JP2013045140A - Document management device, document management program, and document management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a waiting time of a user when changing a format of information according to a terminal by which information is browsed.SOLUTION: A document management server 1 distributes document information according to a request from a user terminal 2. The document management server includes: a device management part 103 that receives an access to a folder including document information, acquires information representing a format of information to be displayable on the user terminal 2, and controls the document information having a possibility to be selected as a display object, to change into a displayable information format; and a data management part 105 that receives the content of a selection operation of the document information in a displayed folder, from the user terminal 2, and transmits the document information changed into the displayable format according to the content of the received selection operation.

Description

  The present invention relates to a document management apparatus, a document management program, and a document management system, and more particularly to conversion of the format of document information to be managed.

  In recent years, there has been a tendency to digitize information, and image processing apparatuses such as printers and facsimiles used for outputting digitized information and scanners used for digitizing documents have become indispensable devices. Such an image processing apparatus is often configured as a multifunction machine that can be used as a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, or a copier by providing an imaging function, an image forming function, a communication function, and the like.

  As information processing terminals for browsing digitized information, in addition to general-purpose terminals such as PCs (Personal Computers), portable information processing terminals such as smartphones and tablet terminals, projectors, MFPs ( For example, a terminal specialized for a specific application such as Multi Function Peripheral) is used.

  Thus, when the terminals for browsing information are diversified, the format of information becomes a problem. That is, in order to view digitized information on an arbitrary information processing terminal, each information processing terminal needs to support the format of information to be browsed. Here, “corresponding to the format of information to be browsed” means that, for example, an application for displaying information in each format is installed.

  In response to such a problem, a method has been proposed in which a www (world width web) server converts the format of a document and then transmits it in response to a request from the client side (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).

  In the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, after the user operates the information processing terminal to request browsing of information stored on the server side, information format conversion is performed on the server side. Therefore, there is a time lag between when the user requests browsing of information and when the information is actually displayed on the information processing terminal, and the user feels inconvenient.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the waiting time of a user when converting the format of information according to a terminal that browses information.

  In order to solve the above problems, one aspect of the present invention is a document management apparatus that distributes electronically stored document information in response to a request from a display terminal that displays an image via a network. A selection screen display request receiving unit for receiving a selection screen display request for selecting the stored document information from the display terminal via a network, and a displayable format indicating a format of information that can be displayed on the display terminal Displayable format information acquisition unit that acquires information, and, when the display request is received, a possibility of being selected on the selection screen based on the displayable format information about the display terminal that is the request source of the display request An information format conversion control unit that controls to convert the document information to a format of information that can be displayed on the display terminal that is the request source of the display request; A document information selection receiving unit that receives the content of the document information selection operation displayed on the selection screen displayed on the display terminal from the display terminal via the network, and the display terminal according to the content of the received selection operation. And an information transmission unit that transmits the document information converted into a displayable format to the display terminal via a network.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document management program that distributes electronically stored document information in response to a request from a display terminal that displays an image via a network. Receiving a request for display of a selection screen for selecting document information from the display terminal via a network, obtaining displayable format information indicating a format of information that can be displayed on the display terminal, and the display request The document information that may be selected on the selection screen based on the displayable format information about the display terminal that is the request source of the display request when the display request is received. A step of controlling to convert to a format of information that can be displayed on the terminal, and document information on the selection screen displayed on the display terminal Receiving the content of the selection operation from the display terminal via the network, and document information converted into a format that can be displayed on the display terminal according to the content of the received selection operation via the network And the step of transmitting to the information processing apparatus.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document management including a display terminal that displays an image and a document management apparatus that distributes electronically stored document information in response to a request from the display terminal via a network. The display terminal transmits displayable format information indicating a format of information that can be displayed on the display terminal to the document management device via a network at a predetermined timing. A displayable format information storage processing unit that acquires the displayable format information and stores it in a storage medium, and a selection for receiving a selection screen display request for selecting the stored document information from the display terminal via a network A screen display request receiving unit, a displayable format information acquiring unit for acquiring the stored displayable format information from the storage medium, and the display request If received, document information that may be selected on the selection screen based on the displayable format information about the display terminal that is the request source of the display request is displayed on the display terminal that is the request source of the display request. An information format conversion control unit that controls to convert to a format of information that can be displayed in the document, and a document that accepts the content of the selection operation of the document information on the selection screen displayed on the display terminal from the display terminal via the network An information selection reception unit, and an information transmission unit that transmits document information converted into a format that can be displayed on the display terminal to the display terminal via a network according to the content of the received selection operation. Features.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the waiting time of the user at the time of converting the format of information according to the terminal which browses information can be shortened.

It is a figure which shows the operation | use form of the system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows typically the hardware constitutions of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the document management server which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the user information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the device information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the setting information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the information of the data conversion priority which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the file information which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the whole system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the document management server which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the device management part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the conversion format determination operation | movement which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the conversion format determination operation | movement which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the concept of the effect which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a system that uses an electronic document will be described by way of example. The system includes a server that manages a document and an information processing terminal that serves as a user interface when the user views the document. .

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation mode of a system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the system according to this embodiment is configured by connecting a document management server 1 and a user terminal 2 via a network 3. As an example of the user terminal 2, a desktop PC (Personal Computer) 2a, a tablet terminal 2b, a mobile phone terminal 2c, an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) 2d, a projector 2e, and the like are used. As the network 3, an intranet such as a local area network, a public line such as the Internet or a telephone line, a dedicated line, or the like is used.

  In addition to the digitized document information to be managed, the document management server 1 includes user information that is information for each user who uses the system according to the present embodiment, and device information that is information for each device operated by the user. Various information such as setting information for setting the operation of the system is stored and managed. The document management server 1 functions as a document management apparatus that distributes electronically stored document information in response to a request from the user terminal 2 via the network.

  The user terminal 2 is an information processing terminal in which a general-purpose web browser or a dedicated application for using the system according to the present embodiment is installed, and functions as a display terminal for displaying digitized document information To do.

  Next, the hardware configuration of information processing apparatuses such as the document management server 1 and the user terminal 2 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a configuration similar to that of a general server, a PC (Personal Computer), or the like. That is, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 20, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 30, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 40, and an I / F 50. Connected through. Further, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 60 and an operation unit 70 are connected to the I / F 50.

  The CPU 10 is a calculation means and controls the operation of the entire information processing apparatus. The RAM 20 is a volatile storage medium capable of reading and writing information at high speed, and is used as a work area when the CPU 10 processes information. The ROM 30 is a read-only nonvolatile storage medium and stores a program such as firmware. The HDD 40 is a non-volatile storage medium that can read and write information, and stores an OS (Operating System), various control programs, application programs, and the like.

  The I / F 50 connects and controls the bus 80 and various hardware and networks. The LCD 60 is a visual user interface for confirming the state of the distribution server 2. The operation unit 70 is a user interface for a user to input information to the information processing apparatus, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel. As described with reference to FIG. 1, the document management server 1 according to the present embodiment is operated as a server. Therefore, user interfaces such as the LCD 60 and the operation unit 70 can be omitted.

  In such a hardware configuration, a program stored in a storage medium such as the ROM 30, the HDD 40, or an optical disk (not shown) is read into the RAM 20, and operates according to the control of the CPU 10, thereby configuring a software control unit. A functional block for realizing the functions of the document management server 1 and the user terminal 2 according to the present embodiment is configured by a combination of the software control unit configured as described above and hardware.

  In the system configured as described above, the user activates a browser application such as a web browser on the user terminal 2 and accesses the document management server 1 via the browser application. The document management server 1 transmits electronically document information (hereinafter referred to as document information) over the network in response to an access from the user terminal 2 via a browser application. The user terminal 2 receives the document information transmitted from the document management server 1 and displays it on the display device via the browser application.

  In the system that performs such processing, the document management server 1 according to the present embodiment has a function of converting the information format of the requested document information and transmitting it according to the user terminal that is the request source of the document information. In this embodiment, the timing for starting the conversion of the information format of the document information is controlled to reduce the waiting time from when the user requests the distribution of the document information until it is displayed on the user terminal 2. This is the gist.

  Next, the functional configuration of the document management server 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the document management server 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the document management server 1 according to the present embodiment includes a controller 100, a DB (Data Base) 110, and a network I / F 120. The controller 100 also includes a communication control unit 101, a device capability processing unit 102, a device management unit 103, a data conversion unit 104, a data management unit 105, and a cache management unit 106.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the DB 110 is configured as a part of the document management server 1 will be described as an example. However, the DB 110 may be configured as a dedicated database server accessible via a network. is there. Moreover, each module which comprises the controller 100 may be distributed and comprised by several servers.

  The network I / F 120 is an interface for the document management server 1 to communicate with other devices such as the user terminal 2 via the network, and uses an Ethernet (registered trademark) or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface. The network I / F 120 is realized by the I / F 50 shown in FIG.

  The DB 110 is a storage device that stores document information to be managed and viewed in the system according to the present embodiment, document management information, and the like, and is realized by a nonvolatile storage medium such as the HDD 40. In addition to document information, the DB 110 stores “user information”, “device information”, and “setting information” as shown in FIG.

  Here, information stored in the DB 110 will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of “user information”. As shown in FIG. 4, “user information” includes “user ID” for identifying the user, “login information” used for authentication for the user to use the system according to the present embodiment, The information includes “root folder” indicating the path of the assigned folder and “priority folder” indicating the path of the folder to which data conversion is preferentially performed for each user.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of “device information”. As shown in FIG. 5, “device information” includes “device ID” for identifying the device that is the user terminal 2, “data display capability” indicating the data format that can be displayed on the device, It includes information of “access date / time” indicating the date and time when the document management server 1 was accessed and “last access folder” indicating the folder last accessed via the device.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of “setting information”. As shown in FIG. 6, “setting information” includes “data conversion priority” indicating the priority of the format when the user terminal supports a plurality of data formats, and data for folder access at a specific level. “Data conversion trigger” indicating the range of the folder hierarchy to start conversion, “Priority expiration date” indicating the last update date and time of the data to be converted, and “Cache storage period” for storing the data generated by the conversion as a cache ", Information such as" cache deletion time "indicating the time to delete cache data whose storage period has elapsed, and" file information "indicating the bibliographic information of the document information stored in the DB 110 are included.

  FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating examples of “data conversion priority” in the information illustrated in FIG. 6. FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating an example of a general “data conversion priority”, and includes “JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)”, “PNG (Portable Network Graphics)”, “PDF (Portable Document Format)”. The format name of “file format” such as “TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)” is associated with “priority”.

  On the other hand, FIG. 7B is a diagram showing an example of “data conversion priority” rearranged according to a predetermined condition. In FIG. 7B, the number of pages is considered. An example of “data conversion priority” is shown. In the case of FIG. 7B, formats corresponding to multi-pages such as “PDF” and “TIFF” are associated with high priority. Thus, the information shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B is used as information format conversion priority information.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of “file information” in the information shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, “file information” includes “file name” for identifying a file, “number of pages” of the file, “file format” indicating the format of the data format of the file, and the file created “File creation date / time” indicating the date and time when the data was converted, and “Cache creation date / time” indicating the date and time when the data cache converted for the file was generated.

  The controller 100 is configured by a combination of software and hardware. Specifically, a program stored in a nonvolatile storage medium such as the ROM 30 and the nonvolatile memory and the HDD 40 and the optical disk is loaded into a volatile memory (hereinafter referred to as a memory) such as the RAM 20, and the CPU 10 performs an operation according to the program. The controller 100 is configured by a software control unit configured by performing and hardware such as an integrated circuit. The controller 100 functions as a control unit that controls the entire document management server 1.

  The communication control unit 101 receives information from other devices such as the user terminal 2 via the network I / F 120 and transmits information to other devices via the network I / F 120. The device capability processing unit 102 processes the information notified from the user terminal 2 to generate device information, and controls updating of the device information stored in the DB 110.

  The device management unit 103 manages the user terminal 2 by processing device information according to access from the user terminal 2 and controlling data conversion according to the accessed user terminal 2. The data conversion unit 104 performs data format conversion under the control of the device management unit 103. The data management unit 105 manages information related to document information, which is information to be browsed, among information stored in the DB 110. The cache management unit 106 holds the converted data generated by the data conversion unit 104 as cache data.

  In addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 3, the controller 100 includes a timer control function for generating an event according to a specific date and time, and each module executes a specific event according to the timer control function. For example, when the data management unit 105 detects that the time set in the “cache erasing time” shown in FIG. 6 is reached, the data management unit 105 also displays the “cache storage period” shown in FIG. Refer to “Cache creation date and time” and delete the cache data whose storage period has passed.

  Next, the operation of the system according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing an operation flow of the entire system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, first, the user terminal 2 presents capability to the document management server 1 via the network (S901). Through the processing in S901, a session is established between the user terminal 2 and the document management server 1.

  In step S <b> 901, the user terminal 2 performs capability presentation by transmitting information corresponding to “device ID” and “data display capability” described in FIG. 5. As the “device ID”, the IP address and host name of the user terminal 2 as well as the user name of the user who has logged in to the user terminal 2 are used. The processing of S901 is executed by the user terminal 2 in response to a user operation, for example, when the user terminal 2 is turned on, when an application for using the system in the user terminal 2 is started, Executed when connected.

  Next, the user terminal 2 performs folder access via the network in response to a folder selection operation by the user (S902). As a result, the document management server 1 executes format conversion of the document data based on the accessed folder (S903). Thereafter, the user terminal 2 performs file access according to the file selection operation by the user (S904).

  Next, details of the operation of the document management server 1 in the operation of the system as shown in FIG. 9 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, in the document management server 1, when receiving the capability presentation from the user terminal 2 (S1001), the communication control unit 101 inputs the received information to the device capability processing unit 102 to request capability analysis. (S1002).

  Upon receiving the capability analysis request from the communication control unit 101, the device capability processing unit 102 analyzes the information input from the communication control unit 101 and sets the “device ID” and “data display capability” as described in FIG. Information is generated and a device information registration request is made to the device management unit 103 (S1003). Information registered in this way is used as displayable format information indicating an information format that can be displayed on the user terminal 2. That is, the device capability processing unit 102 functions as a displayable format information storage processing unit.

  Upon receiving a device registration request from the device capability processing unit 102, the device management unit 103 registers device information in the DB 110, and acquires and holds “setting information” necessary for the operation (S1004). In step S <b> 1004, if the device information of “device ID” to be newly registered is already registered, the device management unit 103 updates the already registered device information. On the other hand, when the device information of “device ID” to be newly registered is not registered, the device information is registered as a new record.

  Next, when receiving a folder access from the user terminal 2 (S1005), the communication control unit 101 notifies the device management unit 103 of the accessed folder (S1005). Here, in the present embodiment, the folder display is used as a selection screen for selecting document information to be displayed. That is, the device management unit 103 functions as a selection screen display request reception unit. In response to the access notification from the communication control unit 101, the device management unit 103 refers to “data display capability” of “device information” and “data conversion priority” of “setting information” stored in the DB 110. A conversion format is determined (S1006), and a data conversion request is made to the data converter 104 (S1007). In S1006, the device management unit 103 functions as a displayable format information acquisition unit, and in S1007, the device management unit 103 functions as an upper format conversion control unit.

  In step S <b> 1007, the device management unit 103 preferentially selects the data format from the document information stored in the accessed folder and inputs the data conversion request to the data conversion unit 104 in order by inputting the data into the data conversion unit 104. I do. When determining the document information to be converted, the device management unit 103 gives priority to the document information included in the accessed folder, and refers to “data conversion opportunity” in “setting information” shown in FIG. Thus, the order of the document information to be converted is determined with priority.

  The information of “data conversion opportunity” is information indicating the hierarchy of a folder to be subjected to data conversion based on the accessed folder, such as “up to 2 levels” or “up to 3 levels”. Accordingly, in step S1007, the device management unit 103 determines a folder range to be subjected to data conversion based on the “data conversion opportunity” information. That is, the information of “data conversion opportunity” is used as conversion range information indicating the range of the folder hierarchy for determining document information that may be selected as a display target in the folder displayed on the user terminal 2. .

  Further, the device management unit 103 refers to the information of “priority folder” shown in FIG. 4 and the information of “last access folder” shown in FIG. Conversion may be preferentially performed within the folder range. By setting the information of “priority folder”, it is possible to control in accordance with the user's intended use. Also, frequently accessed folders can be preferentially subject to data conversion based on the information of “final access folder”, and user convenience can be improved. That is, information on “priority folder” and information on “last access folder” are used as folder designation information for designating a folder in order to determine document information to be preferentially converted.

  Upon receiving the data conversion request from the device management unit 103, the data conversion unit 104 converts the target document information into a specified format according to the priority order of the data conversion request from the device management unit 103, and transmits the document information to the device management unit 103. (S1008). The device management unit 103 that has acquired the converted document information from the data conversion unit 104 stores the acquired converted document information in the cache management unit 106 and makes a data registration request to the data management unit 105 (S1009). ). In response to the data registration request from the device management unit 103, the data management unit 105 registers “cache creation date” of “file information” shown in FIG. 8 (S1010).

  Thereafter, when receiving a file access from the user terminal 2, the communication control unit 101 requests the data management unit 105 for the accessed file (S1011). That is, the data management unit 105 functions as a document information selection receiving unit. In response to a request from the communication control unit 101, the data management unit 105 acquires document information whose format has been converted according to the data display capability of the user terminal 2 that is the request source from the cache management unit 106. 101 is transmitted (S1012). As a result, the communication control unit 101 transmits the document information whose format has been converted to the user terminal 2 so that the user terminal 2 can view the document information. That is, the data management unit 105 functions as an information transmission unit.

  As described above, in the document management server 1 of the system according to the present embodiment, the data display capability of each user terminal 2 is collected in advance, and at the timing when the folder access is made from the user terminal 2, the user terminal 2 The document information is converted into a format that can be displayed at This makes it possible to complete the data format conversion earlier than the start of the data format conversion when a file access is caused by the user's operation, thereby reducing the user's waiting time and convenience. Can be improved.

  Next, details of processing of the device management unit 103 in S1004, S1006, and S1007 of FIG. 10 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, the device management unit 103 acquires “setting information” from the DB 110 in the process of S1004 of FIG. 10, and reads it with reference to “data conversion opportunity” therein (S1101).

  After reading the “data conversion opportunity”, the device management unit 103 ends the process when the session established with the user terminal 2 is disconnected by the processing of S1001 to S1003 in FIG. 10 (S1102 / NO). . While there is a session with the user terminal 2, the device management unit 103 waits for folder access from the user terminal 2 (S1103 / NO).

  If there is a folder access from the user terminal 2 (S1103 / YES), whether or not there is a file under the accessed folder, that is, the contents of the folder are displayed on the user terminal 2, thereby displaying the object. It is confirmed whether there is document information that may be selected as (S1104). Here, the files under the folder include files in subfolders as well as files stored in the folder. If there is no file under the accessed folder (S1104 / NO), the device management unit 103 repeats the processing from S1102 and waits for folder access to another folder.

  When there is a document information file under the accessed folder (S1104 / YES), the device management unit 103, as described above, the folder structure, “priority folder” information of “user information”, and “device information”. The file is referred to in the order of priority determined based on the “last access folder” information of “”, and it is determined based on the “data display capability” of “device information” whether or not the data format needs to be converted (S1105). ).

  If conversion is not necessary as a result of the determination in S1105 (S1105 / NO), the device management unit 103 repeats the process for the files under the accessed folder (S1108 / NO). On the other hand, if there is a file that needs to be converted (S1105 / YES), the device management unit 103 determines the conversion format based on the “data display capability” and “data conversion priority” of “device information” (S1106). ), A data conversion request is made to the data converter 104 (S1107). When the device management unit 103 completes the processing of S1105 to S1107 for all the files under the accessed folder (S1108 / YES), the device management unit 103 ends the processing.

  By such processing, when there is a folder access from the user terminal 2, the data format of the document information is converted in the priority order according to the information such as the hierarchical structure of the folder, “priority folder”, “last access folder”, and the like. As a result, when there is a file access from the user terminal 2, there is no waiting time for data format conversion on the user side, and the document information to be accessed is displayed on the user terminal 2. Time can be shortened.

  Next, details of the conversion format determination processing in S1106 of FIG. 11 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 12, the device management unit 103 first acquires “device information” of the access source user terminal 2 from the DB 110 and refers to “data display capability” (S1201). When the referred “data display capability” includes a plurality of data formats (S1202 / YES), the device management unit 103 selects a data format having a higher priority according to “data conversion priority” of “setting information”. The conversion format is determined (S1203). On the other hand, if there is one data format included in the “data display capability” (S1202 / NO), the device management unit 103 determines that data format as a conversion format (S1204).

  In contrast to the operation shown in FIG. 12, the operation shown in FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation when the number of pages of document information to be converted is considered. As shown in FIG. 13, the process of referring to “data display capability” is the same as S1201 in FIG. 12 (S1301). In addition to referring to “data display capability”, the device management unit 103 refers to “number of pages” included in “file information” for the target document information (S1302).

  After that, the device management unit 103 checks whether or not “data display capability” includes a plurality of data formats as in S1202 of FIG. 12, and if only a single data format is included (S1303 / NO), The data format is determined as the conversion format (S1307), and the process is terminated. If a plurality of data formats are included (S1303 / YES), the device management unit 103 checks whether the target document information is a plurality of pages (S1304).

  As a result of the determination in S1304, if the target document information is a plurality of pages (S1304 / YES), the device management unit 103 sets the conversion priority set in consideration of the number of pages as shown in FIG. Based on this table, a data format having a high priority is determined as a conversion format (S1305), and the process ends. On the other hand, when the target document information is a single page (S1304 / NO), the device management unit 103 has a high priority based on a standard conversion priority table as shown in FIG. The data format is determined as the conversion format (S1306), and the process ends. By such processing, the conversion format is determined based on the data format that can be displayed on the user terminal 2 and the priority for each preset format.

  Next, the effect of the function by the document management server 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams conceptually showing a difference in waiting time occurring on the user side between the case where the function of the document management server 1 according to the present embodiment is used and the case of the conventional technique. It is. As shown in “this embodiment” in FIG. 14A, if the conversion of the data format is started simultaneously with the folder access and the format conversion of the target document information is completed before the file access timing, There is no waiting time for return on the user side.

  On the other hand, in the case of “conventional technology”, as shown in FIG. 14A, format conversion of the target document information is started at the stage of file access, so that format conversion is completed and browsing is possible. By the time, a conversion waiting time as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, conversion of the data format may not be completed before file access. In the case of “this embodiment” in FIG. 14B, the conversion of the data format is started by the folder access. However, the file access occurs before the conversion is completed and browsing becomes possible. A conversion waiting time as shown on the upper side occurs. On the other hand, in the case of “prior art”, since conversion is started in response to file access as in FIG. 14A, it is longer than “this embodiment” as shown at the bottom of FIG. 14B. Conversion latency occurs. As a result, in the “present embodiment” and the “prior art”, the waiting time generated on the user side is shortened for the period indicated as the shortening waiting time, and the responsiveness to the user can be improved.

  As described above, in the document management server 1 of the system according to the present embodiment, information in a data format that can be displayed on each user terminal 2 is collected in advance, and when there is a folder access from the user terminal 2 In addition, the data format of the document information stored under the folder is converted in advance into a data format that can be displayed on the user terminal 2 that is the access source. Therefore, the conversion can be completed at a timing faster than starting the conversion of the data format after the file access, and the waiting time until the document information is displayed on the user side can be eliminated or shortened. Become.

  In the above embodiment, an example is described in which the document management server 1 starts data format conversion in response to a folder access from the user terminal 2, as shown in S902 of FIG. 9 or S1005 of FIG. did. However, the trigger for starting the conversion of the data format is an example, and the gist thereof is that the document information will be displayed soon when the selection screen for selecting the document information to be displayed is displayed on the user terminal 2. The conversion of the data format is started on the assumption that the display request is generated. Thereby, it is possible to prepare for the request from the user terminal 2 by generating the document information converted in the data format before the user selects the document information.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, only data format information corresponding to “data display capability” is included, and the data conversion unit 104 has been described as an example of performing data format conversion. In addition, for example, information on the resolution of the display screen of the user terminal 2 is included as “data display capability”, and the data conversion unit 104 reduces the image size of the document information in accordance with the screen resolution of the user terminal 2. Also good. As a result, information with a large size is not distributed unnecessarily, and it is possible to reduce the addition of the network and the processing load of the document display processing in the user terminal 2.

1 Document management server 2 User terminal 2a PC
2b Tablet terminal 2d Mobile phone terminal 2c MFP
2d projector 3 network 10 CPU
20 RAM
30 ROM
40 HDD
50 I / F
60 LCD
70 Operation Unit 80 Bus 100 Controller 101 Communication Control Unit 102 Device Capability Processing Unit 103 Device Management Unit 103
104 Data conversion unit 105 Data management unit 106 Cache management unit 110 DB
120 Network I / F

JP 2001-216230 A

Claims (10)

A document management apparatus that distributes electronically stored document information in response to a request from a display terminal that displays an image via a network,
A selection screen display request reception unit that receives a display request for a selection screen for selecting the stored document information from the display terminal via a network;
A displayable format information acquisition unit that acquires displayable format information indicating a format of information that can be displayed on the display terminal;
When the display request is received, document information that may be selected on the selection screen based on the displayable format information about the display terminal that is the request source of the display request is displayed as the request source of the display request. An information format conversion control unit that controls to convert to a format of information that can be displayed on the display terminal,
A document information selection receiving unit that receives the content of the selection operation of document information on the selection screen displayed on the display terminal from the display terminal via a network;
A document management apparatus comprising: an information transmission unit configured to transmit document information converted into a format displayable on the display terminal to the display terminal via a network according to the content of the received selection operation. . The selection screen display request reception unit receives a folder access specifying a folder included in a folder configuration of a storage area in the document management apparatus as a display request for the selection screen;
2. The document management according to claim 1, wherein the information format conversion control unit sets document information included in a folder designated in the folder access as document information that may be selected on the selection screen. apparatus.   The information format conversion control unit acquires conversion range information indicating a range of a folder hierarchy for determining document information that may be selected on the selection screen, and converts the conversion from a folder specified in the folder access. The document management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein document information included in a folder of a hierarchy of a range indicated by the range information is document information that may be selected on the selection screen.   The information format conversion control unit acquires folder designation information for designating a folder as information for determining document information to be preferentially converted among document information that may be selected on the selection screen, and 2. The document information stored in a folder designated in the folder designation information among the document information that may be selected on the selection screen is controlled to be preferentially converted. 3. The document management apparatus according to any one of items 3.   The information format conversion control unit obtains information format priority information in which priorities of a plurality of different information formats are set, and a plurality of information formats that can be displayed on a display terminal that is a request source of the display request. 5. The document management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the format of information to be converted is determined according to the priority set in the information format priority information.   The information format conversion control unit converts information based on the information format priority information that is different depending on whether the document information to be converted is composed of a plurality of pages or a single page. The document management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the format is determined. The display terminal includes a displayable format information storage processing unit that acquires the displayable format information to be transmitted to the document management apparatus via a network at a predetermined timing and stores the displayable format information in a storage medium;
The displayable format information acquisition unit acquires the displayable format information stored in the storage medium when receiving a selection screen display request. Document management device. A document management program that distributes electronically stored document information in response to a request from a display terminal that displays an image via a network,
Receiving a display request for a selection screen for selecting the stored document information from the display terminal via a network;
Obtaining displayable format information indicating a format of information that can be displayed on the display terminal;
When the display request is received, document information that may be selected on the selection screen based on the displayable format information about the display terminal that is the request source of the display request is displayed as the request source of the display request. Controlling to convert to a format of information that can be displayed on the display terminal,
Receiving the content of the selection operation of the document information on the selection screen displayed on the display terminal from the display terminal via a network;
And causing the information processing apparatus to execute a step of transmitting the document information converted into a format that can be displayed on the display terminal to the display terminal via a network according to the content of the received selection operation. Document management program. A document management system including a display terminal that displays an image and a document management apparatus that distributes electronically stored document information in response to a request from the display terminal via a network,
The display terminal transmits displayable format information indicating a format of information that can be displayed on the display terminal to the document management apparatus via a network at a predetermined timing,
The document management apparatus includes:
A displayable format information storage processing unit for acquiring the displayable format information and storing it in a storage medium;
A selection screen display request reception unit that receives a display request for a selection screen for selecting the stored document information from the display terminal via a network;
A displayable format information acquisition unit for acquiring the stored displayable format information from the storage medium;
When the display request is received, document information that may be selected on the selection screen based on the displayable format information about the display terminal that is the request source of the display request is displayed as the request source of the display request. An information format conversion control unit that controls to convert to a format of information that can be displayed on the display terminal
A document information selection receiving unit that receives the content of the selection operation of document information on the selection screen displayed on the display terminal from the display terminal via a network;
A document management system comprising: an information transmission unit configured to transmit document information converted into a format that can be displayed on the display terminal to the display terminal via a network according to the content of the received selection operation. .   The display terminal transmits the displayable format information to the document management apparatus at at least one timing when the power is turned on, when connected to the network, or when an application for communication with the document management apparatus is started. The document management system according to claim 9.

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