JP3644689B2 - File management system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
The present invention relates to a file management system, and more particularly to a file management system that guarantees the contents of a file by storing the file together with a write time when the file is stored in an external storage device that can be stored permanently.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, inventions, discoveries, and research records have been recorded in external storage media such as notebooks, personal computer storage devices, floppy disks, and the like. On the other hand, in these media, there is no means for guaranteeing the time when the record was stored, and the validity of the time stamp given by each person cannot be proved. It is also difficult to ensure that the contents of the record are not altered.
[0003]
Therefore, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-271465, in a document processing system that creates, registers, and manages a document, it is possible to determine whether or not the content of the stored document is valid as it is created. A document determination method is proposed. In this proposal, the target is limited to “document”, and it is determined whether or not there is a content change in the document data. It is used when the stored document data is allowed to be updated, but when it is desired to recognize that there is an update. When the stored document is changed, the fact that it has been changed is updated with the contents of the document. Record by updating the time stamp.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, in this conventional method, the target is limited to “document”, and other than that, it does not include voice, image, etc., and the time when the file is stored cannot be guaranteed.
An object of the present invention is not to limit the object to a document, but to solve the above problem, any file, sound, image, etc. can be used as long as the file is a file that can be stored in a computer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a file management system capable of assuring the contents recorded in a file and the time when the file was recorded.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of the present invention. The present invention compares the communication control device 1 connected to another terminal device via the communication line NT, the storage of the file in the external storage device, and the content of the file stored in the file in the external storage device. A file management device 2, an external storage device 3 that sequentially stores the files in time series, and a time stamp generating device 4 that generates a time stamp TM along the stored file are connected via the communication line Files transferred from a plurality of terminal devices are stored together with a series of time stamps.
[0006]
The file management device 2 authenticates the user in response to an inquiry from the user, and then compares whether the file held by the user is the same as the file in the external storage device. Guarantee the time when the file was stored based on the identity of the contents.
In addition, as the external storage device, a storage medium that can be written to the same area only once is used, and the files are serialized by packing in the order in which the files are stored, so that the file storage order and change cannot be guaranteed.
[0007]
[Action]
The external storage device 3 is a storage device using a storage medium that can be written to the same area only once. Further, the time stamp generating device 4 has a clock inside, and in response to an instruction from the file management device 2, the time stamp TM at that time is sent to the file device. Alternatively, the time broadcast may be input from the communication line NT via the communication control device 1 in order to guarantee the objectivity of the time.
[0008]
The file management device 2 stores the file to be stored in the external storage device 3 together with the time stamp and the file management information MI. As shown in the lower part of the figure, each file includes, for example, a time stamp TM, file management information MI, and data DA, and each file is stored in the external storage device 3 in the order in which the files are stored. It is performed by serializing files A, B, C. In this case, when the file contents are updated, the original file is saved with the time stamp as it is, and the new file and the time are stored in series.
[0009]
If necessary, the identity of the file is confirmed, and if a file having the same content exists in the external storage device, the time stamp of the file is taken out. Further, in order to confirm the identity of the contents of the file, the same file as the stored one is sent again to the file management apparatus 2 to compare the contents. This is because it is not enough to ensure that the contents of a file are identical, just to make sure that it is identical to a stored file that depends only on file attributes such as the file name and identifier. It is.
[0010]
The communication control device 1 is provided to control communication with a plurality of terminal devices connected through the communication line NT. Therefore, according to the present invention, the time of the file stored in the external storage device can be guaranteed using the time stamp. Also, since the file at that time is unique, it can be assured that the contents of the file have not been altered.
[0011]
【Example】
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, showing a file management system that guarantees storage time. As shown in the figure, the communication control device of FIG. 1 is connected to a terminal device via a communication line.
The terminal device 5 is connected to a terminal storage device 6 used only by the terminal, an input device 7 such as a keyboard, and an output device 8 such as a CRT.
[0012]
As the external storage device 3 used in the present invention, a storage medium that can be written to the same area only once is used. Specifically, a write-once optical disk or the like is appropriate in view of the required capacity and characteristics.
The process of the present invention compares the file stored in the external storage device with the contents of the file held by the user by storing the file stored in the external storage device with the file storage process of storing the user's file in the external storage device It consists of “comparison processing of file contents” for obtaining the time stamp of the file.
[0013]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of file storage processing according to the present invention. The processing of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. First, the terminal device 5 and the communication control device 1 are physically connected using the communication line NT (S1). Next, the user name and password are entered on the terminal device side to authenticate and identify the user (S2). Next, the user authentication is confirmed (S3). If appropriate (YES), the file attribute including the name, size, and type of the file stored in the system is transferred from the terminal device (S4). Thereafter, the file is transferred from the terminal device (S5) and stored in the external storage device of the present device (S6).
[0014]
Next, the file management device 2 requests a time stamp from the time stamp generating device 4 (S7), and the user information such as the time stamp obtained from the time stamp generating device, the user name, and the file attribute are externalized together with the file. (S8, S9, S10)).
Then, the file management device 2 confirms whether or not it has been normally terminated (S11), and if it has been successfully stored (YES), notifies the terminal device of the normal termination together with the file attribute and time stamp, and ends the processing (S13, S14). If the data could not be stored normally (NO), the terminal device is notified of the abnormal end and a request is made to transfer again from the file attribute (S12).
[0015]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of file content comparison processing according to the present invention. The processing of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. First, the terminal device 5 and the communication control device 1 are physically or logically connected using the communication line NT (S21). Next, the user name and password are input on the terminal device side to authenticate and identify the user (S22). The authentication is confirmed (S23), and if appropriate (YES), the user wants to obtain the time when the file is stored in the file already stored in the system in the above-mentioned "file storage process" stage. The file attributes including the file name, size, and type are transferred from the terminal device (S24).
[0016]
Further, the file for which the stored time is desired is transferred again from the terminal device (S25). The file management device 2 selects a corresponding file in the external storage device based on the file attribute transferred from the terminal device, and compares this with the contents of the currently transferred file (S26). Determine (S27).
If both contents match (YES), the file existing in the terminal device at the present time has the same contents from the time when it was previously stored. Therefore, the time stamp stored in the external storage device together with the file is taken out and notified to the terminal device (S29). If they are not the same, the terminal device is notified that the contents are different (S28). Then, the terminal device outputs the time stamp from the output device (S30). Further, it is determined whether or not the process ends normally (S31). If the process ends normally, the terminal apparatus is notified of the normal end and the process ends (S33). On the other hand, if it does not end normally, it notifies the terminal device of the abnormal end and requests to start over from the transfer of the file attribute (S32).
[0017]
In order to further improve the reliability of the file management system of the present invention, the time setting of the clock of the time stamp generator 4 cannot be changed. The accuracy of the watch is assumed to be sufficiently high. However, even if the set time of the clock is changed in the middle, the file stored in the external storage device is serialized according to the stored time, so that it is detected that the clock has been delayed from its context. Is possible. Alternatively, when it is difficult to detect that the clock has been delayed due to the relationship with the storage time of the previously stored file due to the low frequency of file storage, the time stamp generated by the time stamp generator 4 is displayed. Basically, it is possible to guarantee the time more strictly by always recording only the time stamp in the external storage device 3 at regular intervals. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, since the time stamp (TM) is always stored at regular intervals after the file is stored until the next file is stored, the frequency of apparent file storage is high. It becomes easier to detect that the clock has been delayed. Further, when the clock is advanced, it is only recorded that the file is stored at a time later than the correct time in the sense of guaranteeing the time when the file is stored, which is the object of the file management system of the present invention. It is. Moreover, a time signal can be input from the outside as a time via a communication line, and according to this method, the time can be objectively guaranteed.
[0018]
If the user of the terminal device wants to guarantee the contents of the file he owns and the time at that time, the user transfers the file from the terminal device to the file management system of the present invention and stores it. If you later want to prove that you owned a file with the same content as that file at some point in the past, transfer the file from the terminal device to the device again, and check when the same content file was stored. It can be obtained from the file management system of the present invention.
[0019]
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. In the above-described embodiment, one time stamp generator 4 is used for one file management system, but the same time stamp generator 4 is shared by other file management systems 2 as shown in the figure. In addition, it is possible to add a time stamp integrated across a plurality of file management systems.
[0020]
In the above-described embodiment, when the terminal device is connected to the file management system of the present invention, user authentication is performed by inputting an identification name and a password. In order to operate this type of file management system, a device for maintaining confidentiality is indispensable. In addition to the above, the device in the external storage device of the file management system of the present invention should be devised so that it cannot be easily seen. You can also.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the file is not limited to a document, and can be any file, whether it is a document, sound, image, etc., as long as the file is a file that can be stored in a computer. It is possible to guarantee the contents recorded in the time and the time when the data was recorded.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of file storage processing according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of file content comparison processing according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a storage format when a time stamp is always stored.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication control device 2 ... File management device 3 ... External storage device 4 ... Time stamp generation device 5 ... Terminal device 6 ... Terminal storage device 7 ... Input device 8 ... Output device

Claims (3)

Communication control means connected to another terminal device via a communication line;
An external storage means for sequentially storing files in time series;
File management means for storing the file in the external storage means and comparing the contents of the file in the external storage means and the stored file;
A time stamp generating means for generating a time stamp along a file to be stored,
Storing files transferred from a plurality of terminal devices connected by the communication line together with a series of time stamps; and
Regardless of file storage, the external storage means stores time stamps at regular time intervals so that a clock delay can be detected ;
A file management system characterized by   The file management means, after authenticating the user in response to an inquiry from the user, compares whether the file held by the user is the same as the file in the external storage means, The file management system according to claim 1, wherein the time when the file is stored is guaranteed based on the identity of the file.   As the external storage means, a storage medium that can be written to the same area only once is used, serialized by packing in the order in which the files are stored, and it is guaranteed that the file storage order and change cannot be performed. Item 2. The file management system according to Item 1.

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