JP2001084247A - System for managing link information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To vent inconveniences (such as a situation, in which a file necessary to a link is lost due to a file erase operation by a user and a needed link relation is lost due to file name change etc.), from taking place in a compound document display, even in the case of managing link information when preparing the compound document, changing and eliminating the file involved in a link relation. SOLUTION: This system is provided with a link information storing means 2, which detects electronic data paste processing that registers to the effect, that one piece of electronic data 12 should be included in another piece of electronic data 9 and displayed and also stores link information showing the relationship between one electronic data and the other electronic data, a storage part 3 storing the link information stored by the means 2, and warning outputting means 2, 3 which detect that one electronic data or the other is subjected to deletion, name change or transfer when one electronic data or the other is subjected to it on the basis of the link information stored in the means 3 and output a warning, to the effect that discrepancy can occur in the link relation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a link information management system, and more particularly, to a link information management system having a feature of managing link information between electronic data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of small computers such as personal computers (personal computers) and workstations, documents and graphs have been created as electronic data by word processor software (word processing software) or spreadsheet software. .

[0003] Further, regarding the plurality of electronic data,
For example, necessary graphs can be linked from word processing software, and the combined electronic data can be created as one document, that is, a compound document. For example, if you link graphs and tables on word processing software, these are basically separate files.
However, the ring information is held in the word processing document, and when the word processing document is displayed, necessary graphs and the like are incorporated into the word processing document by following the link information.

[0004] On the other hand, as various types of electronic data increase, the need for a management system for the electronic data also increases, and the development of the system is also progressing. However, in a general data management system,
Data can be managed, but it is difficult to manage the contents. Therefore, when the compound document data is delivered to another personal computer or the like by the data management system, the data at the link destination may not be visible, and accurate display may not be performed.

[0005] Even when a data management system is not used, a graph file in a certain compound document may not be displayed because one graph file is deleted.

[0006] Therefore, in order to manage such a document so that it can be displayed with certainty, only one document is required.
It is easier to manage as one file. For this purpose, a technique is also used in which the link is lost, that is, all the pasted data is taken in and combined into one file. As described above, if all information such as documents and graphs is captured in one file, the data can be normally displayed on any personal computer without any loss of information.

[0007]

However, if all information such as documents and graphs are saved in one file with the links removed, for example, even if the contents of the graph are modified, the original data can be saved. Modifications are not reflected on the pasted document. Therefore, in order to keep the data to be linked always up-to-date, operations such as re-fetching and combining data are required. In addition, since all data is captured in one file, when the same graph is used in a plurality of documents, it is inefficient and consumes resources such as disk capacity.

[0008] Even when a plurality of electronic data are stored as separate files and both are linked and displayed, each file is stored by separate application software such as a word processor or a spreadsheet. Therefore,
It is difficult to reliably maintain the link relationship of a compound document, and a file necessary for a link may be lost by a user's file deletion operation, or a necessary link relationship may be lost due to a file name change or the like.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and manages link information between files when a compound document is created, and manages the information when a linked file is changed or deleted. Another object of the present invention is to provide a link information management system capable of preventing inconvenience in displaying a compound document.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an electronic data attaching process for registering that one electronic data is to be embedded and displayed in another electronic data is detected. A link information storage unit for storing link information indicating a relationship between one electronic data and another electronic data; a storage unit for storing link information stored by the link information storage unit; and a link stored in the storage unit. Based on the information, one electronic data or other electronic data is deleted,
A link information management system comprising: a warning output unit that detects a name change or a move when the name is changed or moved, and outputs a warning that a link relationship may be inconsistent.

Since the present invention is provided with such means, it manages link information between files when a compound document is created, and displays the compound document display even when a linked file is changed or deleted. Inconvenience can be prevented.

[0012] In a second aspect of the invention for solving the problem, in the first aspect, the link information storage means and the warning output means monitor the operation of application software for executing the electronic data pasting process. Is a link information management system that performs a detection process according to.

[0013] A third invention for solving the problem is the link information management system according to the first invention, wherein the warning output means performs a detection process by monitoring a file operation on the storage unit.

Next, a fourth aspect of the present invention for solving the problems is the data management system according to the first aspect, wherein one data or another piece of electronic data is registered in the data management system. A link prompting means for searching the storage unit to specify the corresponding electronic data and outputting a warning that the specified electronic data should be registered in the data management system. It is.

[0015] Since the present invention is provided with such means, it is possible to easily extract link information necessary for registering data in the data management system. Based on the extracted link information, corresponding electronic data can be obtained. Can be registered in the data management system. Furthermore, since such data registration is performed in advance, even if data is paid out from the data management system, the link display can be maintained in the same manner as when the embedded electronic data is created.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

(First Embodiment of the Invention) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a computer to which a link information management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied. The link information management system includes a link monitor 2 and a file status monitor 3 provided as a resident program on the computer 1 and a link information database 4. The computer 1 also includes an operating system 5
(OS5), word processing software 6, composite data file 7 for word processing software, spreadsheet software 8, and spreadsheet file 9 are provided.

In this embodiment, the units 2, 3 and 4 of the link information management system, word processing software and the like are arranged on a single computer shown in FIG.
In a distributed system such as N, distributed computers may be provided. Even in such a case, the link monitoring unit 2 and the file status monitoring unit 3, which are resident programs, need to be provided in each computer on the network.

The link monitoring unit 2 monitors a complex data processing operation in application software (hereinafter, referred to as an application) such as a word processing software 6 or a spreadsheet software 8, and stores corresponding link information (compound document name and pasted data). Name) is stored in the link information database 4. Specifically, when a certain application performs data pasting or the like, the application acquires the pasting destination and the file name of the pasting source and stores them in the link information database 4. In addition, the application is constantly monitored and the link information database 4 is checked. When the application changes or deletes a file having a link relation, a warning is issued to the display device 10 to alert the user.

The link monitoring unit 2 monitors the application processing request to the OS 5 to grasp the movement of the application and perform the above processing. In general, the application performs O
This is for requesting to S5.

The file status monitoring unit 3 monitors a file name change or file deletion when a computer user directly operates a file from an input device (not shown) by the OS 5 without using an application. It is. That is, the file operation on the OS 5 is monitored and the link information database 4 is checked. If a file having a link relationship with another file is operated, a warning is displayed to the display device 10 to warn the user. It is supposed to emit.

The link information database 4 stores link information between files acquired by the link monitoring unit 2. This link information is in the compound document, and is changed and deleted by changing the file name or deleting the file. For the change deletion, the link monitoring unit 2
Alternatively, it is performed based on the monitoring result of the file status monitoring unit 3. Further, as the link information database, a database dedicated for the present embodiment may be constructed,
A commonly used database may be used as it is.

The operating system 5 is a computer 1
Basic software for operating
In response to a request from the spreadsheet software 8 or the like, a file or display operation is performed.

The word processing software 6 is document creation software. In this embodiment, the word processing software 6 includes a data pasting unit 11 for creating a compound document. The data pasting unit 11 can incorporate a file created by another application into a word processing document file. In order to perform this embedding process, the word processing software 6 stores the link information 13 between the word processing data 12 and the pasting data in the composite data file 7.

The compound data file 7 is a group of files managed by the word processing software 6 via the OS 5, and stores the word processing data 12 and the link information 13 when necessary. The link information 13 here is different from the link information stored in the link information database 4, and is information used by the word processing software 6 to create a compound document.

That is, in this embodiment, without changing the functions of the word processing software 6 and the spreadsheet software 8, the OS
By monitoring and acquiring information in step 5, link information is separately acquired, the consistency between files in the compound document is confirmed, and a warning is output when inconsistency occurs. Therefore, no change is made to the functions and information (such as the data pasting unit 11 and the link information 13) for creating the compound document, and these exist separately from the link information management system.

The spreadsheet software 8 is an application for performing spreadsheet calculations. The spreadsheet file 9 contains spreadsheet software 8
Stores tables and graphs created in. In this embodiment, the data is pasted data for a compound document.

The link information storage unit in the claims corresponds to, for example, the link monitoring unit 2, and the warning output unit corresponds to, for example, the link monitoring unit 2 or the file status monitoring unit 3. A link information database 4 corresponds to the storage unit, for example.

Next, the operation of the link information management system according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

(Acquisition of Link Information) First, acquisition of link information will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining link information acquisition by the link monitoring unit.

As shown in the figure, the word processing data 12 in the composite data is opened (s1), and a table in a spreadsheet file is pasted to the document (s1).
2). In this pasting process (pasting event), the data pasting unit 11 of the word processing software 6 transmits pasting data (table) from the OS5.
Is executed by obtaining the file name of

The presence / absence of this pasting event is constantly monitored by the link monitoring unit 2 (s3), and when the pasting event is issued, the document name (word processing data name) and the data name based on the relative path (pasting data name) ) Is registered in the link information database 4. In the case where the pasting is deleted or UNDO is executed, the event is similarly detected, and the ring information database 4 is rewritten by the link monitoring unit 2.

(Link Change Deletion / Warning Output) The file link change deletion is detected by the link monitoring unit 2 monitoring the application or the file status monitoring unit 3 monitoring the direct file operation on the OS 5. Is realized by:

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation when a link is changed and deleted.

First, a description will be given of a change associated with file deletion. As shown in FIG. 3, depending on the application,
Alternatively, when the pasted data used in the compound document is deleted by a direct command to the OS 5 (t1), the deletion event is detected by the link monitoring unit 2 or the file status monitoring unit 3 (t2).

At this point, since it is not known that the file having the link relation has been deleted, the link monitoring unit 2 or the file status monitoring unit 3 sends the link information database 4.
Is inquired. Then, it is confirmed that the pasted data has been deleted by collating with the pasted data name (t3). Here, if the deleted file is not the data of the paste destination or paste source, the process ends at this point.

When it is confirmed in step t3 that the link-related file has been deleted, a warning is output from the link monitor 2 or the file status monitor 3 via the display device 10 (t4). Since the link monitoring unit 2 or the file status monitoring unit 3 does not directly process or operate the application or its file, the link relation inconsistency is prevented in the form of a warning to the computer user. I have. When the link information 13 on the composite data file side is corrected in response to the warning, the correction result is reflected on the link information database 4 by the link monitoring unit 2 or the file status monitoring unit 3.

Next, the processing when the file name is changed or the file is moved will be described.

Here, a description will be given by taking file movement as an example. That is, first, when the paste data used in the compound document is moved to a file by an application or by a direct command to the OS 5 (u1), the movement / name change event is transmitted to the link monitoring unit 2 or the file status monitoring unit 3 (U2).

Here, as in the case of the deletion event, the link monitoring unit 2 or the file status monitoring unit 3 makes an inquiry to the link information database 4 and compares the data with the pasted data name to make the pasted data match. It is confirmed that the file has been moved (u3).

When it is confirmed in step u3 that the link-related file has been moved, a warning is output from the link monitor 2 or the file status monitor 3 via the display device 10 (u4). The warning is intended to allow the user to repair the link relationship mismatch. When the link information 13 on the composite data file side is corrected in response to the warning, the correction result is reflected on the link information database 4 by the link monitoring unit 2 or the file status monitoring unit 3 (u5).

As described above, the link information management system according to the embodiment of the present invention stores file information used in a compound document in the link information database 4 as link information, and deletes files having a link relationship. Since this is detected and alerted when the file is moved or renamed, it is possible to prevent inconvenience in displaying a compound document even when a file having a link relationship is changed or deleted. Thereby, accurate reproduction of the compound document can be realized.

Since a warning is issued when such an inconvenient operation is performed, the computer user does not need to be conscious of the link information when pasting data, moving or deleting a file, and is efficient. A complex document can be created.

(Second Embodiment of the Invention) In the first embodiment, a case has been described in which the link monitoring unit and the file status monitoring unit operate as resident programs to collect and manage link information. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, a case where a data management system is used will be described.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing how a link information management system according to the second embodiment of the present invention is combined with a data management system. The same parts as those in FIG. The description is omitted, and only different portions are described here.

In the system shown in FIG. 1, applications such as word processing software 6 and spreadsheet software 8 register data in the data management system 21. Further, the data management system 21 has the data storage area 22.

This system may be provided in a single computer, but is generally configured to be distributed to each client terminal and server of the network system. For example, an application process is executed in a terminal, and the result is registered in the data management system 21 in the server.

That is, the data management system 21 manages information created and registered by an application, and a general drawing management system or a PDM system (product data management, product data management) is used. In addition, when application data is registered or paid out, the data management system 21 calls the link information management system 23 with a call statement or the like, and confirms link information.

The link information management system 23 is an interface (API) for link information management, and operates by calling the data management system 21. The link information management system 23 includes a link monitor 2 'and a file status monitor 3'. Each of the monitoring units 2 'and 3' has the same configuration as the link monitoring unit 2 and the file status monitoring unit 3 of the first embodiment.

The link information database 4 'is configured in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and is configured to be able to detect a file of pasted data from a path name relative to a compound document.

The registration prompting means in the claims includes:
For example, the ring information management system 23 corresponds.

Next, the operation of the link information management system according to this embodiment configured as described above will be described.

In the present embodiment, when the compound document data is stored by the data management system 21, the data pasted to the data to be stored is extracted using the link information management system API. Further, it prompts the computer user to register the extracted data and registers it in the data management system 21.

The compound document data is stored in the data management system 21.
If you pay out from, also pay out the pasted data,
A registration prompt screen is displayed in the same way as when creating.

These processes will be described more specifically with reference to FIG. First, when compound document data is registered in the data management system 21 (v1), the actual data of the compound document is moved to the storage area 22 by the data management system 21 (v2).

Next, a call is made from the data management system 23 to the link information management system 23 (v
3) The link information management system searches the link information database 4 for pasted data (v).
4). As a result, the information of the link information database 4 ', that is, the data name attached to the compound document is obtained.

The pasted data is extracted by the link information database 4 'using a relative path name to the compound document data (v5), and the link information management system 2 as an API is used.
3 to the data management system 21 (v
6).

The data management system 21 instructs to register the extracted pasted data (v7). That is, a registration prompt screen is displayed. In response, the pasted data is registered in the data management system 21,
The actual data of the pasted data is moved to the storage area.

As mentioned above, the link information management system according to the embodiment of the present invention
Access to the link information database 4 'through the link information management system API, it is possible to easily extract the link data required when storing the data. Also, for example, even if another viewer pays out data, a display equivalent to that at the time of creation can be performed.

Accordingly, the linked data name is passed when the data management system stores the data, and even if the compound document is paid out to any terminal, the same display as that at the time of creation can be obtained.

(Modification) The present invention can be used not only for a compound document but also for creating a homepage on the Internet / intranet, and a data unification system using hyperlinks can be constructed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof. In addition, the embodiments may be implemented in appropriate combinations as much as possible, and in that case, the combined effects can be obtained.

In the method described in the embodiment, as a program (software means) which can be executed by a computer (computer), for example, a magnetic disk (floppy disk, hard disk, etc.), an optical disk (CD-ROM, DVD, etc.) ), Stored in a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory, or transmitted and distributed via a communication medium. The programs stored on the medium side include
A software program (including not only an execution program but also a table and a data structure) to be executed by the computer includes a setting program for configuring the computer. A computer that realizes the present apparatus reads a program recorded in a storage medium, and in some cases, constructs software means by using a setting program, and executes the above-described processing by controlling the operation of the software means.

[0064]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, link information between files when a compound document is created is managed, and even when a file having a link relationship is changed or deleted, the compound document is managed. A link information management system capable of preventing inconvenience in display can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a computer to which a link information management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining link information acquisition by a link monitoring unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation when a link is changed and deleted.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a state in which a link information management system according to a second embodiment of the present invention is combined with a data management system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Computer 2 ... Link monitoring part 3 ... File state monitoring part 4 ... Link information database 5 ... Operating system 6 ... Word processing software 7 ... Composite data file 8 ... Spreadsheet software 9 ... Spreadsheet file 21 ... Data management system 22 ... Data Storage area

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An electronic data pasting process for registering that one electronic data is to be embedded and displayed in another electronic data, and a link information indicating a relationship between the one electronic data and the other electronic data. A link information storage unit that stores the link information stored by the link information storage unit; and the one electronic data or the other electronic device based on the link information stored in the storage unit. A link information management system comprising: a warning output unit that detects, when data is deleted, renamed, or moved, and outputs a warning that a link relationship may be inconsistent. 2. The link according to claim 1, wherein the link information storage unit and the warning output unit perform a detection process by monitoring an operation of application software that executes the electronic data pasting process. Information management system. 3. The link information management system according to claim 1, wherein the warning output unit performs a detection process by monitoring a file operation on the storage unit. 4. A data management system for registering electronic data, and when the one electronic data or the other electronic data is registered in the data management system, the storage unit is searched to store corresponding electronic data. 2. The link information management system according to claim 1, further comprising a registration prompting unit that specifies and outputs a warning that the specified electronic data should be registered in the data management system.