JP2006031494A - License certificate printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve following problems: a license certificate is defined as one formula for every software product and, in simultaneous arrangement of a plurality of products, the license certificates are delivered in just the arranged number of products; contents of terms of consent to use of the license certificate are written generally in strict and difficult expressions, an amount of descriptions tends to be large, and thickness of the paper considerably increases; thus, in understanding or storing the terms, a considerable amount of troubles and labor are required repeatedly to greatly spoil work efficiency. <P>SOLUTION: In the method, common terms of consent and product specific terms are registered as document components, and an integrated license certificate in a table format describing the common terms of consent in an arbitrary combination and a specific license certificate specific to products can be printed. Also, in accordance with a request from the customer and shipment forms in the past, an optimal delivery forms of the license certificates are decided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for shipping software products.

  The license certificate describes the license agreement for the software product. The license agreement defined for each software product is described, and one set is created for each software product.

  On the other hand, as a shipment form of software products, there is an individual package in which one product is stored in one box, and a collective package in which a plurality of products are stored in one box. Collective packing is to disassemble the arranged software products into parts that constitute the software products for the purpose of sending the arranged software products to the customer as much as possible and sending them to the customer. To store.

  Since one set of license certificate is created for each software product, one set of license certificate is attached to each box in individual packaging. In collective packaging, the same number of license certificates are attached as the number of software products to be packed. For example, if 100 products are arranged together in one arrangement, 100 license certificates will be delivered. In the prior art, a technique in which one set of license certificate is delivered for one product is disclosed.

JP-A-8-212252

  In the above prior art, since the license certificate describes the license agreement, the contents are described in a strict expression, which is difficult to understand and requires a lot of description because it requires strictness. However, in terms of content, there are many common licensing terms between software products, such as prohibition of unauthorized copying. In some cases, there are license certificates where the license terms are exactly the same and the names of the software products are different. However, from the customer's point of view, the license terms of the software product are not understood unless they are read, so even if the content is the same as a result, all cases must be read.

  In addition, with one set for each software product, the number of license certificates delivered with the software product becomes enormous, so management issues such as storage location and method, and environmental issues such as protection of paper resources There is also a problem.

  In order to solve these problems, an object of the present invention is to construct a means for providing a license certificate to a customer in such a manner that as much information as possible is collected in a small number.

  A document in which the license terms common to the software products and the license terms specific to the software products are written is registered in the database as part data. In addition, individual and integrated license certificate templates are prepared and registered in the database as component data in the same manner. When shipping software products to customers, by combining templates and parts data as appropriate, either an integrated license certificate with common terms or an individual license certificate with individual software product terms can be selected and generated And print.

  According to the present invention, since the license certificate can be delivered in the form that the customer wants to manage, the cost of managing the license certificate of the customer can be reduced as compared with the prior art.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the software product configuration definition table file is registered in the configuration definition database 106 from the warehousing registration unit 105 in advance. Also, documents such as the software product common clause and the software product individual clause of the license certificate are registered in the component database 115 from the component data registration unit 116 as components.

  The arrangement file input from the customer terminal 101 is sent to the arrangement receiving unit 103 via the network 102. The arrangement receiving unit 103 temporarily stores the arrangement file in the arrangement database 104. The manufacturing instruction unit 107 reads the arrangement file according to the production plan calculated backward from the designated delivery date of the arrangement file. The read arrangement file is analyzed by the arrangement analysis unit 108, and a parts development file and an arrangement instruction file are created. In this analysis, the software product configuration definition table file in the configuration definition database 106 and the shipment record management file in the shipment record database 114 are referred to. The component development file is sent to the manufacturing instruction unit 109, and instructs the medium manufacturing unit 110 for medium production, the manual printing unit 111 for manual printing, and the license printing unit 112 for printing a license certificate. The license certificate printing unit 112 creates a license certificate with reference to the component database 115 and prints it. The manufactured medium, manual, and license certificate are sent to the sorting unit 113. The assembling unit 113 assembles, packs and ships software products for each arrangement based on the assembling instruction file. The shipment results are stored in the shipment result database 114.

  FIG. 2 is a view showing a packing form at the time of customer delivery.

  FIG. 2 (1) is a diagram showing individual packaging. The individual packing is a packing form in which a set of software products is packed in one box. One set of a medium 202 storing software products, a manual 203, and a license certificate 204 is stored in the packing box 201. Usually, a plurality are delivered to customers in this form.

  FIG. 2 (2) is a diagram showing collective packaging. Collective packing is a packing form in which a plurality of software products are packed in one box. In the packing box 205, a medium group 206, a manual group 207, and a license certificate group 208 storing software products are stored. The collective packing has an advantage that the space efficiency of the box is improved as compared with the individual packing.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the types of license certificates.

  FIG. 3A is an example of an individual license certificate. An individual license certificate is created for each software product (301, 302). The description includes a title, a license clause for each software product, and an arrangement ID for the arrangement.

  FIG. 3B is an example of an integrated license certificate. The integrated license certificate is created at the time of collective packing and describes license terms common to software products. The integrated license certificate is prepared for each arrangement, and describes the license terms of the software products arranged in the arrangement and the list of software products to be licensed. Specific descriptions include a title, a common license clause between software products, a list of software products licensed using the integrated license certificate, and a stock ID for stock.

  FIG. 3 (3) is an example of an additional condition document. The additional condition document is a license certificate that supplements the integrated license certificate that describes only the individual license terms for the individual software product license terms that cannot be specified by the common license terms described in the integrated license certificate. As a software product, the license agreement can be defined only when both the integrated license certificate and the additional license are provided. The association can be made by matching the additional condition number (304) described in the licensed software product list of the integrated license certificate with the additional condition number (306) described in the additional condition document. The description includes a title, an additional condition number, a unique license clause for each software product, and an arrangement ID for arrangement.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing how a license certificate is created according to the present invention.

  The license certificate template and the document that defines the license conditions such as software product common clauses and software product individual clauses are stored in advance in the component database 407 as component data. There are three types of license certificate templates: an individual license certificate corresponding to each product, an integrated license certificate for a set of several products, and an additional condition document for individually specifying additional conditions. Common items are described in advance in templates of this type, and areas for incorporating common clauses, individual clauses, and information on products according to customer requirements and products are provided.

  In the case of the integrated license certificate 403, the software product common clause 404 is read from the component database 407, and the document is described in the template of the integrated license certificate that is also read from the component database 407. However, since the software product A has software product individual clauses that cannot be specified by the software product common clause 404, the software product A individual clause 405 is read from the parts database 407 and an additional condition document 406 is created. In the additional condition document 406, the software product A individual clause 405 is written in the template read from the parts database 407.

  In the case of the individual license certificate 401, the license terms of the software product A are overwritten with the corresponding terms of the software product common clause 404 to create the license terms 402 as the software product A. In the example of FIG. 4A, the first article “Kakiku” of the software product common article 404 is replaced with the first article “Ah” in the individual article 402 of the software product A.

  FIG. 5 is a configuration definition file in the structure definition DB 106 that defines the component configuration for each software product. It has a file with model name and version as one unit.

  In the case of version 0100 of the software product PA (501), the software product is composed of software and a manual (502, 503). In the license information, a license unit 504, a license license number 505 per license unit, a software product common clause number 506, an individual clause number 507, and an additional condition number 508 are defined. The individual license terms 507 for the software product PA are managed by a part number AK-001, which is stored in the part database 115. The software product common clause 506 is managed by the part number CPU-001, which is also managed by the part database 115. The additional condition document is defined to be created with the additional condition document number TU001 (508).

  In the case of software product P-B version 0100 (509), the software product is composed of software and a manual (510, 511). In the license information, a license unit 512, a license license number 513 per license unit, and a software product common clause number 514 are defined, but an individual clause number 515 and an additional condition number 516 are not defined. This is because the license terms for the software product P-B are comprehensively included in the product common terms 514. The license terms common to software products 514 are managed by the part number CPU-001, and are managed by the part database 115.

  FIG. 6 is a shipment record file showing the shipment record to the customer.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a shipment record management file in the shipment record DB 114 of the customer A company (601). In the license certificate correspondence status 602, the delivery date, delivery format, and delivery conditions are registered for each arrangement number. For example, the arrangement number TE-0404301 (603) is delivered on May 10, 2002 (604), and at this time, the license certificate is delivered as an integrated license certificate (605). In particular, delivery conditions are not shown (606).

  Next, printing of the individual license certificate will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 7 shows an arrangement file 701 in the arrangement DB 104 when arrangement comments from customers are included.

  For each arrangement, an arrangement number 702 is assigned as a file management ID. The contents define a customer name 703, a delivery address 704, a delivery recipient name 705, a telephone number 706, a designated delivery date 707, an arrangement comment 708, and an arranged software product 709. In the arrangement comment, the license certificate is instructed to be delivered as an individual license certificate (708).

  FIG. 8 is a parts development file listing production parts for each arrangement.

  The component development file is a file for reading out the arrangement file 701 from the arrangement database 104 and analyzing it by the arrangement analysis unit 108, and for instructing the production instruction unit 109 to produce a medium, a manual, and a license certificate. The arrangement file and the part development file are associated with each other by the arrangement number 702 of the arrangement file and the arrangement number 801 of the part development file. From the arrangement structure 709 of the arrangement file 701, the arranged software products are one set each for PA and P-B. The software product configuration definition table file (501, 509) corresponding to this model name is read, and parts are expanded for production instructions for medium production (802), manual printing (803), and license certificate printing (814).

  In the arrangement number TE-04053101 (801), the individual license certificate is printed based on the arrangement comment 708 in the arrangement file 701. In the component certificate file 814 for printing a license certificate, one set of individual license certificates is printed for each of the software products PA and P-B (805, 806, 807, 808).

  FIG. 9 shows an arrangement instruction file for assembling software products for each arrangement. The assortment instruction file is a file created based on the arrangement file, the software product configuration definition table, and the parts expansion file. The arrangement file and the arrangement instruction file are associated with each other by the arrangement number 702 of the arrangement file and the arrangement number 901 of the arrangement instruction file.

  Among the parts development files, three media CDs that store software products are prepared from the media production file 802. The IDs are PA-SO-1 and PA-SO-2, respectively. , P-B-SO-1 (902).

  Also, two manuals are prepared from the manual print instruction file 803, and the arrangement IDs are PA-MA-1 and P-B-MA-1, respectively (903).

  Also, two license certificates are prepared from the license certificate print instruction file 814, and the arrangement IDs are PA-LI-1 and PP-LI-1, respectively (904).

  FIG. 10 is an individual license certificate print instruction file. The license certificate printing in the arrangement of arrangement number TE-040531 (701) is an instruction file created because it is an individual license certificate, and the individual license certificate is printed based on this instruction file. The arrangement file and the individual license certificate print instruction file correspond to each other by the arrangement number 701 of the arrangement file and the arrangement number 1001 of the individual license certificate print instruction file.

  In the case of the software product PA, the individual license certificate uses the template KOBETSU for the individual license certificate. The permission clause is created by overwriting the document of the individual product number AK-001 on the document of the software product common clause number CPU-001. Also, the stock ID is printed on the individual license certificate (1002).

  Similarly, in the case of the software product P-B, the individual license certificate uses the template KOBETSU for the individual license certificate. The license clause is a document of the software product common clause number CPU-001 and the license clause of the software product P-B is comprehensively included, so the CPU-001 document is printed as it is. Also, the stock ID is printed on the individual license certificate (1003).

  Next, the printing of the integrated license certificate will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 11 shows an arrangement file when there is no arrangement comment from the customer.
For each arrangement, an arrangement number 1102 is assigned as a file management ID. The contents define a customer name 1103, a delivery address 1104, a delivery person name 1105, a telephone number 1106, a designated delivery date 1107, an arrangement comment 1108, and an arranged software product 1109. In this case, there is no description in the arrangement comment (1108).

  FIG. 12 is a parts development file listing production parts for each arrangement.

  The parts development file is a file for reading out the arrangement file 1101 from the arrangement database 104 and analyzing it by the arrangement analysis unit 108, and for instructing the production instruction unit 109 to produce a medium, a manual, and a license certificate. The arrangement file and the part development file are associated with each other by the arrangement number 1102 of the arrangement file and the arrangement number 1201 of the part development file. From the arrangement structure 1109 of the arrangement file 1101, the arranged software products are one set each for PA and P-B. The software product configuration definition table file (501, 509) corresponding to this model name is read, and parts are expanded for production instructions for medium production (1202), manual printing (1203), and license certificate printing (1204).

  When creating a component development file for printing a license certificate, the arrangement comment 1108 of the arrangement file 1101 is referred to, but there is no description in the arrangement of the arrangement number TE-04053102. In this case, the shipment result management file 601 related to the customer is referred to as the latest delivery form. According to this, the most recent shipment has an arrangement ID of TE-04043001 (604), and at this time, it is shipped with an integrated license certificate. For this reason, it decides to deliver an integrated license certificate as a license certificate delivery form to a customer. In addition, in the software product configuration definition table 501, an additional condition document is defined for the software product PA. Therefore, the integrated license certificate set and the additional condition set are printed (1205, 1206, 1207, 1208).

  FIG. 13 shows an arrangement instruction file for assembling software products for each arrangement. The arrangement file and the arrangement instruction file correspond to each other by the arrangement number 1102 of the arrangement file and the arrangement number 1301 of the arrangement instruction file.

  Among the parts development files, three CD-Rs are prepared for the media storing software products from the medium production file 1202, and the arrangement IDs are PA-SO-1 and PA-SO-2, respectively. P-B-SO-1 (1302).

  Further, two manuals are prepared from the manual print instruction file 1203, and the arrangement IDs are PA-MA-1 and P-B-MA-1, respectively (1303).

  Further, from the license certificate print instruction file 1204, the license certificate includes one set of the integrated license certificate and one set of additional condition documents, and the collection IDs are HYO-1 and TU001, respectively (1304).

  FIG. 14 shows an integrated license certificate print instruction file. The license certificate printing in the arrangement of arrangement number TE-04053102 (1101) is an instruction file created because it is an integrated license certificate, and the integrated license certificate is printed based on this instruction file. The arrangement file and the integrated license certificate print instruction file correspond to each other by the arrangement number 1102 of the arrangement file and the arrangement number 1401 of the integrated license certificate print instruction file.

  One set of integrated license certificate is printed for each arrangement. As the template, a template TOUGU for the integrated license certificate is used. The license terms print software product common license terms number CPU-001. Also, the stock ID HYO-1 is printed on the integrated license certificate (1402, 1403).

  In addition, the software products licensed with the same arrangement number TE-04053102 are displayed in a list in a table format. At this time, the software product name, the license unit, and the total number of licenses are printed for each software product. Further, since the software product PA issues an additional condition document TU001, this is also described in the table (1404, 1405, 1406).

  As the additional condition document, a template TUIKA for the additional condition document is used. The license clause is printed with an individual clause number AK-001. Also, TU001 is printed as the additional condition document number. TU001 is also a stock ID (1407, 1408).

  Hereinafter, examples will be described with reference to flowcharts.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an outline from arrangement to shipment. First, the arrangement receiving unit 103 receives an arrangement file from a customer via the network 102 from the customer terminal 101 (1502). The received arrangement file is temporarily stored in the arrangement database 104. The arrangement analysis unit 108 reads the arrangement file from the arrangement database 104 according to the production plan calculated backward from the designated delivery date of the arrangement file. Next, the arrangement analysis unit 108 reads the software product configuration definition table from the configuration definition database 106. Next, the arrangement analysis unit 108 reads a shipment record file from the shipment record database 114. Next, the arrangement analysis unit 108 reads the arrangement configuration from the arrangement file, expands it to the production part from the software product configuration definition table of the arranged software product, and each part of media production, manual printing, and license certificate printing Create a deployment file. For the license certificate print parts development file, only the file framework is created (1503).

  Each component development file is sent to the manufacturing instruction unit 109. The production instructing unit 109 produces parts of a medium, a manual, and a license certificate for each part development file. If there is a medium production part development file, it is determined that medium production storing the software product is necessary (1504), and the medium production unit 110 produces the medium (1505). If there is a manual print component development file, it is determined that manual printing is necessary (1506), and the manual printing unit 111 prints the manual (1507). If there is a license certificate print component development file, it is determined that the license certificate print is necessary (1508), and the license certificate printing unit 112 prints the license certificate (1509). After the production of each part is completed, the assembling unit 113 checks whether the assortment number for each part input by the operator using an input means such as a bar code reader matches the assortment ID of the assembling instruction file (1510). If the match can be confirmed, the shipment is completed (1511).

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart for creating a license certificate print instruction file, and explains the details of printing the license certificate (1509) of FIG. First, a parts development file, a past shipment result management file and an arrangement file related to the customer are read (1602). It is checked whether there is an arrangement comment in the arrangement file (1603), and if there is an arrangement comment, the operator is inquired to read the comment and determine the license certificate shipment form (1607). If there is no arrangement comment, the latest shipment record is retrieved from the past shipment record management file (1604), and if there is a shipment record, the shipping form at that time is taken over (1606). If there is no shipping record, it is determined to print the integrated license certificate as a standard format. Since it is sufficient to decide whether this is individual or integrated, an individual license certificate may be used (1605). This determines whether the license certificate is printed in the form of an integrated license certificate or an individual license certificate.

  Next, the determined license certificate format is referenced (1608), and if it is an integrated license certificate, an integrated license certificate print instruction file is created (1610). If it is an individual license certificate, an individual license certificate print instruction file is created (1609).

  Next, the license certificate is printed based on the print instruction file of the created integrated license certificate or individual license certificate (1611).

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the printing of the license certificate, and explains the details of the printing of the license certificate (1611) of FIG. The print instruction file is read (1702), and the license certificate format is referenced (1703). If the print instruction file is an integrated license certificate print instruction file, the software product common clause is first printed (1706). Next, a summary table is printed (1707). It is confirmed that an additional condition document is specified for the product in the configuration definition file. If there is a print instruction file for the additional condition document (1708), the additional condition document is printed (1709). This is repeated until the printing of all the additional condition documents is completed (1710). If there is no print instruction file for the additional condition document (1708), the process ends.

  If the print instruction file is the individual license certificate print instruction file, the software product individual clause is printed (1704). This is repeated until printing of all arranged software products is completed (1705).

  The arrangement file and the part development file are associated with each other and stored in the shipment result file, and by referring to this, the additional order for the same customer or the shipment operation for the same order contents can be performed quickly.

1 is a system configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. It is the figure which showed the packing form at the time of customer delivery. It is the figure which showed the kind of license certificate. It is the figure which showed a mode that the license certificate was created by this invention. This is a configuration definition file that defines the component configuration for each software product. It is a shipment result file which shows the shipment result to a customer. It is an arrangement file when arrangement comments from customers are included. This is a parts expansion file listing production parts for each arrangement. This is an instruction file for assembling software products for each arrangement. This is an individual license certificate print instruction file. This is an arrangement file when there is no arrangement comment from a customer. This is a parts expansion file listing production parts for each arrangement. This is an instruction file for assembling software products for each arrangement. This is an integrated license certificate print instruction file. It is a flowchart which shows the outline | summary from arrangement to shipment. It is a flowchart which shows preparation of a license certificate print instruction file. It is a flowchart which shows printing of a license certificate.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Customer terminal 102 Network 103 Arrangement receiving part 104 Arrangement database 105 Receipt registration part 106 Configuration definition database 107 Manufacturing part 108 Arrangement analysis part 109 Manufacturing instruction part 110 Medium production part 111 Manual printing part 112 License certificate printing part 113 Preparation part 114 Shipment result Database 115 Parts database 116 Parts data registration unit

Claims (4)

Register a document describing the license terms common to software products and the license terms specific to the software products in the first database as part data,
Register the license certificate template as part data in the second database,
When a software product is shipped to a customer, an individual license certificate for each product or a plurality of products can be obtained by writing the template in combination with the common license terms and the unique license terms according to customer requirements. Generate one of the integrated license certificates for the pair,
A license certificate printing method, wherein the generated license certificate is printed.   2. The license certificate printing method according to claim 1, wherein the individual license certificate or the integrated license certificate is generated according to a request from the customer or a past shipment record.   The product information and license information for each product are held in a configuration file, and the license information holds a combination of the common license terms and the unique license terms. License certificate printing method. A first database for registering a document describing license terms common to software products and license terms specific to software products as component data;
A second database for registering individual and integrated license certificate templates;
When shipping a software product to a customer, based on the customer's request, by combining the template and the part data, an integrated license certificate with a common clause or an individual license certificate with a software product individual clause Means for generating any of the
A license certificate printing system comprising means for printing the generated license certificate.

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