Translation support method and translation system

Abstract

[Problem] To enable non-engineers to perform localization of an application for a mobile terminal by using low-code. [Solution] A translation system 4 comprises: a first processing means in which, when an update detection message including application identification information for an application AP' is received from a mobile terminal 2 of an application provider, which is the provider of the application AP', translated text data corresponding to the application identification information in the update detection message is retrieved from a storage means, and a translated text providing-message including the retrieved translated text data is transmitted to the mobile terminal 2 of the application provider; a second processing means in which, after the translated text providing-message is transmitted, when a translation registration request message including display text identification information for untranslated display text on a display screen of the application AP' is received from the mobile terminal 2 of the application provider, untranslated text data from the display text corresponding to the display text identification information in the translation registration request message is translated from a source language to a prescribed foreign language, and the translated text data obtained from this translation is stored in the storage means in association with the display text identification information in the translation registration request message; and a third processing means in which, when a translated text request message including the display text identification information for the display text on the display screen of the application AP' is received from a mobile terminal 3 of an application user, which is a user of the application AP', translated text data stored in the storage means in association with the display text identification information in the translated text request message is retrieved, and the retrieved translated text data is transmitted to the mobile terminal 3 of the application user.

Description

Translation support method and translation system

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for multilingualizing display text of an application.

[0002] Various technologies for supporting the multilingualization of web content have been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 (Patent Document 1) describes a technology that enables timely translation of text displayed on a web page. The invention described in Patent Document 1 includes a website, a user terminal, and a translation system. The website receives a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request from the user terminal, including a uniform resource locator (URL) of a web page within the website, and transmits HyperText Markup Language (HTML) data of the web page to the user terminal that sent the HTTP request. In this invention, when the native language of the user terminal that sent the HTTP request is a second language different from the first language, which is the original language of the web page, the website transmits a translation request to the translation system to translate the text in the first language within the web page into text in the second language, receives the text in the second language from the translation system, and transmits HTML data in which the text in the first language within the web page has been replaced with text in the second language to the user terminal. According to this invention, website operators can provide web pages in various languages ​​simply by making simple changes to their websites.

[0003] Users of mobile devices such as smartphones spend much of their time using mobile device applications. App stores such as the App Store (registered trademark) and Google Play (registered trademark) offer a variety of applications developed by application providers known as developers. Mobile device applications are written in a high-level language to define the layout of the application's display screen on the mobile device, as well as functions that call HTML data and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) located at specific network uniform resource locators (URLs). The process from development to release of a mobile device application is as follows:

[0004] As shown in Figure 33, in the development of applications for mobile devices, engineers from the application provider code the application and verify the functions required for its release. After this verification, the application provider submits a store application to the platform provider. When the store application is submitted, the platform provider reviews the application to determine whether it meets the review criteria, and if the application passes the review, it is registered in the app store server 901. From this point on, users of mobile devices 903 can visit the app store server 901, select an application, and install the application on their mobile devices 903.

[0005] As shown in Figure 34, when an application installed on the mobile terminal 903 is launched, the mobile terminal 903 displays a display screen of the application (in the example of Figure 34, a display screen of Health Check) that lays out the text data and image data described in the application itself.

[0006] As shown in Figure 35, if an application installed on the mobile terminal 903 contains a web page call function or an API call function, when the application is launched, the mobile terminal 903 sends a request to the application server 951 or the API server 961, receives HTML data or text data from the servers 951 and 961, and displays the application display screen (Weather News in the example of Figure 35) with this data laid out.

[0007] After the release of an application, the application provider performs tasks such as updating the application version, updating the display content, and delivering push notifications.

[0008] 36, when an application provider updates the display content of an application, the application provider accesses application server 951 from the application provider's own terminal and rewrites the HTML data of the display content of the application in application server 951. After that, when the application is launched on mobile terminal 903, the HTML data after rewriting in application server 951 is sent to mobile terminal 903, and the content is displayed as the display screen of the application.

[0009] 37 , when an application provider delivers a push notification, the application provider accesses the application server 951 from the application provider's own terminal and registers the text of the push notification and the device token of its destination. Once the push notification information is registered, the application server 951 sends the push notification information to a push notification server 971 (an APNs (Apple Push Notification Service) server or an FCM (Firebase Cloud Messaging) server), and the push notification server 971 sends the push notification to the mobile terminal corresponding to the device token. When the mobile terminal 903 receives the push notification, the text data in the push notification is displayed as the push notification.

[0010] JP 2017-90887 A

[0011] However, while the technology in Patent Document 1 can multilingualize web pages displayed in a browser, it cannot multilingualize the display content of mobile device applications. As a result, mobile device application providers must rebuild, verify, and submit applications every time they add content in a foreign language different from the original language, and these tasks must be performed by engineers, resulting in a huge amount of work required for multilingualization.

[0012] The present invention was made in consideration of these problems, and aims to provide a technical means that allows non-engineers to multilingualize applications for mobile devices using low-code.

[0013] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a translation support method that is a preferred aspect of the present invention is a translation support method using a system that includes: a mobile device of an application user on which an OS and a predetermined application that runs on the OS are installed; a mobile device of an application provider that is a provider of the application; a display text providing server that transmits text data of display text on a display screen of the application to the mobile device in response to a request from the mobile device; and a translation system that supports switching the language of the display text on the mobile device of the application user, wherein when a predetermined trigger signal is generated in the mobile device of the application provider, the mobile device of the application provider transmits and receives messages with the translation system, and based on the result of the message transmission and reception, it is confirmed whether or not the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application and translated text data obtained by translating said text from an original language into a predetermined foreign language are stored in storage means of the translation system, and if the text data of the original language and the translated text data of the foreign language are not stored in the storage means, the translation system converts the text data of the unregistered display text into ... a first step of transmitting to the translation system a translation registration request message requesting registration of untranslated text data of display text corresponding to display text identification information in the translation registration request message from the original language to the predetermined foreign language, when the translation system receives the translation registration request message, translating untranslated text data of display text corresponding to display text identification information in the translation registration request message from the original language to the predetermined foreign language, and storing the translated text data obtained by this translation in the storage means in association with the display text identification information in the translation registration request message; a third step of the application user's mobile device determining whether the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application is in a default language of the mobile device; a fourth step of the application user's mobile device transmitting to the translation system a translated text request message including display text identification information of the display text on the display screen of the application when the application user's mobile device determines that the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application is not in the default language of the mobile device;a fifth step of determining, when the translated text request message is received, whether or not translated text data corresponding to display text identification information in the translated text request message is stored in the storage means, and if so, reading out the corresponding translated text data from the storage means and transmitting it to the mobile device of the application user; and a fifth step of determining, by the mobile device of the application user, whether the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application is in a default language of the mobile device, and if it is determined that the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application is not in the default language of the mobile device, a sixth step of generating a translated text request message including display text identification information of the displayed text and addressed to a predetermined address in the translation system, and transmitting the translated text request message; a seventh step of transmitting translated text data stored in the storage means in association with the display text identification information in the translated text request message to the mobile device of the application user when the translation system receives the translated text request message; and an eighth step of receiving the translated text data in the mobile device of the application user, and displaying the translated text data as display text on the display screen of the application.

[0014] In this aspect, the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application may include text data transmitted from the display text providing server to the mobile terminal and stored in storage means of the mobile terminal.

[0015] In addition, a cache area for storing information received from the display text providing server is secured in the storage means of the mobile terminal of the application provider, and in the first step, the mobile terminal of the application provider may send an update detection message including application identification information of the application and addressed to a predetermined address within the translation system, receive translated text data from the translation system obtained by the translation process of the translation system, and check whether there is any display text that has not yet been translated in the translation system by comparing the received translated text data with the information in the cache area.

[0016] A translation system according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a storage means for storing application identification information of a predetermined application running on an OS of a mobile terminal, display text identification information of display text on a display screen of the application, and translated text data obtained by translating text data in an original language of the display text into a predetermined foreign language, in association with each other; a first processing means for, when an update detection message including the application identification information of the application is received from a mobile terminal of an application provider that is a provider of the application, reading from the storage means the translated text data corresponding to the application identification information in the update detection message, and transmitting a translated text provision message including the read translated text data to the mobile terminal of the application provider; and a first processing means for, after transmitting the translated text provision message, reading from the mobile terminal of the application provider the translated text data of the untranslated text on the display screen of the application. and a second processing means for, when receiving a translation registration request message including display text identification information of display text, translating untranslated text data of the display text corresponding to the display text identification information in the translation registration request message from an original language into a predetermined foreign language, and storing the translated text data obtained by this translation in the storage means in association with the display text identification information in the translation registration request message; and a third processing means for, when receiving a translated text request message including display text identification information of the display text on the display screen of the application from a mobile device of an application user who is a user of the application, reading out the translated text data stored in the storage means in association with the display text identification information in the translated text request message, and transmitting the read translated text data to the mobile device of the application user.

[0017] According to the present invention, mobile application providers can translate the text displayed on an application user's mobile device into a foreign language simply by sending a message from their mobile device to a translation system, without having to rewrite the application code. Thus, the present invention makes it possible to make mobile applications multilingual without wasting human and financial resources.

[0018] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a mobile terminal application usage support system 9 including a translation system 4 according to one embodiment of the present invention. It is a diagram showing the structure of an application AP registered in the application server 951 in FIG. 1. It is a diagram showing the configuration of the application user terminal 3 in FIG. 1. It is a diagram showing the configuration of the application provider first terminal 1 in FIG. 1. It is a diagram showing the configuration of the application provider second terminal 2 in FIG. 1. It is a diagram showing the configuration of the bilingual DB server 41 in FIG. 1. It is a diagram showing the data structure of the bilingual DB 4142 in FIG. 6. It is a diagram showing the configuration of the translation server 51 in FIG. 1. It is a diagram showing the data structure of the translated text DB 5142 in FIG. 8. It is a diagram showing the configuration of the CDN server 61 in FIG. 1. It is a diagram showing the data structure of the table TBL of the cache area 6131 in FIG. 10. It is a flowchart of basic processing during startup of the application AP' in the application user terminal 3. It is a flowchart of basic processing during startup of the application AP' in the application user terminal 3. It is an example of a display screen of the application AP' when the default language of the OS 341 of the application user terminal 3 is Japanese. It is a flowchart of processing upon receiving a push notification related to the application AP' in the application user terminal 3. 1 is a display example of a push notification when the default language of the OS 341 of the application user terminal 3 is Japanese. FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a process related to automatic detection and automatic translation of an update of application AP' in the application provider second terminal 2. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process related to automatic detection and automatic translation of an update of application AP' in the application provider second terminal 2. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process related to automatic translation of a push notification related to application AP' in the application provider second terminal 2. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process related to editing translated text data of application AP' in the application provider first terminal 1. FIG. 5 is a display example of a first editing screen in the application provider first terminal 1. FIG. 6 is a display example of a second editing screen in the application provider first terminal 1.1 is a flowchart of a process relating to editing of translated text data of application AP' in the application provider second terminal 2. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process relating to editing of translated text data of application AP' in the application provider second terminal 2. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process relating to editing of translated text data of application AP' in the application provider second terminal 2. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an action of shaking the application provider second terminal 2. FIG. 5 is a display example of a third editing screen in the application provider second terminal 2. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process relating to editing of translated text data of application AP' in the application provider first terminal 1 and the application provider second terminal 2. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process relating to editing of translated text data of application AP' in the application provider first terminal 1 and the application provider second terminal 2. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a process relating to editing of translated text data of application AP' in the application provider first terminal 1 and the application provider second terminal 2. FIG. 9 is a display example of a second editing screen in the application provider first terminal 1. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the prior art. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the prior art. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the prior art.

[0019] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a mobile terminal application usage support system 9 that includes a translation system 4 according to one embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is intended for an operator of the translation system 4 (hereinafter referred to as the operator) to provide a multilingual service for an application AP to a person (hereinafter referred to as the application provider) who provides an application AP that he or she has developed in an application store, and to a person (hereinafter referred to as the application user) who downloads the application AP from the application store to use it on his or her mobile terminal.

[0020] 1 , the mobile terminal application support system 9 includes a translation system 4, an app store server 901, an application server 951, an API server 961, a push notification server 971, a first app provider terminal 1, a second app provider terminal 2, and an app user terminal 3. The first app provider terminal 1 is a personal computer of the app provider, the second app provider terminal 2 is a mobile device of the app provider, and the app user terminal 3 is a mobile device of the app user.

[0021] The application store server 901 plays the same role as the application store server 901 shown in Figures 33, 34, 35, 36, and 37. When an application provider applies to the platform provider for a store of an application AP that the provider has developed, and the application AP passes the platform provider's examination, the application AP is registered in the DB of the application store server 901.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 2 , an application registered on the app store server 901 includes a manifest file, a native content description section, a web page call function, an API call function, and the like. The manifest file is a file that describes information about resources necessary to run the application AP. The native content description section describes the layout structure of the display screen of the application AP and the text to be displayed on the screen. The web page call function is a function that transmits a request for markup data at a specified URL on the network 90, receives the markup data, and displays text data described as elements in the markup data as display text at a specified position on the display screen of the application AP. The API call function is a function that transmits a request for a specified API on the network 90, receives text data from the API, and displays the text data as display text at a specified position on the display screen of the application AP.

[0023] The application server 951 and the API server 961 provide the mobile terminal with text data of the display text of the application AP in response to a request from the mobile terminal.

[0024] More specifically, the application server 951 performs the same role as the application server 951 shown in Figures 35, 36, and 37. When a web page call function of the application AP is executed on a mobile terminal and the application server 951 receives a request addressed to the URL of the web page from the mobile terminal, the application server 951 reads markup data for the display screen of the application AP from the storage area indicated by the URL of the request and transmits the markup data to the mobile terminal. When the provider of the application AP updates the display content of the application AP, the provider accesses the application server 951 from its own terminal and rewrites the markup data for the display screen of the application AP in the application server 951. Thereafter, when the application AP is launched on the mobile terminal, the rewritten markup data in the application server 951 is transmitted to the mobile terminal, and the description content is displayed on the display screen of the application AP.

[0025] The API server 961 plays the same role as the API server 961 shown in Figures 35, 36, and 37. When an API call function of the application AP is executed in the mobile terminal and a request addressed to the API URL is received from the mobile terminal, the API server 961 performs predetermined API processing and transmits text data obtained as a result of this processing to the mobile terminal.

[0026] The push notification server 971 plays the same role as the push notification server 971 shown in Fig. 37. The push notification server 971 receives push notification information from the application server 951 or another server, identifies the destination mobile terminal based on the device token / device correspondence table in its own device, and delivers the push notification to this mobile terminal.

[0027] 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the application user terminal 3. The application user terminal 3 has a control unit 31, a Wi-Fi communication module 321, a mobile communication module 322, a volatile memory unit 33, a non-volatile memory unit 34, a touch panel 35, an acceleration sensor 36, and a battery 37. The control unit 31 includes a CPU. The control unit 31 reads data and programs stored in the non-volatile memory unit 34 into the volatile memory unit 33, and performs various calculations and executes programs while using the volatile memory unit 33 as a work area.

[0028] A cache area 331 is secured in the volatile storage unit 33. The cache area 331 stores translated text data provided to the application user terminal 3 from the translation system 4.

[0029] The non-volatile storage unit 34 stores an OS 341 for the mobile terminal and multiple application APs. Among the multiple application APs stored in the non-volatile storage unit 34, there are application APs that are the target of the multilingual service and other application APs. The application APs that are the target of the multilingual service are registered in the application store server 901 by the application provider and installed on the application user terminal 3 from the application store server 901. In the following description, the application APs that are the target of the multilingual service are referred to as application AP' to distinguish them from other application APs. The application AP' includes a software development kit (SDK) 39. The SDK 39 is incorporated into the application AP' by the application provider before the application AP' is registered in the application store server 901 and becomes available for provision to the mobile terminal. The SDK 39 includes functions that implement the following functions: a1. SDK startup function: This is a function that starts the SDK 39 within the application AP'.a2. Application Display Screen Translation Display Function This is a function that determines whether the text data in the native content description section of application AP', the text data received from the application server 951, and the text data received from the API server 961 on the display screen of application AP' are in the default language of the OS 341 of the application user terminal, and if they are not in the default language of the OS 341 of the mobile terminal, determines whether the translated text data is stored in the cache area 331 of the volatile storage unit 33, and if the translated text data is not stored, sends a translated text request message to the translation system 4 requesting translated text data for the display text of application AP', receives a translated text provision message from the translation system 4 including translated text data for the display text of application AP', stores the translated text data in the translated text provision message in the cache area 331, and displays this translated text data as the display text on the display screen of application AP'. a3. Push notification translation display function This is a function that, when a push notification related to application AP' is received, checks whether translated text data of the push notification is stored in the cache area 331 of the volatile storage unit 33, and if the translated text data of the push notification is stored in the cache area 331, displays the translated text data in the cache area 331 as the display text of the push notification related to application AP'.

[0030] 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the application provider first terminal 1. The application provider first terminal 1 has a control unit 11, a communication interface 12, a volatile storage unit 13, a non-volatile storage unit 14, a display 15, a keyboard 16, and a pointing device 17. The control unit 11 includes a CPU. The control unit 11 reads data and programs stored in the non-volatile storage unit 14 into the volatile storage unit 13, and performs various calculations and processes related to program execution while using the volatile storage unit 13 as a work area.

[0031] The non-volatile storage unit 14 stores an OS 141 and a browser 142 for the personal computer.

[0032] 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the second application provider terminal 2. The second application provider terminal 2 has a control unit 21, a Wi-Fi communication module 221, a mobile communication module 222, a volatile storage unit 23, a non-volatile storage unit 24, a touch panel 25, an acceleration sensor 26, and a battery 27. The control unit 11 includes a CPU. The control unit 11 reads data and programs stored in the non-volatile storage unit 24 into the volatile storage unit 23, and performs various calculations and executes programs while using the volatile storage unit 23 as a work area.

[0033] A cache area 231 is secured in the volatile storage unit 23. The cache area 231 stores translated text data provided from the translation system 4 to the second application provider terminal 2.

[0034] The non-volatile storage unit 24 stores an OS 242 for the mobile terminal and an application AP'. The application AP' in the non-volatile storage unit 24 incorporates an SDK 29. The SDK 29 is incorporated into the application AP' by the application provider before the application AP' is registered in the application store server 901 and becomes available to mobile terminals. The SDK 29 includes the same functions a1, a2, and a3 as those of the SDK 39 described above, as well as functions that realize the following functions: b1. b2. Update Detection / Automatic Translation Function: This function sends and receives messages with the translation system 4 when a predetermined trigger signal TR2 is generated, and based on the results of this message transmission and reception, checks whether the original language text data and foreign language translated text data of the display screen and push notification of application AP' are stored in the translated text DB 5142 of the translation system 4. If the original language text data and foreign language translated text data are not stored in the translated text DB 5142, the function sends a registration request message to the translation system 4, including the screen / push notification identification information of the display screen and push notification, requesting the registration of the original language text data of the display screen and push notification's display text and the translated text data obtained by translating it into a foreign language, or the translated text data. b2. Push Notification Translation Function: When a push notification related to application AP' is received, the function sends a registration request message to the translation system 4, including the screen / push notification identification information of the push notification, requesting the registration of the original language text data of the display text of the push notification and the translated text data obtained by translating it into a foreign language, or the translated text data.b3. Translation and Editing Function: This function, when a predetermined trigger signal TR3 is generated, sends a translated text request message to the translation system 4 requesting translated text data for the display text of the application AP'; receives a translated text provision message containing the translated text data for the display text of the application AP' from the translation system 4; stores the translated text data in the translated text provision message in the cache area 231; displays a third editing screen with this translated text data embedded; and, when a predetermined operation involving modification of part or all of the display text is performed on the third editing screen, generates a translation rewrite request message containing the modified text data and transmits this translation rewrite request message to the translation system 4. b4. Application Display Screen Capturing Function: This function, when a predetermined trigger signal TR5 is generated, captures the display screen displaying the translated text data in the cache area 231 as the display content of the application AP'; and transmits the image data obtained by this capture to the translation system 4.

[0035] 1, the translation system 4 includes a bilingual DB server 41, a translation server 51, and a CDN server 61. These servers 41, 51, and 61 serve to support switching of the language of the display text of the application AP′ on the application user terminal 3.

[0036] 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the bilingual DB server 41. The bilingual DB server 41 has a control unit 411, a communication interface 412, a volatile storage unit 413, and a non-volatile storage unit 414. The control unit 411 includes a CPU. The control unit 411 reads data and programs stored in the non-volatile storage unit 414 into the volatile storage unit 413, and performs various calculations and executes programs while using the volatile storage unit 413 as a work area.

[0037] The non-volatile storage unit 414 stores a server OS 4141 , a bilingual DB 4142 , and a multilingual support program 4143 .

[0038] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the data structure of the bilingual DB 4142. The bilingual DB 4142 is a library that stores translated text data such as proper nouns such as company names and product names, and frequently used phrases. Each record in the bilingual DB 4142 has fields for "original language language code," "original language text," "foreign language language code," and "foreign language text." The "original language language code" field indicates language identification information for the original language. The "translated language text" field indicates text data for the proper noun or phrase to be translated. The "foreign language language code" indicates language identification information for the foreign language to which it is translated. The "foreign language text" field indicates text data for the proper noun or phrase translated from the original language into the foreign language.

[0039] The multilingual support program 4143 has the following functions: c1. Bilingual search function: This is a function that receives a message containing text data in the source language from the translation server 51, searches the bilingual DB 4142 for text data in a foreign language that corresponds to the text data in the source language in this message, and sends the searched foreign language text data to the translation server 51. c2. Bilingual registration function: This is a function that receives a message from the translation server 51 that contains a pair of text data in the source language and text data in a foreign language obtained by translation processing, determines whether the text data in this message is registered in the bilingual DB 4142, and if not, stores the text data in the source language and the text data in the foreign language in the message in the bilingual DB 4142.

[0040] 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of the translation server 51. The translation server 51 has a control unit 511, a communication interface 512, a volatile storage unit 513, and a non-volatile storage unit 514. The control unit 511 includes a CPU. The control unit 511 reads data and programs stored in the non-volatile storage unit 514 into the volatile storage unit 513, and performs various calculations and executes programs while using the volatile storage unit 513 as a work area.

[0041] The non-volatile storage unit 514 stores a server OS 5141 , a translated text DB 5142 , and a multilingual support program 5143 .

[0042] 9 is a diagram showing the data structure of the translated text DB 5142. The translated text DB 5142 is a collection of multiple records, each corresponding to the display screen of the application AP' or the display text of a push notification. Each record in the translated text DB 5142 has fields for "application ID," "screen ID / push notification ID," "display text ID," "language code of original language," "text in original language," "language code of foreign language," "text in foreign language," "size," "style," "position," and "status."

[0043] The "app ID" field indicates app identification information for application AP'. The "screen ID / push notification ID" field indicates identification information for a display screen or push notification for application AP'. If the record is for display text on the display screen of application AP', the value of the "screen ID / push notification ID" field will be screen / push notification identification information that includes identification information unique to the display screen (for example, identification information whose first two characters are the letters SC that indicate a display screen), and if the record is for display text for a push notification related to application AP', the value of the "screen ID / push notification ID" field will be screen / push notification identification information that includes identification information unique to the push notification (for example, identification information whose first two characters are the letters PS that indicate a push notification).

[0044] The "Display Text ID" field indicates display text identification information unique to the display text. The "Original Language Language Code" field indicates language identification information for the original language of the display text. The "Original Language Text" field indicates text data in the original language of the display text. The "Foreign Language Language Code" field indicates language identification information for the foreign language into which the display text is translated. The "Foreign Language Text" field indicates translated text data obtained by translating the text data of the display text from the original language into the foreign language. The "Size" field indicates size information for the translated text data. The "Style" field indicates style information for the translated text data. The "Alignment" field indicates alignment information for the translated text data.

[0045] The "Status" field indicates status information of the translated text data. Here, the status information includes two types: "Save," which indicates that the translated text data is registered in the translated text DB 5142 but is not permitted to be provided to the application user terminal 3, and "Publish," which indicates that the translated text data is registered in the translated text DB 5142 and is permitted to be provided to the application user terminal 3.

[0046] The multilingualization support program 5143 has the following functions: d1. Application display screen translation function When a registration request message requesting registration of text data in the original language of the display text on the display screen of the application AP' and translated text data obtained by translating the text data into a foreign language, or a registration request message requesting registration of translated text data, is received from the CDN server 61, the program translates the untranslated text data on the display screen from the original language into a specified foreign language, stores the translated text data obtained by this translation in the translated text DB 5142 in association with display text identification information, and transmits this translated text data to the CDN server 61 where it is stored in the table TBL of the cache area 6131 of the CDN server 61. d2. d3. Push notification translation function: When a registration request message is received from the CDN server 61 requesting registration of text data of the display text of an unregistered push notification related to the application AP' and translated text data obtained by translating the text data from the original language into a predetermined foreign language, the untranslated push notification is translated from the original language into the predetermined foreign language, the translated text data obtained by this translation is stored in the translated text DB 5142 in association with the screen / push notification identification information, and the translated text data is sent to the CDN server 61 for storage in the table TBL of the cache area 6131 of the CDN server 61. d3. Capturing image storage function: This is a function that receives, from the application provider second terminal 2, capturing image data of a display image in which the application provider second terminal 2 displays the translated text data in the cache area 231 as display content for the application AP', and stores the capturing image data in a predetermined area of ​​the volatile storage unit 23.d4. Translated text correction support function This is a function that, when a second edit screen request message is received from the application provider first terminal 1, which includes screen / push notification identification information for the display screen of application AP′ and is addressed to the URL of the second edit screen in translation server 51, reads from translated text DB 5142 translated text data corresponding to the screen / push notification identification information in the second edit screen request message, reads image data that is currently stored in a predetermined area of ​​volatile storage unit 23, generates markup data for the second edit screen including the translated text data and image data, and sends this markup data to the application provider first terminal 1. When a translation rewrite request message is received from the application provider first terminal 1, which includes display text identification information for display content corrected on the second edit screen and the corrected text data, searches translated text DB 5142 for a record that includes translated text data that corresponds to the display text identification information in the translation rewrite request message, and rewrites the translated text data of the searched record with the text data in the translation rewrite request message.

[0047] 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of the CDN server 61. The CDN server 61 has a control unit 611, a communication interface 612, a volatile storage unit 613, and a non-volatile storage unit 614. The control unit 611 includes a CPU. The control unit 611 reads data and programs stored in the non-volatile storage unit 614 into the volatile storage unit 613, and performs various calculations and executes programs while using the volatile storage unit 613 as a work area.

[0048] A cache area 6131 is allocated in the volatile storage unit 613. As shown in Fig. 11, the cache area 6131 stores a table TBL that collects copies of records in the translated text DB 5142 whose status is "Published."

[0049] The non-volatile storage unit 614 stores a server OS 6141 and a multilingualization support program 6142. The multilingualization support program 6142 has the following functions: e1. Translated text delivery function: When a translated text request message requesting translated text data of the display text of the application AP' is received from the application user terminal 3, this function determines whether translated text data corresponding to the display text identification information in the translated text request message is stored in the cache area 6131 of the CDN server 61, and if stored, reads the translated text data from the cache area 6131 and sends a translated text provision message including this translated text data to the application user terminal 3; if not stored, sends a translated text request message requesting translated text data of the display text to the translation server 51, receives the translated text data from the translation server 51, stores this translated text data in the cache area 6131 in association with the display text identification information, and sends this translated text data to the application user terminal 3.

[0050] 12 and 13 are flowcharts showing basic processing during the execution of the application AP' in the application user terminal 3. As shown in FIG.

[0051] In Figure 12, when application AP' is launched, the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 stores the text data in the original language of each display text on the display screen of application AP', i.e., the text data described in the native content description section of application AP', and the text data received from the application server 951 and API server 961 by sending a request to these servers, in a specified area of ​​the volatile memory unit 33.

[0052] After the application AP' is launched in the application user terminal 3, the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 monitors whether a trigger signal TR1 is generated in the application user terminal 3 (S1010). This trigger signal TR1 triggers switching of the language of the display text on the display screen of the application AP'. The trigger signal TR1 may be generated when the application AP' is launched, or may be generated at a predetermined interval (e.g., every 5 seconds). If the trigger signal TR1 is generated in the application user terminal 3 (S1010: Yes), the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 proceeds to step S1020.

[0053] In step S1020, the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 checks the language set as the default in the OS 341, and determines whether the text data in the original language of each display text stored in a predetermined area of ​​the volatile storage unit 33 is the same as the default language of the OS 341. If the text data in the original language of the display text is different from the default language of the OS 341 (S1020: No), the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 proceeds to step S1030, and if the text data is the same as the default language of the OS 341 (S1020: Yes), the control unit 31 proceeds to step S1130.

[0054] In step S1030, the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 determines whether translated text data for each display text is stored in the cache area 331. If translated text data is not stored (S1030: No), the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 proceeds to step S1040, and if translated text data is stored (S1030: Yes), the control unit 31 proceeds to step S1120.

[0055] In step S1040, the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 generates a translated text request message including the application identification information of application AP', screen / push notification identification information of each display screen of application AP', display text identification information of each display text in the display screen, and language identification information of the default language of OS 341, and the translated text request message is addressed to a specified URL of the CDN server 61, and transmits the translated text request message to the network 90.

[0056] When the control unit 611 of the CDN server 61 receives the translated text request message, it extracts the app identification information, screen / push notification identification information, display text identification information, and language identification information of the original language from the translated text request message, stores these in the volatile storage unit 613, and searches for a record containing translated text data corresponding to this information from the table TBL in the cache area 6131. ​​If the control unit 611 of the CDN server 61 finds that there is no record containing the translated text data in the cache area 6131 (S1050: No), it proceeds to step S1060, and if there is a record containing the translated text data in the cache area 6131 (S1050: Yes), it proceeds to step S1100.

[0057] The control unit 611 of the CDN server 61 generates a translated text request message including the app identification information, screen / push notification identification information, display text identification information, and language identification information of the original language stored in the volatile memory unit 613, and sends this translated text request message to the translation server 51.

[0058] When the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 receives the translated text request message, it extracts the application identification information, screen / push notification identification information, display text identification information, and original language identification information from the translated text request message and stores them in the volatile storage unit 513. The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 searches records in the translated text DB 5142 whose "Status" is "Publish" as the search range, and searches the translated text DB 5142 for records containing translated text data corresponding to the application identification information, screen / push notification identification information, display text identification information, and original language identification information in the volatile storage unit 613 (S1070).

[0059] If a corresponding record is found among the records in the search range in the translated text DB 5142, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 reads information from the fields of the record, including "App ID," "Screen ID / Push Notification ID," "Display Text ID," "Original Language Language Code," "Original Language Text," "Foreign Language Language Code," "Foreign Language Text," "Size," "Style," and "Position," and transmits this information to the CDN server 61 (S1080).

[0060] The control unit 611 of the CDN server 61 stores the application identification information, screen / push notification identification information, display text identification information, language identification information of the original language, text data of the original language, language identification information of the foreign language to which the data is to be translated, translated text data, size information, style information, and placement information received from the translation server 51 as a new record in the table TBL of the cache area 6131 (S1090), and proceeds to step S1100.

[0061] In step S1100, the control unit 611 of the CDN server 61 reads information from the fields of "App ID," "Screen ID / Push Notification ID," "Display Text ID," "Original Language Language Code," "Original Language Text," "Foreign Language Language Code," "Foreign Language Text," "Size," "Style," and "Placement" in the relevant record in the table TBL of the cache area 6131 (the record searched for from the table TBL in step S1050 or the record added to the table TBL in step S1090), generates a translated text provision message including this information, and transmits this translated text provision message to the network 90.

[0062] When the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 receives the translated text provision message, it extracts the application identification information, screen / push notification identification information, display text identification information, language identification information of the foreign language to be translated, translated text data, size information, style information, and placement information from the translated text provision message, stores this information in the cache area 331 of the volatile memory unit 33 (S1110), and proceeds to step S1120.

[0063] In step S1120, the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 displays the translated text data, size information, style information, and layout information in the cache area 331 of the volatile storage unit 33 as display text on the display screen of the application AP'.

[0064] 14 shows an example of the display screen of the application AP′ when the default language of the OS 341 of the application user terminal 3 is Japanese. In this display example, seven display texts on the display screen of the application AP′ are converted from the original language, English, to the default language of the OS 341, Japanese.

[0065] In step S1130 of FIG. 13, the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 displays the text data in the original language, size information, style information, and layout information in the cache area as display text on the display screen of the application AP'.

[0066] FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the process performed by the application user terminal 3 when a push notification related to an application is received.

[0067] 15, the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 monitors whether a push notification related to the application AP' has been received (S2010). If the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 has received a push notification (S2010: Yes), the process proceeds to step S2020.

[0068] In step S2020, the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 checks the language set as the default in the OS 341 and determines whether the text data received as the push notification is the same as the default language of the OS 341. If the text data in the source language of the push notification is different from the default language of the OS 341 (S2020: No), the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 proceeds to step S2030, and if the text data is the same as the default language of the OS 341 (S2020: Yes), the control unit 31 proceeds to step S2040.

[0069] In step S2030, the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 determines whether translated text data of the push notification is stored in the cache area 331. If the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 determines that translated text data is not stored (S2030: No), the process proceeds to step S2040. If the control unit 31 determines that translated text data is stored (S2030: Yes), the process proceeds to step S2050.

[0070] In step S2040, the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 displays the text data in the source language as display text for the push notification.

[0071] In step S2050, the control unit 31 of the application user terminal 3 displays the translated text data in the cache area 331 as display text for the push notification.

[0072] 16 is a display example of a push notification when the default language of the OS 341 of the application user terminal 3 is Japanese. In this display example, the display text of the push notification is converted from the original language, English, to the default language of the OS 341, Japanese.

[0073] 17 and 18 are flowcharts of the process related to automatic detection and automatic translation of updates to the display text of the application AP′ in the second application provider terminal 2. In FIG.

[0074] In Figure 17, when application AP' is launched, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 stores in a specified area of ​​the volatile memory unit 23 the text data in the original language of each display text on the display screen of application AP', i.e., the text data described in the native content description section of application AP', and the text data received from the application server 951 and API server 961 by sending a request to these servers.

[0075] After the application AP' is launched in the second application provider terminal 2, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 monitors whether a trigger signal TR2 has been generated in the second application provider terminal 2 (S3010). This trigger signal TR2 triggers automatic detection and automatic translation of updates to the display text of the application AP'. The trigger signal TR2 may be generated when the application AP' is launched, or may be generated at a predetermined interval (e.g., every 24 hours). If the trigger signal TR2 has been generated in the second application provider terminal 2 (S3010: Yes), the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 proceeds to step S3020.

[0076] In step S3020, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 generates an update detection message including the application identification information of the application AP′ and addressed to a specific URL of the translation server 51, and transmits this update detection message over the network 90.

[0077] When the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 receives the update detection message, it extracts the application identification information from the update detection message and stores it in the volatile storage unit 513. The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 searches all records in the translated text DB 5142 and searches for records in the volatile storage unit 513 that include the application identification information (S3030).

[0078] The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 reads information from the fields of "App ID," "Screen ID / Push Notification ID," "Display Text ID," "Original Language Language Code," "Original Language Text," "Foreign Language Language Code," "Foreign Language Text," "Size," "Style," and "Layout" of the record searched from the translated text DB 5142, generates a translated text provision message including this information, and transmits this translated text provision message to the network 90 (S3040).

[0079] When the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 receives the translated text provision message, it extracts information from the translated text provision message and stores the extracted information in the volatile storage unit 23. The control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 compares the information extracted from the translated text provision message and stored in the volatile storage unit 23 with information previously stored in the volatile storage unit 23, and determines whether or not the most recently displayed text on the display screen of the application AP' contains text data in the original language and foreign language that has not yet been registered in the translated text DB 5142 (S3050). If the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 determines that the most recently displayed text on the display screen of the application AP' contains text data in the original language and foreign language that has not yet been registered in the translated text DB 5142 (S3050: Yes), the control unit 21 proceeds to step S3060.

[0080] Here, there are various modes for comparing information in step S3050. For example, the display text identification information of the translated display text extracted from the translated-text provision message (the display text identification information stored in the translated-text DB 5142) and the display text identification information stored in the volatile storage unit 23 (the display text identification information transmitted from the translation server 51 to the application provider second terminal 2 in the previous process related to automatic detection and automatic translation (FIGS. 17 and 18) (step S3090 in FIG. 18) and stored in the cache area 231 of the application provider second terminal 2 (step S3100 in FIG. 18)), or the display text identification information transmitted from the translation server 51 to the application provider second terminal 2 in the previous process related to automatic translation of the push notification (FIG. 19 shown below) may be compared. The application provider then compares the numbers of pieces of display text identification information (display text identification information) sent from the application provider second terminal 2 to the application provider second terminal 2 (step S4090 in FIG. 19) and stored in the cache area 231 of the application provider second terminal 2 (step S4100 in FIG. 19). If the numbers of display text identification information are different, it may be determined that at least one of the text data in the original language and the translated text data in the foreign language of the most recent display text on the display screen of the application AP' is not registered, and if the numbers of display text identification information are the same, it may be determined that the text data in the original language and the translated text data in the foreign language of the most recent display text on the display screen of the application AP' has been registered. Similarly, if the number of screen / push notification identification information for the translated display text extracted from the translated text provision message is different from the number of screen / push notification identification information stored in the volatile memory unit 23, it may be determined that at least one of the text data in the original language of the latest display text on the display screen of application AP' and the translated text data in the foreign language is not registered, and if the number of screen / push notification identification information is the same, it may be determined that the text data in the original language of the latest display text on the display screen of application AP' and the translated text data in the foreign language are registered.Alternatively, the number of pieces of text data in the original language extracted from the translated text provision message may be compared with the number of pieces of text data in the original language stored in the volatile storage unit 23, and if the numbers are different, it may be determined that the text data in the original language of the most recent display text on the display screen of the application AP' has not been registered, whereas if the numbers are the same, it may be determined that the text data in the original language of the most recent display text on the display screen of the application AP' has been registered. Alternatively, the number of pieces of translated text data extracted from the translated text provision message may be compared with the number of pieces of translated text data stored in the volatile storage unit 23, and if the numbers are different, it may be determined that the translated text data of the most recent display text on the display screen of the application AP' has not been registered, whereas if the numbers are the same, it may be determined that the translated text data of the most recent display text on the display screen of the application AP' has been registered.

[0081] In step S3060, the control unit 21 of the application provider second terminal 2 generates a registration request message addressed to a predetermined URL of the translation server 51, and transmits this registration request message over the network 90. ​​Specifically, if the control unit 21 of the application provider second terminal 2 determines in step S3050 that both the text data in the original language and the translated text data in the foreign language of the latest display text on the display screen of the application AP′ are unregistered, the control unit 21 generates a source language / foreign language translation registration request message including the application identification information of the application AP′, the screen / push notification identification information of the display screen containing the unregistered display text, the language identification information of the original language of the unregistered display text, the text data in the original language of the unregistered display text, and the language identification information of one or more foreign languages ​​that are preset as translation destinations, and transmits this source language / foreign language translation registration request message. If the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 determines in step S3050 that the text data in the original language of the latest display text on the display screen of application AP' has been registered but the translated text data in the foreign language has not been registered, the control unit 21 generates a foreign language translation registration request message including the application identification information of application AP', the screen / push notification identification information of the display screen on which the untranslated display text is located, the language identification information of the original language of the untranslated display text, the text data in the original language of the untranslated display text, and the language identification information of one or more foreign languages ​​that have been preset as translation destinations, and sends this foreign language translation registration request message.

[0082] When the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 receives the registration request message, it extracts information from the registration request message, stores the extracted information in the volatile storage unit 513, and performs translation processing (S3070). In this translation processing, if the registration request message received from the application provider second terminal 2 is a source language / foreign language translation registration request message, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 performs source language registration processing to add the application identification information, screen / push notification identification information, language identification information of the source language, and text data in the source language in the source language / foreign language translation registration request message as new records to the translated text DB 5142, and then translates the text data in the source language into one or more foreign languages ​​indicated by the language identification information of the foreign languages ​​to which the source language is to be translated, and performs foreign language registration processing to add the application identification information, screen / push notification identification information, language identification information of the source language, text data in the source language, language identification information, and translated text data in the source language / foreign language translation registration request message as new records to the translated text DB 5142. If the registration request message received from the application provider second terminal 2 is a foreign language translation registration request message, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 performs only the foreign language registration process without performing the original language registration process.

[0083] More specifically, in the foreign language registration process, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 sends text data in the source language to be translated to the bilingual DB server 41 (S3071). The control unit 411 of the bilingual DB server 41 performs a search process (S3072). In the search process, the control unit 411 of the bilingual DB server 41 searches the bilingual DB 4142 to determine whether there are proper nouns or phrases corresponding to the text data in the source language to be translated, and returns the search results to the translation server 51 (S3073). If the search in the bilingual DB 4142 yields search results that match the text data to be translated, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 stores the search results in the volatile storage unit 513 as translated text data. If a search of the bilingual DB 4142 does not yield any search results that match the text data to be translated, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 sends a query to the search engine site and the translation trained model to obtain translation results that match the text data to be translated, and stores the translation results as translated text data in the volatile storage unit 513. If the control unit 411 of the translation server 51 determines that the translated text data indicates a proper noun or phrase and requires registration in the bilingual DB 4142, it sends the language identification information of the source language, the text data in the source language, the language identification information of the foreign language to which the data is to be translated, and the translated text data to the bilingual DB server 41 (S3074). The control unit 411 of the bilingual DB server 41 performs a registration process (S3075). In the registration process, the control unit 411 of the bilingual DB server 41 generates a new record containing the language identification information of the original language, the text data of the original language, the language identification information of the foreign language to be translated, and the translated text data received from the translation server 51, and stores this record in the bilingual DB 4142.

[0084] After the translation process, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 stores "Save" in the "Status" field of the new record in the translated text DB 5142 (S3080). The "Size," "Style," and "Layout" fields in this new record may be left blank, or may contain default size, style, and layout information that is preset as default values.

[0085] In step S3090, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 reads the information of the “app ID,” “screen ID / push notification ID,” “display text ID,” “language code of original language,” “text in original language,” “language code of foreign language,” and “text in foreign language” of the record added to the translated text DB 5142, generates a translation registration message including this information, and transmits this translation registration message to the network 90.

[0086] When the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 receives the translation registration message, it extracts information from the translation registration message and stores the extracted information in the cache area 231 (S3100).

[0087] 17 and 18 , the second application provider terminal 2 performs processing related to automatic detection and automatic translation of updates to the display text of application AP′, and translated text data of the new display text on the display screen of application AP′ is added to translated text DB 5142 of translation server 51. After that, when trigger signal TR1 is generated in the application user terminal 3, the application user terminal 3 performs processing in the order of step S1010: Yes → step S1020: No → step S1030: No → step S1040 in FIG. 12 , whereby a translated text request message is sent from the application user terminal 3 to the CDN server 61. At this point, there is no translated text data of the new display text in table TBL of cache area 6131 of CDN server 61, so the processing proceeds to step S1050: No → step S1060, whereby a translated text request message is sent from the CDN server 61 to the translation server 51. In step S1070, the translation server 51 reads new translated text data from the translated text DB 5142 and transmits it to the CDN server 61. In step S1090, the CDN server 61 stores this new translated text data in table TBL of cache area 6131, and in step S1100, a translated text provision message including this new translated text data is transmitted from the CDN server 61 to the application user terminal 3. In step S1110, the application user terminal 3 stores this new translated text data in cache area 331. Thereafter, when the trigger signal TR1 is generated again in the application user terminal 3, the process in the application user terminal 3 proceeds as follows: step S1010: Yes → step S1020: No → step S1030. At this point, the new translated text data is in the cache area 331, so the judgment result of step S1030 is "Yes", and the process proceeds to step S1120, where the translated text data of the new display text is displayed as the display text on the display screen of application AP'.

[0088] By repeating the above process, even if the text data provided to the application user terminal 3 from the application server 951 or API server 961 is updated without the knowledge of the application provider, the language of the displayed content on the application user terminal 3 can be made to follow the update.

[0089] 19 is a flowchart of processing related to the automatic translation of a push notification related to the application AP′ in the application provider second terminal 2. Here, as preparation work for the automatic translation of this push notification, the application provider sets the application provider second terminal 2 as a test environment and test-distributes to the application provider second terminal 2 a push notification that is scheduled to be delivered to the application user terminal 3. Specifically, the application provider accesses the push notification registration site of the application server 951 and registers the message of the push notification that is scheduled to be delivered and information about the device token of the application provider second terminal 2. Once this registration is complete, the application server 951 transmits information about the push notification registered by the application provider to the push notification server 971, and the push notification server 971 transmits the push notification to the application provider second terminal 2.

[0090] 19 , the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 monitors whether a push notification related to the application AP′ has been received (S4010). If a push notification has been received (S4010: Yes), the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 proceeds to step S4060.

[0091] In step S4060, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 generates a registration request message addressed to a predetermined URL of the translation server 51, and transmits this registration request message over the network 90. ​​Specifically, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 compares the text data of the display text of the push notification to be distributed with information previously stored in the volatile storage unit 23, and determines whether or not the display text of the push notification to be distributed includes text data in the original language and the foreign language for which registration has not yet been completed in the translated text DB 5142. If the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 determines that both the text data in the original language and the translated text data in the foreign language of the display text of the push notification to be distributed are unregistered, it generates an original language / foreign language translation registration request message including the application identification information of the application AP', the screen / push notification identification information of the unregistered push notification, the language identification information of the original language of the unregistered push notification, the text data in the original language of the unregistered push notification, and the language identification information of one or more foreign languages ​​that are pre-set as translation destinations, and sends this original language / foreign language translation registration request message. If the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 determines that the text data in the original language of the display text of the push notification to be distributed has been registered but the translated text data in the foreign language has not been registered, the control unit 21 generates a foreign language translation registration request message including the application identification information of the application AP', the screen / push notification identification information of the untranslated push notification, the language identification information of the original language of the untranslated push notification, the text data in the original language of the untranslated push notification, and the language identification information of one or more foreign languages ​​that have been preset as translation destinations, and sends this foreign language translation registration request message.

[0092] When the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 receives the registration request message, it extracts the information in the registration request message, stores the extracted information in the volatile storage unit 513, and performs translation processing (S4070). In this translation process, if the registration request message received from the second application provider terminal 2 is an original language / foreign language translation registration request message, an original language registration process is performed in which the application identification information, push notification screen / push notification identification information, language identification information of the original language of the push notification, and text data of the original language of the push notification in the original language / foreign language translation registration request message are added as new records to the translated text DB 5142. After that, the text data of the original language of the push notification is translated into one or more foreign languages ​​indicated by the language identification information of the foreign language to which the push notification is translated, and a foreign language registration process is performed in which the application identification information, push notification screen / push notification identification information, language identification information of the original language of the push notification, text data of the original language of the push notification, language identification information of the foreign language to which the push notification is translated, and translated text data of the push notification in the original language / foreign language translation registration request message are added as new records to the translated text DB 5142. If the registration request message received from the second application provider terminal 2 is a foreign language translation registration request message, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 performs only the foreign language registration process without performing the source language registration process. The procedures of steps S4070, S4071, S4072, S4073, S4074, and S4075 in this translation process are the same as the procedures of steps S3070, S3071, S3072, S3073, S3074, and S3075 in the translation process of FIG. 18.

[0093] After the translation process, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 stores "Publish" in the "Status" field of the new record in the translated text DB 5142 (S4080), and proceeds to step S4090. The "Size," "Style," and "Layout" fields in this new record may be left blank, or may contain size information, style information, and layout information that are preset as initial values.

[0094] In step S4090, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 reads the information of the “app ID,” “screen ID / push notification ID,” “display text ID,” “language code of original language,” “text in original language,” “language code of foreign language,” and “text in foreign language” of the record added to the translated text DB 5142, generates a translation registration message including this information, and transmits this translation registration message to the network 90.

[0095] When the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 receives the translated text provision message, it extracts information from the translated text provision message and stores the extracted information in the cache area 231 (S4100).

[0096] 19 is performed by the second application provider terminal 2, and the translated text data of the push notification to be delivered is added to the translated text DB 5142 of the translation server 51. Then, when a trigger signal TR1 is generated in the application user terminal 3, the process proceeds as follows: Step S1010: Yes → Step S1020: No → Step S1030: No → Step S1040 → Step S1050: No → Step S1060 → Step S1070 in FIG. 12. At this point, the translated text data of the push notification to be delivered is stored in the translated text DB 5142. Therefore, in step S1070, the translated text data of the push notification to be delivered is read from the translated text DB 5142 along with the translated text data of other display text on the display screen, and is transmitted to the CDN server 61. In step S1090, the CDN server 61 stores the translated text data of the push notification in table TBL in cache area 6131. ​​In step S1100, a translated text provision message including the translated text data of the push notification is sent from the CDN server 61 to the application user terminal 3. In step S1110, the application user terminal 3 stores the translated text data of the push notification in cache area 331. Thereafter, when the application user terminal 3 receives the push notification that was scheduled to be delivered, the process proceeds as follows: step S2010: Yes → step S2020: No → step S2030 in FIG. 15 . At this point, the translated text data of the push notification is in cache area 331, so the determination result in step S2030 is "Yes," and the process proceeds to step S2050, where the translated text data is displayed as display text for the push notification.

[0097] 20 and 21 are flowcharts of the process relating to editing of translated text data of the application AP′ in the first terminal 1 of the application provider.

[0098] In FIG. 20, when the browser 142 is launched on the first application provider terminal 1 and a predetermined operation related to viewing the editing screen is performed, the control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 generates an editing first screen request message including the application identification information of the application AP′ and addressed to the URL of the editing first screen in the translation server 51, and transmits this editing first screen request message to the network 90 (S5010).

[0099] When the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 receives the edit first screen request message, it extracts the application identification information from the edit first screen request message and stores it in the volatile storage unit 513. The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 searches all records in the translated text DB 5142 and searches for records in the volatile storage unit 513 that include the application identification information (S5020).

[0100] The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 reads information from the fields of "App ID," "Screen ID / Push Notification ID," "Display Text ID," "Original Language Language Code," "Original Language Text," "Foreign Language Language Code," "Foreign Language Text," "Size," "Style," and "Layout" of the record searched for in the translated text DB 5142. The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 embeds the information of the record searched for in the translated text DB 5142 in a predetermined location in the template for the first editing screen of the application AP', generates markup data for the first editing screen, and transmits this markup data to the network 90 (S5030).

[0101] When the control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 receives the markup data of the first editing screen, the control unit 11 stores the markup data in the volatile storage unit 13. The control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 interprets the markup data of the first editing screen in the volatile storage unit 13, specifies the layout of the first editing screen, and displays the first editing screen (S5040).

[0102] FIG. 22 is a display example of the first editing screen on the first application provider terminal 1. On the first editing screen, a plurality of screen images SRC-i (i = 1 to L: L is the total number of display screens in the application AP', L = 5 in the example of FIG. 22) that imitate each display screen of the application AP' are arranged. The screen images SRC-i are largest in size in the middle, and get smaller as they move further to the left and right. The middle screen image SRC-i is the tentatively selected screen image SRC-i. A left shift button 181L and a right shift button 181R are located at positions to the left and right of the middle screen image SRC-i. The left shift button 181L and the right shift button 181R are used to cycle through the screen images SRC-i (i = 1 to L). When the mouse pointer is moved to the left shift button 181L and a left click is performed, the leftmost screen image SRC-i moves to the rightmost position, and the other screen images SRC-i shift one position to the left. When the mouse pointer is moved to the right shift button 181R and a left click is performed, the rightmost screen image SRC-i moves to the leftmost position, and the other screen images SRC-i shift one position to the right. On the first editing screen, the operator of the application provider performs a screen selection operation. In the screen selection operation, the mouse pointer is moved onto the middle screen image SRC-i and a left click is performed.

[0103] If a screen selection operation has been performed on the first edit screen (S5170: Yes), the control unit 11 of the application provider first terminal 1 proceeds to step S5180.

[0104] In step S5180, the control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 generates a request message for an edited second screen, which includes the screen / push notification identification information of the display screen selected by the screen selection operation and is addressed to the URL of the edited second screen in the translation server 51, and transmits this request message for an edited second screen to the network 90.

[0105] After transmitting the markup data for the first edit screen to the first application provider terminal 1, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 monitors whether a second edit screen request message has been received from the first application provider terminal 1. If the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 has received a second edit screen request message (S5190: Yes), the control unit 511 proceeds to step S5200.

[0106] In step S5200, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 extracts screen / push notification identification information from the second edit screen request message and stores it in the volatile storage unit 513. The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 searches all records in the translated text DB 5142, searches the volatile storage unit 513 for records containing screen / push notification identification information, and reads information from the "Screen ID / Push Notification ID," "Display Text ID," "Language Code of Original Language," "Text in Original Language," "Language Code of Foreign Language," "Text in Foreign Language," "Size," "Style," and "Layout" fields of the records searched for in the translated text DB 5142. The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 then embeds the information of the records searched for in the translated text DB 5142 in predetermined locations in the template for the second edit screen of the application AP' to generate markup data for the second edit screen, and transmits this markup data to the network 90 (S5210).

[0107] When the control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 receives the markup data of the second editing screen, the control unit 11 stores the markup data in the volatile storage unit 13. The control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 interprets the markup data of the second editing screen in the volatile storage unit 13, specifies the layout of the second editing screen, and displays the second editing screen (S5220).

[0108] FIG. 23 shows an example of the display of the second editing screen on the first terminal 1 of the application provider. The second editing screen includes a language display field 182 and a bilingual list 183. The left side of the language display field 182 displays information about the source language (EN in the example of FIG. 23), and the right side displays information about the translation language (JP in the example of FIG. 23). The bilingual list 183 is a vertical arrangement of bilingual display fields 185-j (j = 1 to M: M is the total number of display texts on the display screen; in the example of FIG. 23, M = 8) for each display text on the display screen. The left frame of the bilingual display field 185-j displays information about the source language of the display text, and the right frame displays information about the translated word of the display text. On the second editing screen, the operator of the application provider performs language switching and correction operations. In the language switching operation, the mouse pointer is moved to the pull-down expansion button 184 in the language display field 182 and left-clicked to expand the pull-down (not shown), and the mouse pointer is moved to the desired language in the pull-down and left-clicked. When the language switching operation is performed, the translated word information in the box on the right side of the translation list 183 is switched to that of the language selected by the language switching operation. In the correction operation, the mouse pointer is moved to the translation display field 185-j of the desired display text in the translation list 183 and left-clicked to activate the correction box, and the characters in this correction box are rewritten.

[0109] If a correction operation has been performed on the second edit screen (S5230: Yes), the control unit 11 of the application provider first terminal 1 proceeds to step S5240.

[0110] In step S5240, the control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 generates a translation rewrite request message addressed to the translation server 51, and includes the display text identification information of the display text corrected by the correction operation, the language identification information of the source language and the foreign language to which the translation was made in the language display field 182 at the time of the correction operation, and the corrected text data, and transmits this translation rewrite request message over the network 90. ​​Then, the process returns to step S5230.

[0111] When the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 receives the translation rewrite request message, it extracts the display text identification information, the language identification information of the source language, the language identification information of the foreign language to which the translation is to be made, and the corrected text data from the translation rewrite request message, and stores these in the volatile storage unit 513. The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 searches all records in the translated text DB 5142, and searches for records in the volatile storage unit 513 that include the display text identification information (S5250).

[0112] The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 rewrites the text data of the "foreign language text" of the record retrieved from the translated text DB 5142 with the corrected text data in the volatile storage unit 513 (S5260).

[0113] 24, 25, and 26 are flowcharts of the process relating to editing of translated text data of the application AP′ in the second application provider terminal 2.

[0114] While any display screen of the application AP′ is displayed, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 monitors whether a trigger signal TR3 has been generated in the second application provider terminal 2 (S6010). This trigger signal TR3 triggers translation and editing by the second application provider terminal 2 alone. The trigger signal TR3 may be generated when the second application provider terminal 2 is shaken, as shown in FIG. 27 . Specifically, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 may determine that the second application provider terminal 2 has been shaken when the waveform of the output signal from the acceleration sensor 26 matches a predetermined pattern, and may generate the trigger signal TR3. If the trigger signal TR3 has been generated in the second application provider terminal 2 (S6010: Yes), the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 proceeds to step S6020.

[0115] In step S6020, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 generates a translated text request message addressed to a specified URL of the translation server 51, and includes the screen / push notification identification information of the display screen of the application AP′ at the time when the trigger signal TR3 was generated, the display text identification information of the display text on the display screen, and the language identification information of the foreign language to be translated, and transmits this translated text request message over the network 90.

[0116] When the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 receives the translated text request message, it extracts the screen / push notification identification information, the display text identification information, and the language identification information of the foreign language to be translated from the translated text request message and stores them in the volatile storage unit 513. The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 searches all records in the translated text DB 5142 and searches for records in the volatile storage unit 513 that contain translated text data that corresponds to the screen / push notification identification information and the display text identification information (S6030).

[0117] The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 reads information from the fields of "Screen ID / Push Notification ID," "Display Text ID," "Language Code of Original Language," "Text in Original Language," "Language Code of Foreign Language," "Text in Foreign Language," "Size," "Style," and "Layout" of the record searched from the translated text DB 5142, generates a translated text provision message including this information, and transmits this translated text provision message to the network 90 (S6040).

[0118] When the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 receives the translated text provision message, it extracts the information in the translated text provision message and stores the extracted information in the cache area 231 (S6050), and proceeds to step S6060.

[0119] In step S6060, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 displays the third editing screen based on the language identification information of the foreign language to be translated, the translated text data, the size information, the style information, and the placement information in the cache area 231.

[0120] FIG. 28A shows an example of the display of the third editing screen on the second application provider terminal 2. The third editing screen includes a language display field 281, a bilingual list 282, a scroll bar 283, a first button 286, a second button 287, and a third button 288. The language display field 281 displays the language identification information of the foreign language to which the text is to be translated (JP in the example of FIG. 28A). The bilingual list 282 is a vertical arrangement of bilingual display fields 285-k (k = 1 to N: N is the total number of displayed texts on the display screen; in the example of FIG. 28A, N = 7) for each displayed text on the display screen. The scroll bar 283 is used to scroll the display range of the bilingual list 282 up and down. The bilingual display field 285-k displays information about the translated words of the displayed text. The first button 286 contains the word "Preview." The second button 287 contains the word "Cancel." The third button 288 has the word "Publish" written inside it.

[0121] On the second editing screen, the operator of the application provider performs a language switching operation, a correction operation, a preview operation, a cancel operation, or a publish operation. To perform a language switching operation, the operator touches the language display field 281 to expand a pull-down menu (not shown), and then touches the desired language in the pull-down menu. When the language switching operation is performed, the information in the translation display field 285-k (k=1 to N: N is the total number of texts displayed on the display screen; in the example of FIG. 28 , N=7) of the translation list 282 is switched to the information in the language selected by the language switching operation.

[0122] As shown in Figure 28 (B), in the correction operation, the desired translation display field 285-k in the translation list 282 is touched to activate the correction box 285'-k, and the information on the characters, size, style, or placement of the translated word in this correction box 285'-k is rewritten.

[0123] For the Preview operation, the first button 286 is touched. For the Cancel operation, the second button 287 is touched. For the Publish operation, the third button 288 is touched.

[0124] If a correction operation has been performed on the third editing screen (S6070: Yes), the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 proceeds to step S6080, and if a correction operation has not been performed, the control unit 21 proceeds to step S6120.

[0125] In step S6080, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 rewrites the translated text data, size information, style information, or layout information of the display text corrected by the correction operation in the cache area 231. Thereafter, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 generates a translation rewrite request message addressed to the translation server 51 and including the rewritten information in the cache area 231, and transmits this translation rewrite request message over the network 90 (S6090).

[0126] When the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 receives the translation rewrite request message, it extracts the display text identification information, translated text data, size information, style information, and placement information from the translation rewrite request message and stores them in the volatile storage unit 513. The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 searches all records in the translated text DB 5142 and searches for records in the volatile storage unit 513 that include the display text identification information (S6100).

[0127] The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 rewrites the information in the "Foreign Language Text," "Size," "Style," or "Layout" fields of the record searched from the translated text DB 5142 with the corrected information in the volatile memory unit 513 (S6110).

[0128] If the Preview operation is performed on the third editing screen (S6120: Yes), the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 proceeds to step S6130, and if the Preview operation is not performed, the control unit 21 proceeds to step S6140.

[0129] In step S6130, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 displays the translated text data, size information, style information, and placement information in the cache area 231 of the volatile memory unit 23 as a preview screen of the application AP', and proceeds to step S6140.

[0130] In step S6140, if a Cancel operation is performed on the third editing screen (S6140: Yes), the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 restores the information in the cache area 331 of the volatile storage unit 33 to the information before rewriting, and returns to step S6070. If a Cancel operation is not performed (S6140: No), proceed to step S6150.

[0131] If the Publish operation has been performed on the third edit screen (S6150: Yes), the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 proceeds to step S6160, and if the Publish operation has not been performed (S6150: No), the control unit 21 returns to step S6070.

[0132] In step S6160, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 generates a status change request message including the display text identification information in the cache area 331 and addressed to a specified URL of the translation server 51, and transmits this status change request message over the network 90.

[0133] When the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 receives the status change request message, it extracts the display text identification information from the status change request message and stores it in the volatile storage unit 513. The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 searches all records in the translated text DB 5142 and searches for records in the volatile storage unit 513 that include the display text identification information (S6170).

[0134] The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 rewrites the information in the "Status" field of the record retrieved from the translated text DB 5142 to "Publish" (S6180). After rewriting the information in the "Status" field, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 reads information from the "App ID," "Screen ID / Push Notification ID," "Display Text ID," "Original Language Language Code," "Original Language Text," "Foreign Language Language Code," "Foreign Language Text," "Size," "Style," and "Position" fields of the rewritten record, and transmits this information to the CDN server 61 (S6190).

[0135] The control unit 611 of the CDN server 61 stores the app identification information, screen / push notification identification information, display text identification information, language identification information of the original language, text data of the original language, language identification information of the foreign language to which the text is to be translated, translated text data, size information, style information, and placement information received from the translation server 51 as new records in the table TBL of the cache area 6131 of the volatile memory unit 613 (S6200).

[0136] 29, 30, and 31 are flowcharts of the process of editing the translated text data of the application AP′ by the first application provider terminal 1 and the second application provider terminal 2. In FIG.

[0137] 29 , when the browser 142 is launched on the first application provider terminal 1 and a predetermined operation related to viewing the first editing screen is performed, the control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 sends a first editing screen request message (S7010), the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 searches for a corresponding record in the translated text DB 5142 (S7020), sends markup data for the first editing screen with information from this record embedded (S7030), and the control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 displays the first editing screen ( FIG. 22 ) (S7040). The processing of steps S7010, S7020, S7030, and S7040 is the same as the processing of steps S5010, S5020, S5030, and S5040 in FIG. 20 .

[0138] In conjunction with the display of the first editing screen on the first application provider terminal 1, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 monitors whether or not a trigger signal TR4 has been generated within the second application provider terminal 2 (S7051). This trigger signal TR4 serves as a trigger for collaborative translation and editing by the first application provider terminal 1 and the second application provider terminal 2. The trigger signal TR4 may be generated at a predetermined interval (for example, every 5 seconds).

[0139] When the trigger signal TR4 is generated in the second application provider terminal 2 (S7051: Yes), the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 transmits a translated text request message (S7052). The process of step S7052 is the same as the process of step S6020 in FIG. 24 .

[0140] When the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 receives the translated text request message, it searches for the corresponding record in the translated text DB 5142 (S7100) and sends a translated text provision message including information from this record to the second application provider terminal 2 (S7110). The processing in steps S7100 and S7110 is the same as the processing in steps S6030 and S6040 in FIG. 24.

[0141] When the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 receives the translated text provision message, it extracts the information in the translated text provision message and stores the extracted information in the cache area 231 (S7115), and proceeds to step S7116.

[0142] In step S7116, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 displays the translated text data, size information, style information, and layout information in the cache area 331 as display text on the display screen of the application AP', captures this display screen, and transmits image data of the captured image to the translation server 51. Then, the process returns to step S7051.

[0143] After transmitting the translated text provision message to the second application provider terminal 2, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 monitors transmission of image data from the second application provider terminal 2. If the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 has received image data (S7121: Yes), the control unit 511 stores the received image data in a predetermined area of ​​the volatile storage unit 23 (S7122) and proceeds to step S7190.

[0144] In step S7190, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 monitors whether or not a second edit screen request message has been received from the application provider first terminal 1. If the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 has received a second edit screen request message (S7190: Yes), the process proceeds to step S7200.

[0145] In step S7200, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 extracts screen / push notification identification information from the second edit screen request message and stores it in the volatile storage unit 513. The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 searches all records in the translated text DB 5142, searches the volatile storage unit 513 for records containing screen / push notification identification information, and reads information from the "Screen ID / Push Notification ID," "Display Text ID," "Source Language Language Code," "Source Language Text," "Foreign Language Language Code," "Foreign Language Text," "Size," "Style," and "Layout" fields of the records searched for in the translated text DB 5142. The control unit 511 of the translation server 51 then embeds the information of the records searched for in the translated text DB 5142 and the latest image data received from the application provider second terminal 2 in predetermined locations in the template for the second edit screen of the application AP' to generate markup data for the second edit screen, and transmits this markup data to the network 90 (S7210).

[0146] When the control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 receives the markup data of the second editing screen, the control unit 11 stores the markup data in the volatile storage unit 13. The control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 interprets the markup data of the second editing screen in the volatile storage unit 13, specifies the layout of the second editing screen, and displays the second editing screen (S7220).

[0147] 32 is a display example of the second editing screen displayed in step S7220. Unlike the second editing screen ( FIG. 23 ) when translation and editing is performed solely by the application provider first terminal 1, the second editing screen ( FIG. 32 ) when editing work is performed by the application provider first terminal 1 and the application provider second terminal 2 has a captured image IMG of the image data received from the application provider second terminal 2 embedded to the left of the translation list 183. On this second editing screen, the operator of the application provider performs language switching operations and correction operations.

[0148] If a correction operation has been performed on the second edit screen (S7230: Yes), the control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 proceeds to step S7240 and transmits a translation rewrite request message to the translation server 51. If a correction operation has not been performed (S7230: No), the control unit 11 proceeds to step S7270 and monitors whether a screen update trigger signal TR5 has been generated. The screen update trigger signal TR5 may be generated at a predetermined interval (e.g., every second). If a screen update trigger signal TR5 has been generated (S7270: Yes), the control unit 11 of the first application provider terminal 1 proceeds to step S7180 and retransmits the second edit screen request message. If a screen update trigger signal TR5 has not been generated (S7270: No), the control unit 11 proceeds to step S7230 and waits for a correction operation.

[0149] When the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 receives the translation rewrite request message, it searches for the corresponding record in the translated text DB 5142 (S7250) and rewrites the translated text data of the searched record (S7260). The processing in steps S7250 and S7260 is the same as the processing in steps S6100 and S6110 in FIG. 25.

[0150] 29, 30, and 31, in the process related to editing of translated text data of application AP' by the first application provider terminal 1 and the second application provider terminal 2, capturing of the display screen of application AP' on the second application provider terminal 2 and updating of the second editing screen on the first application provider terminal 1, into which the captured image is embedded, are performed in real time. Thus, the operator of the application provider can proceed with the correction work while checking the display screen after the correction.

[0151] 29, 30, and 31 are performed by the first application provider terminal 1 and the second application provider terminal 2, and the translated text data in the translated text DB 5142 of the translation server 51 is rewritten. After that, when a trigger signal TR1 is generated in the application user terminal 3, the application user terminal 3 proceeds with the process in the order of Step S1010: Yes → Step S1020: No → Step S1030: No → Step S1040 in FIG. 12 , whereby a translated text request message is sent from the application user terminal 3 to the CDN server 61. At this point, the translated text data in the table TBL of the cache area 6131 of the CDN server 61 has not yet been rewritten, so the process proceeds with Step S1050: No → Step S1060, whereby the CDN server 61 sends a translated text request message to the translation server 51. In step S1070, the translation server 51 reads the rewritten translated text data from the translated text DB 5142 and transmits it to the CDN server 61. In step S1090, the CDN server 61 stores the rewritten translated text data in table TBL of cache area 6131, and in step S1100, a translated text provision message including the rewritten translated text data is transmitted from the CDN server 61 to the application user terminal 3. In step S1110, the application user terminal 3 stores the rewritten translated text data in cache area 331. Thereafter, when the trigger signal TR1 is generated again in the application user terminal 3, the process in the application user terminal 3 proceeds as follows: step S1010: Yes → step S1020: No → step S1030 in FIG. 12 . At this point, the rewritten translated text data is in the cache area 331, so the judgment result of step S1030 is "Yes", and the process proceeds to step S1120, where the translated text data corrected on the second editing screen is displayed as the display text on the display screen of application AP'.

[0152] The above is the details of this embodiment. The mobile terminal application usage support system 8 of this embodiment includes mobile terminals 2 and 3 on which OSs 241 and 341 and a predetermined application AP' running on the OSs 241 and 341 are installed, display text providing servers 951 and 961 that transmit text data of the display text on the display screen of the application AP' to the mobile terminals 2 and 3 in response to a request from the mobile terminals 2 and 3, and a translation system 4 that supports switching the language of the display text on the mobile terminals 2 and 3. The translation system 4 includes a translation server 51 and a CDN server 61.

[0153] In this embodiment, a translation support method is realized by the mobile terminal application usage support system 8, and this translation support method includes the steps of: determining by the mobile terminal 3 whether the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application AP' (the text data of the native content description section of the application AP' itself, the text data received from the display text providing servers 951, 961) is in the default language of the mobile terminal 3; if the mobile terminal 3 determines that the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application AP' is not in the default language of the mobile terminal 3, generating a translated text request message including display text identification information of the display text on the display screen of the application AP' and addressed to a predetermined address in the CDN server 61, and transmitting this translated text request message; When the CDN server 61 receives a translated text request message, it determines whether translated text data corresponding to the display text identification information in the translated text request message is stored in a cache area 6131 of the storage means of the CDN server 61, and if stored, reads out the translated text data in the cache area 6131 and sends it to the mobile terminal 3; if not stored, it requests translated text data of the display text from the translation server 51, receives the translated text data from the translation server 51, stores the translated text data in the cache area 6131 in association with the display text identification information, and sends the translated text data to the mobile terminal 3; and the mobile terminal 3 receives the translated text data and displays the translated text data as display text on the display screen of the application AP'.

[0154] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the CDN server 61 of the translation system 4 includes: a determining means for determining, when a translated text request message including display text identification information of the display text on the display screen of the application AP' and addressed to a predetermined address in the CDN server 61 from the mobile terminal 3, whether translated text data corresponding to the display text identification information in the translated text request message is stored in the cache area 6131 of the storage means of the CDN server 61; a first processing means for reading out the translated text data in the cache area 6131 and transmitting it to the mobile terminal 3 when the determining means determines that translated text data corresponding to the display text identification information in the translated text request message is stored in the cache area 6131; If the determination means determines that translated text data corresponding to the display text identification information in the translated text request message is not stored in the cache area 6131, the determination means requests the translation server 51 to provide translated text data for the display text, receives the translated text data from the translation server 51, stores the translated text data in the cache area 61311 in association with the display text identification information, and transmits the translated text data to the mobile terminal 3.

[0155] With this configuration, according to this embodiment, it is possible to efficiently translate the display text of the mobile terminal application AP' into multiple languages.

[0156] Furthermore, the translation support method of this embodiment includes the steps of: when the mobile terminal 2 of the app provider receives a push notification related to application AP', transmitting to the translation system 4 a translation registration request message that includes the push notification identification information of the push notification and requests the registration of text data of the display text of the unregistered push notification and translated text data obtained by translating the text data from the original language into a specified foreign language; when the translation system 4 receives the translation registration request message, translating the untranslated text data of the push notification that corresponds to the push notification identification information in the translation registration request message from the original language into the specified foreign language, and storing the translated text data obtained by this translation in a storage means of the translation system 4 in association with the push notification identification information in the translation registration request message; and when the mobile terminal 3 of the app user receives from the translation system 4 the translated text data of the push notification related to application AP', storing the received translated text data in a cache area 331 of the storage means of the mobile terminal 3, and thereafter, when text data in the original language of the push notification related to application AP' is received, displaying the translated text data in the cache area 331 as the display text of the push notification related to application AP'.

[0157] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the translation system 4 includes: a storage means for storing push notification identification information of a push notification related to a predetermined application AP' running on the OS 241, 341 of the mobile terminal 2, 3, and translated text data obtained by translating text data in the original language of the push notification into a predetermined foreign language, in association with each other; a first processing means for, when a translation registration request message including push notification identification information of an untranslated push notification related to the application AP' is received from the mobile terminal 2 of the application provider that is the provider of the application AP', translating the text data of the untranslated push notification corresponding to the push notification identification information in the translation registration request message from the original language into the predetermined foreign language, and storing the translated text data obtained by this translation in association with the push notification identification information in the translation registration request message in the storage means; and second processing means for, when receiving a translated text request message including push notification identification information from a mobile terminal 3 of an application user who is a user of application AP', reading out translated text data stored in the storage means in association with the push notification identification information in the translated text request message, and transmitting the read translated text data to the mobile terminal 3 of the application user.

[0158] With this configuration, according to this embodiment, the display text of the push notification of the mobile terminal application AP' can be made multilingual.

[0159] Furthermore, the translation support method of this embodiment includes the steps of: when a predetermined trigger signal is generated in the mobile terminal 2 of the application provider, the mobile terminal 2 of the application provider transmits and receives a message to the translation system 4; and based on the result of the message transmission and reception, confirming whether or not the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application and the translated text data obtained by translating the text data from the original language into a predetermined foreign language are stored in the translated text DB 5142 of the translation system 4; and if the text data of the original language and the translated text data of the foreign language are not stored in the translated text DB 5142, transmitting a translation registration request message to the translation system 4 requesting the registration of the text data of the unregistered display text and the translated text data obtained by translating the text data from the original language into the predetermined foreign language. When the translation system 4 receives a translation registration request message, it determines whether translated text data corresponding to the display text identification information in the translation registration request message is stored in the storage means of the translation system 4, and if not, it translates the untranslated text data of the display text corresponding to the display text identification information in the translation registration request message from the original language to a predetermined foreign language, and stores the translated text data obtained by this translation in the storage means in association with the display text identification information in the translation registration request message; the application user's mobile terminal 3 determines whether the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application AP' (the text data of the native content description section of the application AP' itself, the text data received from the display text providing servers 951, 961) is in the default language of the mobile terminal 3; and when the application user's mobile terminal 3 determines that the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application AP' is not in the default language of the mobile terminal 3, it sends a translated text request message to the translation system 4 including the display text identification information of the display text on the display screen of the application AP'.the translation system 4, when receiving a translated text request message, determines whether translated text data corresponding to the display text identification information in the translated text request message is stored in the storage means, and if so, reads out the translated text data from the storage means and sends it to the mobile terminal 3 of the application user; the application user's mobile terminal 3 determines whether the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application AP' (the text data of the native content description section of the application AP' itself, the text data received from the display text providing servers 951, 961) is in the default language of the mobile terminal 2, 3, and if it determines that the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application AP' is not in the default language of the mobile terminal 2, 3, generates a translated text request message including the display text identification information of the display text on the display screen of the application AP' and addressed to a predetermined address in the translation system 4, and sends this translated text request message; The method includes a step in which, when the translation system 4 receives a translated text request message, the translation system 4 transmits translated text data stored in a storage means in association with display text identification information in the translated text request message to the mobile terminal 3 of the application user, and a step in which the mobile terminal 3 of the application user receives the translated text data and displays the translated text data as display text on the display screen of the application AP'.

[0160] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the translation system 4 includes a storage means for storing application identification information of a predetermined application AP' running on the OS 241, 341 of the mobile terminal 2, 3, display text identification information of display text on the display screen of the application AP', and translated text data obtained by translating text data in the original language of the display text into a predetermined foreign language, in association with each other; a first processing means for, when receiving an update detection message including the application identification information of the application AP' from the mobile terminal 2 of the application provider that provides the application AP', reading from the storage means the translated text data corresponding to the application identification information in the update detection message, and transmitting a translated text provision message including the read translated text data to the mobile terminal 2 of the application provider; The system is provided with: second processing means, which, when a translation registration request message including display text identification information of untranslated display text on the display screen of application AP' is received from the mobile terminal 2 of the app provider after the translated text provision message is sent, translates untranslated text data of the display text corresponding to the display text identification information in the translation registration request message from the original language to a predetermined foreign language, and stores the translated text data obtained by this translation in correspondence with the display text identification information in the translation registration request message in the storage means; and third processing means, when a translated text request message including display text identification information of the display text on the display screen of application AP' is received from the mobile terminal 3 of the app user who is a user of application AP', reads out the translated text data stored in the storage means in correspondence with the display text identification information in the translated text request message, and transmits the read translated text data to the mobile terminal 3 of the app user.

[0161] With this configuration, according to this embodiment, the provider of the mobile terminal application AP' can translate the display text of the application AP' on the app user's mobile terminal 3 into a foreign language simply by sending a message from their own mobile terminal 2 to the translation system 4, without having to rewrite the code of the application AP'. Thus, according to this embodiment, multilingualization of the mobile terminal application AP' can be realized without wasting human and financial resources.

[0162] Furthermore, the translation support method of this embodiment includes the steps of: when a predetermined trigger signal is generated within the second terminal 2 of the application provider, capturing a display screen on which the translated text data is laid out as display text for the application AP', and transmitting the image data obtained by this capturing to the translation system 4; the translation system 4 receiving the image data from the second terminal 2 and storing the received image data in a second storage means; the first terminal 1 of the application provider transmitting an edit screen request message addressed to the translation system 4 and including screen identification information for the display screen of the application AP'; and when the translation system 4 receives the edit screen request message, reading from the first storage means the translated text data corresponding to the screen identification information in the edit screen request message, and reading from the second storage means the image data currently stored in the second storage means, generating markup data for the edit screen including the translated text data read from the first storage means and the image data read from the second storage means, and transmitting this markup data to the first terminal 1 of the application provider. The first terminal 1 of the application provider receives markup data of the editing screen from the translation system 4, and displays the editing screen based on this markup data; when an operation to modify translated text data of the display content on the editing screen is performed, the first terminal 1 of the application provider transmits a translation rewrite request message to the translation system 4, the translation message including display text identification information of the modified display content and the modified text data; the translation system 4 receives the translation rewrite request message from the first terminal 1 of the application provider, and rewrites the translated text data corresponding to the display text identification information in the translation rewrite request message with the text data in the translation rewrite request message; and the mobile terminal 3 of the application user transmits a translated text request message to the translation system 4, the translated text request message including screen identification information of the display screen of the application AP'.The method includes the steps of: when the translation system 4 receives a translated text request message, reading translated text data corresponding to the screen identification information in the translated text request message from the first storage means, and transmitting the read translated text data to the mobile terminal 3 of the application user; and; receiving the translated text data from the translation system 4, and displaying the received translated text data as display text on the display screen of the application AP', by the mobile terminal 3 of the application user.

[0163] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the translation system 4 includes a first storage means for storing screen identification information of a display screen of a predetermined application AP' running on the OS 241, 341 of the mobile terminal 2, 3, display text identification information of display text on the display screen, and translated text data obtained by translating text data in the original language of the display text into a predetermined foreign language, in association with each other; a second storage means; a first processing means for receiving, from a second terminal 2 of an application provider that is the provider of the application AP', captured image data of a display screen on the second terminal 2 that displays the translated text data as display content of the application AP', and storing the received image data in the second storage means; a second processing means for receiving an edit screen request message from the first terminal 1 of the application provider that is the provider of the application AP', which message includes screen identification information for the display screen of the application AP', reading translated text data corresponding to the screen identification information in the edit screen request message from the first storage means, reading image data currently stored in the second storage means from the second storage means, generating markup data for the edit screen including the translated text data read from the first storage means and the image data read from the second storage means, and transmitting this markup data to the first terminal 1 of the application provider; a third processing means for receiving from the first terminal 1 of the application provider a translation rewrite request message including display text identification information for display text corrected on the edit screen and the corrected text data, and rewriting the translated text data corresponding to the display text identification information in the translation rewrite request message with the text data in the translation rewrite request message; and fourth processing means for receiving a translated text request message including screen identification information of the display screen of application AP' from the mobile terminal 3 of the application user who is a user of application AP', reading translated text data corresponding to the screen identification information in the received translated text request message from the first storage means, and transmitting the read translated text data to the mobile terminal 3 of the application user.

[0164] With this configuration, according to this embodiment, the provider of the mobile terminal application AP' can modify the content of the foreign language text displayed in the application AP' on the app user's mobile terminal 3 by simply rewriting the text while referring to the captured image on the editing screen, without having to rewrite the code of the application AP'. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to further reduce the human and financial resources required to make the mobile terminal application AP' multilingual.

[0165] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention can be modified as follows.

[0166] (1) In the above embodiment, the application AP' that is the target of the multilingualization service is not limited to applications provided to mobile terminals via the application store server 901. For example, a factory management application may be stored on a storage medium, and this storage medium may be directly provided to the application user by the application provider. Such applications may also be the target of the multilingualization service.

[0167] (2) In the above embodiment, the application identification information for identifying the application AP' itself, the screen / push notification identification information for identifying the multiple display screens of the application AP' and the push notifications related to the application AP', and the display text identification information for identifying each display text on the display screen and the display text of the push notification were all separate. However, the screen / push notification identification information and the display text identification information may be a single common type of identification information. For example, the screen / push notification identification information may be a 10-digit character string, with the first three digits being a character string unique to the display screen or the push notification, and the last seven digits being a character string unique to each display text on the display screen or the display text of the push notification. Furthermore, the identification information for identifying the display screen and the identification information for identifying the push notification may be separate. In this case, each record in the translated text DB 5142 has fields for "App ID," "Screen ID," "Push Notification ID," "Display Text ID," "Original Language Code," "Original Language Text," "Foreign Language Code," "Foreign Language Text," "Size," "Style," "Alignment," and "Status." The "Screen ID" field indicates screen identification information unique to the display screen of the application AP', and the "Push Notification ID" field indicates push notification identification information unique to the push notification related to the application AP'. In this case, the "Push Notification ID" field in the display text field for the display screen of the application AP' in the translated text DB 5142 may be left blank, and the "Screen ID" field in the display text field for the push notification related to the application AP' in the translated text DB 5142 may be left blank. In this case, the information in the "Screen ID" field and the information in the "Push Notification ID" field can be used as display text identification information unique to the display text, so the "Display Text" field may be eliminated.

[0168] (3) In the above embodiment, in the process related to automatic detection and automatic translation of updates to the display text of application AP', the application provider second terminal 2 sends and receives messages to and from the translation system 4, obtains information obtained from past translation processes related to application AP' in the translation system 4, compares this information with the information in the volatile storage unit 23 of the application provider second terminal 2, and determines whether any of the most recent display text on the display screen of application AP' has text data in the source language and foreign languages ​​that has not yet been registered in the translated text DB 5142. However, the translation system 4 may be caused to determine whether any of the most recent display text on the display screen of application AP' has text data in the source language and foreign languages ​​that has not yet been registered in the translated text DB 5142. For example, in the process of FIG. 17 , when the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 generates the trigger signal TR2 (S3010: Yes), the control unit 21 skips steps S3020 and S3050 and sends an inquiry message including the URL of the server 951, 961 that provides text data related to the application AP' to the translation system 4 (S3060'). When the translation system 4 receives the inquiry message, it sends a request to the URL in the inquiry message to receive text data in the original language of the most recent display text on the display screen of the application AP' from the server 951, 961, and determines whether there is a record in the translated text DB 5142 that contains the same text data as that received from the server 951, 961. If there is a record containing the same text data, it determines that the text data in the original language of the most recent display text on the display screen of the application AP' has been registered. If there is no identical text data, it determines that the text data of the most recent display text on the display screen of the application AP' has not been registered. If the text data in the original language of the latest display text on the display screen of the application AP' is unregistered, the translation system 4 considers that the translated text data of the display text in the foreign language is also unregistered.Furthermore, when the text data in the original language of the latest display text on the display screen of application AP' has already been registered, the translation system 4 determines whether translated text data of that display text in a foreign language has already been registered. If the translated text DB 5142 contains a record containing translated text data associated with the same display text identification information as the text data in the original language determined to have been registered, the translation system 4 determines that the translated text data in the foreign language has also been registered. If the translated text DB 5142 does not contain a record containing translated text data associated with the same display text identification information as the text data in the original language determined to have been registered, the translation system 4 determines that the text data in the original language of the latest display text on the display screen of application AP' has already been registered, but that the translated data in the foreign language has not yet been registered. Through the above processing, the translation system 4 determines whether the current state is a first state in which the original language text data and translated text data of the latest display text on the display screen of the application AP' have been registered, a second state in which neither the original language text data nor translated text data of the latest display text on the display screen of the application AP' have been registered, or a third state in which only the foreign language translated text data of the latest display text on the display screen of the application AP' have been registered, and transmits a registration status notification message indicating this determination result to the application provider second terminal 2. If the registration status notification message indicates the second state or the third state, the control unit 21 of the application provider second terminal 2 proceeds to step S3060 in FIG. 17 to generate a source language / foreign language translation registration request message (in the second state) or a foreign language translation registration request message (in the third state), and transmits this message to the translation system 4.

[0169] (4) In step S3050 of the process related to automatic detection and automatic translation of updates to the display text of the application AP′ in the above embodiment, the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 may not determine whether text data in the original language of the most recent display text on the display screen of the application AP′ is stored in the translated text DB 5142, but may only determine whether translated text data in a foreign language of the most recent display text on the display screen of the application AP′ is stored in the translated text DB 5142. In this aspect, if the control unit 21 of the second application provider terminal 2 determines that translated text data in a foreign language of the most recent display text on the display screen of the application AP′ is not stored in the translated text DB 5142, the control unit 21 may send a translation registration request message to the translation server 51 of the translation system 4, the translation registration request message including display text identification information of the untranslated display text and requesting registration of translated text data obtained by translating the untranslated display text from the original language into a predetermined foreign language. In this embodiment, the control unit 511 of the translation server 51 searches the translated text DB 5142 for a record containing text data in the original language that corresponds to the display text identification information in the translation registration request message, adds the text data in the original language to the translated text DB 5142 as a new record, and then translates the text data into the foreign language.

[0170] (5) In step S3080 of the above embodiment, control unit 511 of translation server 51 stores "Save" in the "Status" field of the new record in translated text DB 5142. However, "Publish" may be stored in the "Status" field of the new record in translated text DB 5142. Also, in step S4080, "Save" may be stored in the "Status" field of the new record in translated text DB 5142.

[0171] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Application provider first terminal 2 Application provider second terminal 3 Application user terminal 4 Translation system 9 Application usage support system 11 Control unit 12 Communication interface 13 Volatile memory unit 14 Non-volatile memory unit 15 Display 16 Keyboard 17 Pointing device 21 Control unit 23 Volatile memory unit 24 Non-volatile memory unit 25 Touch panel 26 Acceleration sensor 27 Battery 29 SDK 31 Control unit 33 Volatile memory unit 34 Non-volatile memory unit 35 Touch panel 36 Acceleration sensor 37 Battery 39 SDK 41 Bilingual DB server 51 Translation server 61 CDN server 90 Network 142 Browser 181L Left shift button 181R Right shift button 182 Language display field 183 Bilingual list 184 Pull-down expansion button 185 Bilingual display field 221 Wi-Fi communication module 222 Mobile communication module 231 Cache area 281 Language display field 282 Bilingual list 283 Scroll bar 285 Bilingual display field 286 First button 287 Second button 288 Third button 321 Wi-Fi communication module 322 Mobile communication module 331 Cache area 411 Control unit 412 Communication interface 413 Volatile storage unit 414 Non-volatile storage unit 511 Control unit 512 Communication interface 513 Volatile storage unit 514 Non-volatile storage unit 611 Control unit 612 Communication interface 613 Volatile storage unit 614 Non-volatile storage unit 901 App store server 951 Application server 961 API server 971 Push notification server 4143 Multilingual support program 5143 Multilingual support program 6131 Cache area 6142 Multilingual support program

Claims

1. A translation support method using a system including: a mobile device of an application user on which an OS and a predetermined application running on the OS are installed; a mobile device of an application provider that is the provider of the application; a display text providing server that transmits text data of display text on a display screen of the application to the mobile device in response to a request from the mobile device; and a translation system that supports switching the language of the display text on the mobile device of the application user, the method comprising: a first step of transmitting and receiving messages between the mobile device of the application provider and the translation system when a predetermined trigger signal is generated in the mobile device of the application provider; confirming, based on the result of the message transmission and reception, whether or not the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application and translated text data obtained by translating said text from an original language into a predetermined foreign language are stored in storage means of the translation system; and if the text data of the original language and the translated text data of the foreign language are not stored in storage means, transmitting a translation registration request message to the translation system requesting registration of the text data of the unregistered display text and translated text data obtained by translating said text from the original language into the predetermined foreign language; a second step in which, when the translation system receives the translation registration request message, the translation system translates untranslated text data of the display text corresponding to the display text identification information in the translation registration request message from the original language into a predetermined foreign language, and stores the translated text data obtained by this translation in the storage means in association with the display text identification information in the translation registration request message; a third step in which the mobile device of the application user determines whether the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application is in a default language of the mobile device; and a fourth step in which, when the mobile device of the application user determines that the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application is not in the default language of the mobile device, the mobile device sends a translated text request message including the display text identification information of the display text on the display screen of the application to the translation system.a fifth step in which, when the translation system receives the translated text request message, the translation system determines whether translated text data corresponding to the display text identification information in the translated text request message is stored in the storage means, and if so, reads out the translated text data from the storage means and sends it to the mobile device of the application user; a sixth step in which the mobile device of the application user determines whether the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application is in the default language of the mobile device, and if it determines that the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application is not in the default language of the mobile device, generates a translated text request message including the display text identification information of the display text on the display screen of the application and addressed to a predetermined address in the translation system, and sends this translated text request message; and a seventh step in which, when the translation system receives the translated text request message, the translated text data stored in the storage means in association with the display text identification information in the translated text request message is sent to the mobile device of the application user. an eighth step in which the mobile device of the application user receives the translated text data and displays the translated text data as display text on the display screen of the application.

2. The translation support method described in claim 1, characterized in that the text data of the display text on the display screen of the application includes text data transmitted from the display text providing server to the mobile terminal and stored in the storage means of the mobile terminal.

3. The translation support method described in claim 1, characterized in that a cache area is secured in the storage means of the mobile terminal of the application provider for storing information received from the display text providing server, and in the first step, the mobile terminal of the application provider sends an update detection message including the application identification information of the application and addressed to a predetermined address in the translation system, receives from the translation system translated text data obtained by the translation process of the translation system, and checks whether there is any display text that has not yet been translated in the translation system by comparing the received translated text data with the information in the cache area.

4. A storage means for storing, in association with each other, application identification information of a predetermined application running on an OS of a mobile terminal, display text identification information of display text on a display screen of the application, and translated text data obtained by translating text data in the original language of the display text into a predetermined foreign language; a first processing means for, when an update detection message including application identification information of the application is received from a mobile terminal of an application provider that is the source of the application, reading from the storage means translated text data corresponding to the application identification information in the update detection message and transmitting a translated text provision message including the read translated text data to the mobile terminal of the application provider; a second processing means for, when a translation registration request message including display text identification information of untranslated display text on a display screen of the application is received from the mobile terminal of the application provider after transmitting the translated text provision message, translating the untranslated text data of the display text corresponding to the display text identification information in the translation registration request message from the original language to the predetermined foreign language and storing the translated text data obtained by this translation in association with the display text identification information in the translation registration request message in the storage means; a third processing means for, when a translated text request message including display text identification information of display text on a display screen of the application is received from a mobile device of an application user who is a user of the application, reading translated text data stored in the storage means in association with the display text identification information in the translated text request message, and transmitting the read translated text data to the mobile device of the application user.

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