l l b e described
l a t e r .
[0026]
The l o c a l storage 124 is a storage device configured by
a magnetic d i s c device or a nonvolatile semiconductor memory,
and s t o r e s a operation log capturing control d e f i n i t i o n t a b l e
130 t h a t controls an operation log capturing event, and a
property capturing d e f i n i t i o n t a b l e 131 t h a t captures
attribute information on the user, of the web application
program 127 therein. The local storage 124 may be loaded into
the web server 120, or be an external storage device disposed
on an external of the web server 120. The detailed
configurations of the respective tables will be described
later.
[0027]
The 1/0 device 123 is an input device, for example, such
as a keyboard or a mouse, which provides a user interface, and
an output device, for example, such as a display device. The
web server 120 may not provide the 1/0 device 123. In this case,
the web server 120 is operated by the client 100 or a console
terminal not shown. The memory 125 stores programs to be
e x e c u t e d b y t h e p r o c e s s o r u n i t 1 2 2 , anddata to be usedbythose
programs therein.
[0028]
The log server 140 illustrated in FIG. ID collects and
analyzes the operation log of the user in the web application
that operates on the web browser of the client 100. The log
server 140 includes a network interface 141, a processor unit
142, an 1/0 device 143, a local storage 144, and a memory 145.
[0029]
The network interface 141 is a communication interface
for allowing the log server 140 to communicate data through the
network 180. The processor unit 142 executes a log server
program 146 and a l o g a n a l y s i s program 147 which a r e stored i n
thememory145. Theloganalysisprogram147 is a storage device
configured by a magnetic d i s c device or a nonvolatile
semiconductor memory, and s t o r e s an operation log t a b l e 148
t h e r e i n . T h e l o c a l s t o r a g e 1 4 4 m a y b e l o a d e d i n t o t h e l o g s e r v e r
140, or be an external storage device disposed on an external
o f t h e log server140. The o p e r a t i o n o f t h e respective programs
and t h e d e t a i l e d configurations of the respective t a b l e s w i l l
be described l a t e r .
[0030]
The 1/0 device 143 is an input device, f o r example, such
as a keyboard or a mouse, which provides a user i n t e r f a c e , and
an output device, f o r example, such as a display device. The
log a n a l y s i s s e r v e r device 140 may not provide the 1/0 device
143. In t h i s case, the log analysis server device 140 is
o p e r a t e d b y t h e c l i e n t 1 0 0 or a consoleterminalnotshown. The
memory145 s t o r e s programstobe e x e c u t e d b y t h e p r o c e s s o r u n i t
142, and data t o be used by those programs t h e r e i n .
[0031]

FIGS. 1E a n d 1 F a r e diagrams i l l u s t r a t i n g e x a m p l e s o f t h e
operation log capturing control d e f i n i t i o n t a b l e 130 and the
property capturing d e f i n i t i o n t a b l e 131 according t o t h i s
embodiment, respectively.
[0032]
The operation log capturing control definition table 130
illustrated in FIG. 1E manages information for controlling a
range of the user operation captured by an operation log
capturing code 129. In the operation log capturing control
definition table 130, a condition expression 160 that defines
the condition of the user attribute, and a capturing event 161
thatdefinestheoperationlogcapturingeventofthe userwhich
meets that condition are managed in association with each
other.
[0033]
The property capturing definition table 131 illustrated
in FIG. 1F manages definition information for capturing the
attribute of the user from a screen generated by the web
application. In the property capturing definition table 131,
a property name 170 that is an identifier for describing the
captured attribute in the condition expression 160 of the
operation log capturing control definition table 130, a source
url 171 indicative of an URL of a page from which the attribute
is captured, an extract expression 172 that is indicative of
where the attribute is included within the page, that is,
designates an arbitrary area on the web page, and a change
target 173 which is information on an change target, and a
capturing timing 174 which is a timing for capturing the
designated area, as information for defining an moment of
extract, are managed in association with each other. In this
embodiment, XPathexpressionisusedastheextractexpression.
However, any extract expression may be used if the extract
expression can define an arbitrary area within the page. For
example, a regular expression can be used.
[0034]

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of the
operation of the computer system according tothis embodiment.
In the following description, a state in which the program is
loaded into the memory and executed by the processor unit in
the respective devices 100, 120, and 140 is expressed as
"moduleN.
[0035]
First, upon accepting the operation of the user for the
web browser, a web browser module 200 sends a request 203
corresponding to the operation of the user to a web server
module 220. The request 203 is sent in conformity to an HTTP
(hyper text transfer protocol) oranHTTPS (hyper text transfer
protocol over secure socket layer). Theprotocol ofthe request
203 is exemplified by the HTTP or the HTTPS, but not limited
to those protocols.
[0036]
Upon receiving the request 203, the web server module 220
makes a request for processing to a web application 221
corresponding t o t h e received request 203. The web application
221 executes processing corresponding t o the request 203 t o
generate a response 224, and forwards the generated response
224 t o a module code i n j e c t i o n module 222. The module code
injectionmodule222 e x t r a c t s anoperationlogcapturingmodule
223, the operation log capturing control d e f i n i t i o n t a b l e 130,
and the property capturing d e f i n i t i o n t a b l e 131 from the l o c a l
storage 124 according t o the forwarded response 224 (250 t o
252). Then, the module code i n j e c t i o n module 222 generates a
response 225 i n which the extracted contents a r e embedded, and
sends the generated response 225 t o the web browser module 200.
Processing forembeddingtheoperationlogcapturingmodule 223
is r e a l i z e d w i t h t h e use of a f i l t e r i n g function o f t h e response
providedinthewebserver120, s u c h a s a S e r v l e t F i l t e r f u n c t i o n
of a J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition: Java is a r e g i s t e r e d
trademark), or an ISAPI ( i n t e r n e t s e r v e r a p p l i c a t i o n
programming i n t e r f a c e ) f i l t e r function of an IIS ( i n t e r n e t
information s e r v i c e s ) . In t h i s embodiment, the operation log
capturingmodule 223 is dynamicallyembeddedbythemodule code
i n j e c t i o n module 222. Alternatively, the operation log
capturing module 223 may be embedded i n the web a p p l i c a t i o n 221
9withnouseofthemodule code injectionmodule 222inadvance.
[0037]
The operation log capturing module 223 may be embedded
with the use of a proxy server device making an HTTP
communication intermediating between the c l i e n t s and the web
server. Theproxyserverdevice canbe configuredbyanysystem
o f a forwardproxylocatedonthe c l i e n t s i d e a n d a reverseproxy
located on the server device side.
[0038]
Upon receiving the response 225 from the module code
i n j e c t i o n module 222, the web browser module 200 deciphers the
HTML (hyper t e x t markup language) data i n the received response
225, and displays the data on the web browser. Also, the web
browser module 200 forwards the operation log capturingmodule
223 embedded i n the response 225 t o a s c r i p t engine module 201
( 2 0 2 ) . T h e r e a f t e r , a f t e r the operation log capturing module
223 has executed the i n i t i a l i z a t i o n of an operation log
capturing event handler 261 and an a t t r i b u t e information
capturingeventhandler262, the operationlogcapturingmodule
223 s e q u e n t i a l l y c a p t u r e s t h e user operation on the webbrowser
of the c l i e n t 100 as the operation l o g . In t h i s example, the
operation log capturing event handler 261 is an event handler
function f o r trapping and recording the user operation on the
web browser. Also, the a t t r i b u t e information capturing event
handler 262 is an event handler function f o r capturing the
a t t r i b u t e information of the user from response information of
the web application. The d e t a i l s w i l l be described l a t e r .
[0039]
I f page movement occurs i n the web browser, the operation
log capturing module 223 sends an operation log 205 recorded
b y t h e operation log capturingmodule 223to a l o g servermodule
240 of the log server 140. The page movement may be associated
with a communication through the network, or may not be
a s s o c i a t e d t h e r e w i t h . The l a t t e r case not a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e
communication is when the page is r e w r i t t e n on the web browser
side with the use of a DOM (document object model) or JavaScript
( r e g i s t e r e d trademark) technique. The operation log
transmission a t the timing of the page movement is exemplary,
and the operation log may be sent a t another timing, f o r
example, a t regular time i n t e r v a l s o r f o r each given amount of
operation l o g .
[0040]
A f t e r r e c e i v i n g the operation log 205 from the operation
log capturing module 223, the log server module 240
s e q u e n t i a l l y s t o r e s t h e received operation log 205 i n the
operation log t a b l e 148 (243).
[0041]
A log analysis module 241 analyzes the user operation on
t h e b a s i s of data s t o r e d i n the operation log t a b l e 148, and
generates v i s u a l i z a t i o n data. The processing of the log
analysismodule241is executedbyaninstructionfromamanager
user, or batch processing a t an a r b i t r a r y timing.
[0042]

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a module configuration
example of the log server 140 according to this embodiment.
Also, FIG. 3 illustrates operation logs 301, 302, and 303 saved
in the operation log table 148, and an example 300 of the
operation log. The operation logs 301, 302, and 303 are saved
in the operation log table 148. If there is no need to
distinguish the operation logs 301, 302, and 303 from each
other, those operation logs are expressed as operation logs
300. The operation log 300 corresponds to the operation log
205 illustrated in FIG. 2.
[0043]
Each of the operation log 300 includes a page-ID which
is an identifier of the page on which the operation log is
recorded, an time of operation which is a time at which the user
operates on the page specified by the page-ID, an operation
target such as an object name which is an object to be operated
by the user, kind of operations such as mousing, clicking, or
inputting which are contents of the operation of the user, a
selected value which is a result of the operation of the user,
and an operation result such as an input value. Thus, a
plurality of operation logs 300 is saved in the operation log
table 148. In the user operation on the page, the operation
status within the page has only to be analyzed, and all of the
items do not always need to be recorded. For example, when
attention is paid to only the number of clicks, the click has
only to be recorded as the kind of operation.
[0044]
The log analysis module 241 includes a user operation
analysismodule 320, andavisualizationdata generationmodule
321. The user operation analysis module 320 analyzes the
operation of the user such as a travel of the mouse, the click
of the mouse, or an input to the Form on the web browser for
each page. The visualization data generation module 321
generates and outputs the visualization data of the analysis
result by theuser operation analysismodule 320. In this case,
"output" represents generation of data to be output in the form
of a table or to be displayed in an overlay display format on
the screen of the web application.
[0045]

FIG. 4A is a flowchart illustrating an example of
operation of the client 100 in the computer system according
to this embodiment. FIG. 4B is a flowchart illustrating an
example of operation of the web server 120 in the computer
system according to this embodiment. FIG. 4C is a flowchart
illustrating an example of operation ofthe log analysis server
device 140 in the computer systemaccording tothis embodiment.
Hereinafter, a flow of processing will be described with
reference to FIGS. 4A to 4C.
[0046]
F i r s t , i n FIG. 4AI t h e web browser module 200 sends a page
request of the web page t o the web server 120 (S421). Upon
receiving the page request from the c l i e n t 100 (S441), the web
server module 220 invokes the web a p p l i c a t i o n 221 responsive
t o the page request (S442). Then, the web a p p l i c a t i o n 221
executes processing i n response t o the page request received
i n Step S441 t o generate a response, and forwards the generated
response t o the module code i n j e c t i o n module 222 (S443).
[0047]
Thereafter, the module code i n j e c t i o n module 222 i n s e r t s
the operation log capturing module 223, information on the
operation log capturing control d e f i n i t i o n t a b l e , and
i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e p r o p e r t y c a p t u r i n g d e f i n i t i o n t a b l e i n t o t h e
forwarded response (S444) . In t h i s example, i n the information
o f t h e p r o p e r t y c a p t u r i n g d e f i n i t i o n t a b l e t o b e i n s e r t e d , only
the record inwhich the request URLincludedinthepage request
from the c l i e n t 100 meets the source u r l 171 is i n s e r t e d .
[0048]
The processing i n Step S444 can be r e a l i z e d by using a
f i l t e r i n g function of the response provided i n the web server
120 such as the above-mentioned S e r v l e t F i l t e r of J2EE. The
processing from Step 443 t o Step 445 may be i n s e r t e d i n t o the
response by using the proxy device i n addition t o a case using
the filtering function of the response provided in the web
server 120.
[0049]
Upon receiving the response from the web server 120
(S422), the web browser module 200 calls the script engine
module 201, and initializes the operation log capturing module
223 (S423). Also, in the initialization process in Step S423,
the web browser module 200 sets the operation log capturing
event handler 261 that monitors the event of the operation of
the user on the web browser module 200. The initialization
process (S423) of the operation log capturing module 223 will
be described in detail later.
[0050]
Subsequently, the operation log capturing module 223
captures the operation of the user on the web browser module
200 as the log data of operation, and appends the log data to
aprimarilyrecordedarrayonthewebbrowsermodule 200 (S424).
The processing in Step S424 is repeated until the event of the
page movement occurs (S425) .
[0051]
If the event of the page movement occurs (yes in S425),
the operation log capturing module 223 sends the page-ID and
the operation log 300 to the log server 140 (S426). The
processing from the above Step S421 to Step 426 by the client
100 is continued until the web application that operates on the
client 100 is finished (S427).
[0052]
In this embodiment, the operation logs are put together
on the page basis, and the put-together logs are sent to the
log server 140. Alternatively, the log may be sent every time
the log is captured, or the operation log may be collectively
sent on another basis.
[0053]
The log server module 240 of the log server 140 receives
the operation log from the client 100, and saves the received
operation log in the operation log table 148 (S401). The log
server 140 continues the processing until the operation is
finished (S402) .
[0054]

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the
initialization process (S423) of the operation log capturing
module 223 in the computer systemaccording tothis embodiment.
In the initialization process, an event handler for capturing
the attribute information is set with reference to the received
property acquisition definition information. If the capturing
timing is load, the event handler is set for an onload event
of the body element to call a GetInfo function which is an
attribute information capturing event handler function. Also,
if the capturing timing is XHRhandler indicative of dynamic
rewrite using XmlHttpRequest, the event handler is set to call
the GetInfo function which is the attribute information
capturing event handler function after finishing the
processing of the receive callback function of the
XmlHttpRequest (hereinafter abbreviated as "XHR") object.
That is, the event handler is rewritten to call the information
acquisition even handler after completing the receive handler
process responsive to the request different from the request
of the top frame of the web page.
[0055]
Hereinafter, the initialization process will be
described with reference to FIG. 5. Records are sequentially
captured fromthe first receivedproperty capturing definition
table (S501, S502), and processing from Step S503 to Step S505
is conducted. If the capturing timing (S503) of the property
acquisition definition is load, an attribute information
capturing event handler GetInfo function is set for the onload
of the body element (S504). On the other hand, if the capturing
timing (S503) of the property acquisition definition is
XHRhandler, in order to implement the processing of the
attribute information capturing event handler GetInfo function
after the processing to be executed after the XHR has been
received has been finished, the captured records are appended
to the XHR callback list array (S505).
[0056]
After the processing of all the property capturing
definition tables has been completed (no in S502), the
processing from Step S506 to Step S508 is executed. If the
records are s t o r e d i n t h e X H R c a l l b a c k l i s t a r r a y (yes in S506),
the XHR object is overridden by the MyXHR object (S507) . The
override function is an open function (MyXHR#open function)
described in FIG. 6A, and a send function (MyXHR#send function)
described in FIG. 6B. Finally, the operation log capturing
event handler is set (S508). In this processing, the operation
log capturing event handler is set according to the log
capturing control definition, and its details willbe described
with reference to FIG. 7 later.
[0057]
In the above processing example, an example of an
asynchronous communication using the XHR is described as an
example of dynamic rewrite. As other asynchronous
communication techniques, JSONP (JavaScript Object Notation
with Padding) or hidden frames are used. In the case of the
JSONP, in S504, the attribute information capturing event
handler function GetInfo is set for the onload or
onreadystatechange event of the script tag used in the JSONP.
On the other hand, in the case of the hidden frames, the
attribute information capturing event handler function GetInfo
is set for the onload event of the frame element used in the
hidden frames. When the asynchronous communication using the
iframe is conducted, the attribute information capturing event
handler function GetInfo is set for the onload.event of the
iframe element.
[0058]
Also, as an example of the dynamic rewrite other than the
above asynchronous communication, atechniqueinwhichaninput
auxiliary window is opened from a window of a main browser
separately, andan input decision value in the auxiliarywindow
is reflected on the main window is also frequently used. In
this case, the event handler is set to call the attribute
information capturing event handler function GetInfo after the
processing of the event handler on the operation which is an
input decision of the auxiliary window has been terminated.
That is, the event handler is rewritten to call the information
acquisition event handler after completing the processing in
another window which is different from the event handler for
the main window of the web application.
[0059]

FIG. 6A is a flowchart illustrating an example of
processing of an MyXHR#open function of the operation log
capturing module in the computer system according to this
embodiment. In the open function, an URL delivered as an
argument is confirmed, and if the URL is an URL to be subjected
to attribute information acquisition with reference to the
property acquisition definition, the URL is temporarily
recordedin advance so as tobe prepared for setting the GetInfo
function which is the attribute information capturing event
handler function when calling the send function which will be
described later.
[0060]
Hereinafter, the open processing will be described with
reference to FIG. 6A. First, records are sequentiallycaptured
from an XHR callback list array (S601, S602), and processing
from Step S603 to Step S604 is conducted. It is confirmed
whether an change target in each record is identical with a URL
argument of the open function, or not (S603) , and if identical,
a handleList array is appended to the MyXHR object, and this
record is pushed to the array (S604). If the handleList is
present in the MyXHR object, only push of the record is
conducted. After the processing of all the records has been
completed, the open function of the XHR object which is an
original object is called (S605) .
[0061]
FIG. 6B is a flowchart illustrating an example of
processing of an MyXHR#send function of the operation log
capturing module in the computer system according to this
embodiment. In the send function, the attribute information
capturing event handler GetInfo function is set with reference
tothe handleList set in the open function. In this processing,
the callback function of the XHR set by the web application is
captured from an onreadystatechange property of the MyXHR
object (S621). The onreadystatechange property is redefined
so as to call the attribute information capturing event handler
GetInfo function after the receive completion processing using
the callback function of the web application has been finished
(S622). Finally, the send function of the XHR object which is
the original object is called (S623) . The onload property may
be used instead of the onreadystatechange depending on the
implementation of the browser. In this case, an appropriate
property is referred to after the type of browser has been
determined.
[0062]
FIG. 6C is a flowchart illustrating an example of
processing of.the GetInfo function which is the attribute
information capturing event handler 262 of the operation log
capturing module in the computer system according to this
embodiment. In this processing, an extract expression for
capturing the property information is applied from the screen
with reference to the handleList array that stores the
information on the property acquisition definition, and the
property information is captured, and stored in a client
storage. Hereinafter, the processing of the GetInfo function
will be described with reference to FIG. 6C. In this
processing, records are sequentially captured from the
handleListarray, andtheprocessing fromStepS643toStepS646
is conducted. First, a property name is captured from each
record, and set to a variable propname (S653). Then, an extract
expression is captured from the record, and set to a variable
extractexp (S644) . Then, the extract expression extractexp is
evaluated, and information is captured from the screen, and set
tothe variable info (S645). In this example, in the evaluation
of the extract expression, there can be implemented any module
that can evaluate the XPath such as an execution engine of the
XPath installed in the web browser program 105.
[0063]
Then, a variable name propname and a variable value info
are stored in the client storage (S646). In this example, the
client storage is a storage area in the client 100 which can
be accessed from a script program that operates on the web
browser program 105. Any technique may be used for the client
storage if the area can be accessed from the script language,
such as a variable of the script language, HTTP Cookie, or the
UserData area of the Internext Explore (TM) made by Microsoft,
or a local storage function of the HTML5. Also, the client
storage may be saved in a server side by communicating with the
server. When data is saved, the data may be encrypted taking
privacy into consideration. Any system may be used for
encryption if the system can protect the data, such as
independent encryption, a symmetric key cryptography system,
or a public key cryptography system. Also, as the attribute
information, specific data per se of the user may not be
recorded, but abstracted information such as segmented
classificationmaybe provided. The segmenting canbe realized
by managing information for segmentation on the server side,
and forwarding the information to the web browser module 200
as with the operation log capturing control definition table
130 or the property capturing definition table 131. With the
abstracted attribute information, the profile information on
the user can be recorded giving more consideration to privacy.
[0064]
FIG. 8 illustrates an example ofthe property information
stored in the client storage. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the
property informationonthe user is storedas a set of aproperty
name 801 and a property value 802. In this example, properties
that nitem is 2 (803), and point is 8210 (804) are stored.
[0065]

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a setting
process (S508) of the operation log capturing module in the
computer system according to this embodiment. In this
processing, the log record event handler is set with reference
to the log capturing control definition and the property
information stored in the client storage. Hereinafter, a
description will be given of an operation log capturing event
handler setting process with reference to FIG. 7. In this
processing, definition records are sequentially captured from
the log capturing control definition, and processing from Step
S703 to Step S707 is conducted. First, a condition expression
and an capturing event are captured from the record, and set
to a variable cond and an array evlist (S703). If a value of
cond is DEFAULT, the event handler is set for the respective
event types in the evlist array. In the case of FIG. lE, the
event handler that captures the operation log related to form,
click, and scroll is set. If cond is not DEFAULT, the property
appearing in a cond expression is captured from the client
storage (S705) . Then, the cond expression is evaluated (S706) .
If the result of evaluation is true, the event handler is set
in Step S707. If a record 162 in FIG. 1E becomes true, the event
hander that captures the operation log related to mouse, form,
click, andscroll are set. If the result of evaluation is false,
the flow is returned to Step S701, and a subsequent record is
evaluated. In this embodiment, setting of the operation log
capturing event handler is implemented at a timing of the
initialization process of the operation log capturing module
223, but may be implemented at the timing of the attribute
information change by the GetInfo function.
[0066]
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen
of a web application in the computer system according to this
embodiment. Also, FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example
of the HTTP communication for generating the example of the
screen illustrated in FIG. 9. In this screen example, "Hitachi
Taro" indicated by reference numeral 901 is information
included in a response (1001) of index.jsp, and "8210", "2",
and "4960" indicated by reference numeral 902, 903, and 904,
respectively, are information included in a response (1003) of
unifo.jsp. It is assumed that "8210", " Z " , and "4960" are
realized by calling info. j sp from the index. j sp screen with the
use of the XHR, dynamically capturing the information, and
rewriting the screen (1002, 1003, and 1004 in FIG. 10).
[0067]
In this application, in the condition expression 162 of
FIG. lE, if a point balance is 5000 or higher, and the number
of goods stored in the cart is 1 or higher, a definition example
that records the details including the motion of the mouse is
represented (.162). Also, FIG. IF is a definition extracting
the user name as name (175), the point balance as point (176),
the number of items stored in the cart as nitem (177), and the
area of the user as area (178) . In this example, in the case
ofthe user that obtain sthe screen illustrate din FIG. 9, since
thedefinitioncorrespondstothe conditionexpression162, the
operation log including the motion of the mouse is recorded in
detail. This example shows that when it is assumed that the
user who is liable to make a purchase has the point balance of
5000 points or higher, and stores the goods in the shopping
cart, the operation logs ofthe user that matchesthis condition
are collected and analyzed in detail. Accordingly, the
capturing event of the operation log can be controlled
according to the attribute of the user, and the logs can be
effectively collected.
[0068]

A description will be given of a setting method of the
property capturing definition table 131 which is definition
information for capturing the user attribute from the screen
which is generated by the web application. If asynchronous
communication such as the XHR and the JSONP is mixed together,
it is difficult to set the capturing timing. Under the
circumstances, a method of supporting the setting of the
property acquisition definition will be described with
reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.
[0069]
A rough flow of the setting support method will be
described below. The manager user who conducts the setting
operates the web application as normal. The web server 120
receives the HTTP request as normal. The web server 120 saves
the response contents of the web application in a content
database which is newly provided, a f t e r the operation log
capturing module 223 has been i n s e r t e d i n t o the response
( S 4 4 4 ) . This function is r e a l i z e d by the provision of the
property a c q u i s i t i o n d e f i n i t i o n function i n the module code
i n j e c t i o n module 222. I f the content database can be accessed
fromthewebserver120, thecontentdatabasemaybeintegrated,
or may be driven by another device.
[0070]
The operation log capturing module 223 is newly provided
with a function of receiving the s e l e c t i o n of the area within
the webpage, which is t h e p r o f i l e information, fromthemanager
user, and sending the received area t o the web server 120. If
the manager user s e l e c t s t h e area of the p r o f i l e information
from the screen of the web application, the property
a c q u i s i t i o n d e f i n i t i o n function within the module code
i n j e c t i o n module 222 searches on the basis of which content
information the appropriate area is generated with reference
t o the content database. The property a c q u i s i t i o n d e f i n i t i o n
function within the module code i n j e c t i o n module 222 estimates
the c a p t u r i n g t i m i n g o n t h e b a s i s o f t h e information on inwhich
content the appropriate area is included, and appends the
d e f i n i t i o n information t o the property capturing d e f i n i t i o n
t a b l e 131.
[0071]
The' search processing is illustrated in FIG. 11. First
of all, the acquisition portion in the screen and the property
name are received from the web browser module 200. In this
example, the property name is stored in the linear
transformation propname (S1100). Then, the XPath of the
extraction area is generated, and stored in the linear
transformation xpath (S1101). Then, the content included in
the appropriate page and the appropriate page is captured from
the content database (S1102). FIG. 12 illustrates the
configuration of the content database. When the content
database includes the URL (1201) of the content, the contents
(1202) of the content, and the inline content (1203) if the
content includes another content as the inline content.
[0072]
Then, it is searched whether the extraction area is
included in the appropriate page or not (S1103). If the
extraction area is included in the appropriate page, the
records are appendedtothepropertycapturingdefinitiontable
131 so as to simply capture the information after the display
of the appropriate page has been completed. The URL of the
appropriate page is set to the linear transformation, and
'load" is set to the linear transformation timing (S1104).
Finally, the records are appended to the property capturing
definition table 131 with the property name = propname, the
source url = the URL of the appropriate page, the extract
expression = xpath, the moment of extract (change target) =
srcpage, the moment of extract (capturing timing) = timing
(S1105).
[0073]
If the extraction area is not included in the appropriate
page, it is searchedwhetherthe designatedportionis included
in the inline content included in the appropriate page or not,
and the result is stored in the linear transformation srcpage
(S1106).
[0074]
Then, it is detected how srcpage is called from the
appropriate page, and the capturing timing is estimated. If
srcpage is present in the src attribute of the script tag in
the appropriate page (S1107), it is determinedthe asynchronous
communication using JSOP is conducted, and "scriptload" is
storedinthe linear transformation timing (S1108). If srcpage
is present in the src attribute of the frame tag or the iframe
tag in the appropriate page (S1109), it is determined that the
asynchronous communication using the hidden frames are
conducted, and "frameload" is stored in the linear
transformation timing (S1110). If none ofthe above conditions
is applied, it is determined that the asynchronous
communication using the XHR is conducted, and "XHRHandler" is
stored in the linear transformation timing (S1111). Finally,
in Step S1105, the records are appended to the property
capturing definition table 131.
[0075]
As described above, the method of setting the property
acquisition definition rule in this embodiment includes the
content database that stores the response of the web
application, and includes a step of recording the response of
the web application in the content database, a step of
designating the property extraction area on the web browser
that displays the response, and a step of searching in which
response the designated area is included, from the content
database.
[0076]
Also, the step of recording the response of the web
application in the content database further includes a step of
recording the top frame and the associated page called by the
extension of the display of the top frame as a set, and the step
of searching inwhich responsethedesignatedareaisincluded,
from the content database, includes a step of searching the
designated area from the associated page, and determining the
property acquisition rule through a method of calling the
associated page hit by the search from the top page.
[0077]
Further, this determination step includes a step of
determiningthepropertyacquisitionrulewithreferencetoany
src attribute of a script tag, a frame tag, and an iframe tag.
Second Embodiment
[0078]
Next, a second embodiment describes the system capturing
attribute information from multiple web pages and using it.
Capturingthe attribute information fromthemultiplewebpages
and constructing user's profile information can take more
advanced control. FIG. 13 shows an example of the attribute
information spanning the multiple pages. In this figure, the
HTTP communications 1000 to 1003 indicate the same
communications as those in an example of the application shown
in FIGS. 9 and 10. Further, the HTTP communications 1300 and
1301 indicate that, after displaying index.jsp, the user
displays member.jsp that displys member information.
[0079]
The user profile information after the processing of the
attribute information acquisition to the response of 1003 has
been completed is configured as illustrated in FIG. 8. Then,
when member.jsp is displayed, a property acquisition
definition rule 178 illustrated in FIG. IF is started, and the
area information of the user is captured. As a result, as
illustrated in FIG. 14, the profile information spanning a
pluralityofpages canbe captured. Inorder toholdtheprofile
information spanning the plurality of pages, the profile
information is held in the HTTP Cookie where the scope of the
variable is maintained over the pages, the UserData area, or
the local storage function of the HTML5. Even in the case where
the profile information spans the sessions of the application
such that re-login is made, the profile information can be
configured by specifying the user and putting the above client
storage into practical use. With the above configuration, the
capturing event of the operation logs can be controlled
according to the attributes of a larger number of users, and
the logs canbe efficiently collected. The profile information
can be saved on a server side as in the first embodiment. When
data is saved, the data may be encrypted taking privacy into
consideration. Any system may be used for encryption if the
system can protect the data, such as independent encryption,
a symmetric key cryptography system, or a public key
cryptography system. Also, as the attribute information,
specific data per se of the user may not be recorded, but
abstracted information such as segmented classificationmaybe
provided. The segmenting can be realized by managing
information for segmentationonthe server side, and forwarding
the information to the web browser module 200 as with the
operation log capturing control definition table 130 or the
property capturing definition table 131. With the abstracted
attribute information, the profile information on the user can
be recorded giving more consideration to privacy.
Industrial Applicability
[0080]
The invention explained in detail enables the control of
levels of capturing operation logs and can effectively collect
and analyze information for improving web applications
List of Reference Symbols
[0081]
100 ... client, 120 ... web server, 130 ... operation log
capturing control definition table, 131 ... property capturing
definition table, 140 ... log server, 200 ... web browser
module, 201 ... script enginemodule, 220 ... web servermodule,
221 . . . web application, 222 . . . module code injection module,
223 ... operation log capturing module, 240 ... log server
module, 241 ... log analysis module

Claims
[Claim 1]
A method of recording operation in a web application,
which records an operation log on a web page by a computer having
a processing unit, wherein a property acquisition definition
rule for capturing information from the web page, and a log
capturing control definition rule for controlling a recording
range of the operation log on the basis of the captured
information are provided, and the processing unit executes the
steps of: setting an information acquisition event handler of
the web page on the basis of the property acquisition definition
rule; capturing information from the web page by the
information acquisition event handler; controlling the
recording range of the operation log on the web page on the basis
of the captured information and the log capturing control
definition rule; and recording the operation log.
[Claim 2]
The method of recording operation in the web application
according to claim 1, wherein the step of setting the
information acquisition event handler includes a step of
rewriting to call the information acquisition event handler,
after completing a receive handler process responsive to a
request different from a request to a top frame of the web page.
[Claim 3]
-46-
The method of recording operation in the web application
according to claim 2, wherein the request different from the
request to the top frame is a receive handler function of an
XmlHttpRequest (XHR).
[Claim 4]
The method of recording operation in the web application
according to claim 1, wherein the log capturing control
definition rule includes at least a condition expression based
on the information captured from the web page.
[Claim 5]
The method of recording operation in the web application
according to claim 1, wherein the property acquisition
definition rule includes at least information on an extraction
area definition that designates an arbitrary area on the web
page, a timing at which a designated area is captured, and an
change target which is detected at the timing.
[Claim 6]
The method of recording operation in the web application
according to claim 1, wherein a content database that stores
a response of the web application is provided for setting the
property acquisition definition rule, and the method executes:
a step of recording the response of the web application in the
content database; a step of designating a property extraction
area on the web browser that displays the response; and a search
-47-
step of searching in which response a designated area is
included from the content database.
[Claim 7]
The method of recording operation in the web application
according to claim 6, wherein the recording step further
includes a step of recording a top frame, and an associated page
called by an extension of display of the top frame as a set,
and the search step includes a determination step of searching
the designated area from the associated page, and determining
the property acquisition definition rule through a method of
calling the associated page hit by the search from the top page.
[Claim 8]
The method of recording operation in the web application
according to claim 7, wherein the determination step includes
a step of determining the property acquisition definition rule
with reference to any src attribute of a script tag, a frame
tag, and an iframe tag.
[Claim 9]
The method of recording operation in the web application
according to claim 1, wherein the computer receives the
property acquisition definition rule and the log capturing
control definition rule through a network as a response to the
request to the server device in which the web application
operates.
[Claim 10]
-48-
The method of recording operation in the web application
according to claim 1, wherein the computer sends the recorded
operation log to the analyzing server device through a network.
[Claim 11]
A system for recording operation in a web application,
which records an operation log on a web page by a client having
a storage unit and a processing unit, wherein the storage unit
stores a property acquisition definition rule for capturing
information from the web page, and a log capturing control
definition rule for controlling a recording range of the
operation log on the basis of the captured information, and the
processing unit sets an information acquisition event handler
of the web page on the basis of the property acquisition
definition rule; captures information from the web page by the
information acquisition event handler; and controls the
recording range of the operation log on the web page on the basis
of the captured information and the log capturing control
definition rule.
[Claim 12]
The system for recording operation in the web application
according to claim 11, wherein the processing unit rewrites to
call the information acquisition event handler, after
completing a receive handler process responsive to a request
different from a request to a top frame of the web page, when
setting the information acquisition event handler.
-49-
•
[Claim 13]
The system for recording operation in the web application
according to claim 12, wherein the processing unit rewrites a
receive handler function of an XHR which is the request
different from the request to the top frame to call the
information acquisition event handler, after completing the
receive handler process.
[Claim 14]
The system for recording operation in the web application
according to claim 11, wherein the log capturing control
definition rule includes at least a condition expression based
on the information captured from the web page.
[Claim 15]
The system for recording operation in the web application
according to claim 11, wherein the property acquisition
definition rule includes at least information on an extraction
area definition that designates an arbitrary area on the web
page, an change target which is detected, and a timing at which
the designated area is captured.
[Claim 16]
The system for recording operation in the web application
according to claim 11, wherein the client receives the property
acquisition definition rule and the log capturing control
definition rule, which are stored in the storage unit, through
-50-
a network as a response to the request to the server device in
which the web application operates.
[Claim 17]
The system for recording operation in the web application
according to claim 11, wherein the client sends the recorded
operation log to the analyzing server device through a network.