JP4471204B2 - Information processing system, document management apparatus, information processing method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to control for maintaining consistency by interlocking management structures between independent databases and updating of contents in a system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses and database management apparatuses are connected via a predetermined communication medium.

  Conventionally, a document management apparatus having a document management database for managing hierarchical data is provided, and a document that is digitized by FAX transmission or scan input is automatically stored in the document management apparatus based on document attribute information. There is a system characterized in that an external document storage device for storing a document is connected to the external document storage device, and the external document storage device has a document storage destination collation database for determining a document storage destination from attribute information. It was.

  The contents of the document storage location verification database are created according to the actual hierarchical structure of the document management database. However, if the hierarchical structure of the document management database is changed, the administrator will maintain consistency. The contents of the document storage location verification database must be changed as necessary.

  Conventionally, this change operation has been performed manually by an administrator (a change in the hierarchical structure of the document management database could not be automatically reflected in the document storage destination verification database).

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system capable of displaying a folder structure at a designated date and time by holding change history information obtained by changing the folder structure of a document management apparatus.

Patent Document 2 discloses a mechanism for matching consistency between a plurality of databases.
JP 2002-108677 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-3263

  However, the document management apparatus of Patent Document 1 only manages the change history of the database managed in the apparatus, and cannot cooperate with the database in other linked systems.

  In Patent Document 2, it is possible to match the consistency between databases, but it cannot be simply applied when the databases are different types of databases used in different systems.

  As a problem that occurs when the administrator manually updates data as described above, if the hierarchical structure of the document management database changes widely, it is necessary to grasp all these changes and check the document storage location verification database. It can be difficult to modify the contents of the document, if the amount of data in the document storage destination verification database is very large, it can be very time-consuming to update all data, and manual changes are hierarchical. Since the absolute path of the structure is input as text, there is a problem that the consistency of data may be destroyed due to an input error.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an external document storage device that outputs an electronic document according to storage location information indicating a storage location of the electronic document, and the electronic document. In an information processing system including a document management apparatus to store, a mechanism capable of matching the storage location information with a hierarchical structure in which an electronic document is stored according to the storage location information is provided.

  The present invention is an information processing system including an external document storage device that outputs an electronic document according to storage location information indicating a storage location of the electronic document, and a document management device that stores the electronic document. A change instruction receiving means for receiving an instruction to change the hierarchical structure obtained in accordance with an operation on a display screen on which a hierarchical structure in which the electronic document is stored is displayed according to the storage location information; and the change instruction receiving means The change history generating means for generating the change history of the hierarchical structure using the change instruction of the hierarchical structure and the change history generating means for causing the external document storage device to change the storage destination information. Change history output means for outputting the changed change history to the external document storage device, wherein the external document storage device outputs the change output by the change history output means Storage location information changing means for changing the storage location information according to the history, and changing the storage location information by the storage location information changing means, thereby matching the changed hierarchical structure with the storage location information. It is characterized by taking.

  According to the present invention, in an information processing system including an external document storage device that outputs an electronic document according to storage location information indicating a storage location of the electronic document and a document management device that stores the electronic document, the storage location information Accordingly, the hierarchical structure in which the electronic document is stored and the storage destination information can be matched.

  The present invention assumes an environment in which the document management apparatus, the external document storage apparatus, and the management apparatus shown in the background section are connected via a network. The network also includes a plurality of user terminals for general users to use documents in the document management apparatus, a FAX receiving apparatus for sending an electronic document to an external document storage apparatus, a document scanning apparatus, and the like. It is connected. In this embodiment, the document management device, the document storage device, and the management device are arranged independently. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and three of them may be in the same server. You may distribute | distribute to two servers like the server of a management apparatus and the server which consists of a document storage apparatus and a management apparatus.

<Description of prerequisite system>
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a system (a system management system to which a document management apparatus, an external document storage apparatus, and a system management apparatus of the present invention can be applied) as a premise of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in a system that is a premise of the present invention, a document management apparatus 101, an external document storage apparatus 103, a system management apparatus 105, a general user terminal 106, and an MFP (Multi Function peripheral) 107 are connected via a network. Yes. Only one document management apparatus 101 and one external document storage apparatus 103 exist. It is recognized that there are a plurality of system management apparatuses 105 unless they are used at the same time, but usually only one is sufficient. A plurality of general user terminals 106 exist on the network. A single MFP or a plurality of MFPs 107 may be used.

  The MFP 107 has a function of transmitting a FAX document received through a telephone line with attribute information added to the external document storage device 103, or sending an attributed information to the external document storage device 103 by scanning a paper document and digitizing the document. It has the function of adding and transmitting, or both of them.

  The document management DB 102 is installed in a storage device that accompanies the document management apparatus 101.

  The document storage destination verification DB 104 is installed in a storage device attached to the external document storage device 103.

  The document management apparatus 101 and the external document storage apparatus 103 are information processing apparatuses, and are assumed to be high-performance computers mainly used as server computers.

  The system management device 105 and the general user terminal 106 are information processing devices, and mainly assume a personal computer (PC). It is desirable to use a high-performance system management device 105.

  The document management apparatus 101 has a function of storing an electronic document at a hierarchical position designated by the general user terminal 106 and the external document storage apparatus 103, and a function of transmitting information that can refer to the document designated by the general user terminal 106. And a function for transmitting information for representing the hierarchical structure of the document management DB 102 to the system management apparatus 105 in response to a request from the system management apparatus 105, and the document management DB 102 according to a request for changing the hierarchical structure from the system management apparatus 105. It has various functions including a function for changing the hierarchical structure.

  The external document storage device 103 reads the attribute information added to the FAX received document and the scanned document, and the document management DB 102 specified by the document storage destination registered in the document storage destination verification DB 104 according to the read attribute information. A function for transmitting a document to a hierarchical position in the system, a function for transmitting information on a document storage destination registered in the document storage destination verification DB 104 to the system management apparatus 105 in response to a request from the system management apparatus 105, and a system management apparatus Various functions including a function for changing the document storage location information in the document storage location verification DB 104 in accordance with a request for changing the document storage location information from 105 are provided.

  Further, the system management apparatus 105 requests the external document storage apparatus 103 to transmit information regarding the association between the document attributes registered in the document storage destination verification DB 104 and the document storage destination, and acquires the received document storage. Various functions including a function for displaying destination information, a function for requesting and obtaining information representing the hierarchical structure of the document management DB 102 from the document management apparatus 101, a function for displaying the received hierarchical structure information, and the like. Yes.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the document management apparatus 101 and the document management DB 102 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the document management apparatus 101 has a configuration in which a storage device 201, a CPU 202, a RAM 203, and an external interface 204 are connected by a data bus.

  The storage device 201 is a nonvolatile storage device whose data is not erased even when the power is turned off. The storage device 201 is intended to store data that may be stored for a long time. Usually, a hard disk (HD) is used. The storage device 201 stores a document management program for executing the system and a document management DB (document management DB 102 shown in FIG. 1). In the document management DB, in addition to the stored document being managed, hierarchical structure information for hierarchical management of documents (table 3-1 shown in FIG. 3B and table 3-2 shown in FIG. 3C). Information).

  The CPU 202 is a central processing unit that can execute various programs by arithmetic processing. The RAM 203 is a volatile storage device and is a memory that is effective only while the power is on. The RAM 203 is also used as a work area, and the CPU 202 loads a document management program from the storage device 201 onto the RAM 203 and executes it. The RAM 203 is also used for temporarily storing data transmitted / received by the external interface 204.

  The external interface 204 is a part connected to the network and is a device serving as a window for transmitting and receiving data to and from an external device connected to the network.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a document management structure in the document management DB 102. FIG. 3A corresponds to a conceptual diagram of a hierarchical structure in the document management DB 102, and FIG. FIG. 3C corresponds to a document management table for managing document information and data in the document management DB 102.

  First, the concept of the hierarchical document database will be described with reference to FIG.

  The top layer of the hierarchy is called a root and can have multiple roots. Each route is distinguished by a name. In the example shown in FIG. 3A, there are two routes of “route 1” and “route 2”.

  Below the root, there are several “folders” that are nodes of the hierarchy. Each folder in the same hierarchy is distinguished by its name. Folders can have parent-child relationships at any level. In a certain folder, there is only one parent folder, but there can be any number of child folders from “0” to plural. That is, the document management DB 102 can manage a plurality of the tree structure methods in parallel.

  A “document” managed by this DB can be placed under the folder. Each document in the same folder is distinguished by its name. When it is desired to specify a document managed by this DB by a character string, the names of “root”, “folder”, and “document” on the document system can be represented by a character string concatenated with a delimiter.

  For example, when the delimiter is “¥”, if it is desired to specify the document A under the folder 111 of the root 1 folder 11, the character string “root 1 ¥ folder 11 ¥ folder 111 ¥ document A” can be used. it can. This character string is called “absolute path”.

<Example of hierarchical structure implementation>
Next, with reference to FIGS. 3B and 3C, how folders and files are actually managed as a database will be described.

  The example shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C has a relational database structure composed of a plurality of tables.

  In FIG. 3B, reference numeral 3-1 denotes a folder management table for managing information on a “folder” serving as a root or node of a hierarchy and a hierarchy relationship. In FIG. 3C, 3-2 is a table for managing document information and data.

  The folder management table 3-1 in FIG. 3B includes a unique “folder ID” that can identify a folder, a “folder name” that is a display name, and a “parent” that is an ID of a folder that is an upper hierarchy of the folder. There are items having “folder ID” and other information specific to each folder. As the “folder ID”, a value other than “0” is uniquely assigned to each folder. If the folder is the top layer (root), “0” is entered in the item of “parent folder ID” to indicate that the parent folder does not exist. “Folder name” is unique among those belonging to the same parent folder, but the same folder name may exist under different folders.

  The document management table 3-2 in FIG. 3C includes a “document name” that is a name on display of a document, a “parent folder ID” that is an ID of a folder having the document, and other documents. Some items have specific information and data. The “document name” is unique among those belonging to the same parent folder, but the same document name may exist under different folders. Also, it is not allowed to have a “document name” having the same name as the “folder name” of the folder belonging to the parent folder.

<Basic operation of document management program>
In the document management apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 1, the document management program recorded in the storage device 201 having the structure diagram shown in FIG. 2 is continuously operated in principle after being first started by the administrator. is there. When a general user wants to refer to a document existing in the document management DB 102, the general user terminal 106 sends a command meaning “reference” and a specification of the absolute path of the document to be referred to the document management apparatus 101. Through this process, the target document data is acquired from the document management DB 102 and sent to the general user terminal 106. Thereby, a general user can refer to the document existing in the document management DB 102 through the general user terminal 106.

  In the case of a user who is given a stronger authority, by adding a command or designation of the absolute path of the target document from the general user terminal 106 in the same manner, the document management program causes the document management program to add a document, Processing such as update and deletion can be performed.

  A document addition command is also sent from the external document storage device 103. The document management program processes the same command without distinguishing whether the sending source is a general user or the external document storage device 103.

  In this way, the document management program is a program in a format that executes a corresponding process in response to an instruction from another device.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the external document storage device 103 and the document storage destination verification DB 104 shown in FIG.

  The external document storage device 103 is configured such that a storage device 401, a CPU 402, a RAM 403, and an external interface 404 are connected by a data bus.

  The storage device 401 is a nonvolatile storage device in which data is not erased even when the power is turned off, and is intended to store data that may be stored for a long period of time. Usually, a hard disk (HD) is used. The storage device stores an external document storage program for executing the system and a document storage destination verification DB (document storage destination verification DB 104 shown in FIG. 1). The document storage location verification DB includes data (shown in FIG. 4) that requires document storage location verification.

  The CPU 402 is a central processing unit that can execute various programs by arithmetic processing. The RAM 403 is a volatile storage device and is a memory that is effective only while the power is on. The RAM 403 is also used as a work area, and the CPU 402 loads an external document storage program from the storage device 401 onto the RAM 403 and executes it. This RAM 403 is also used for temporarily storing data transmitted and received by the external interface 404.

  The external interface 404 is a connection part with a network, and is a device serving as a window for data transmission / reception with an external device connected to the network.

  FIG. 5 is a data configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of the document storage location verification DB 104 (document storage location verification table) shown in FIG.

  This DB is a simple two-dimensional table. In this example, there are three columns, but in practice the number of columns may be increased to add more information. In this example, the first column “type” is an item for distinguishing whether the document has been faxed or scanned, and the second column “document attribute information” is a fax sender in the case of a fax received document. Describe information (for example, the FAX number of the sender) that can identify the person. In the case of a scanned document, information (for example, an employee number of the other party) that can specify a person who refers to the document is described. In the third column “document storage destination”, “absolute path” indicating where the document is to be stored in the document management DB 102 is described.

  Based on the above, a specific example of a procedure in which the external document storage device 103 stores a document from outside the network in the document management device 101 will be described.

  For example, when a sender X transmits a document to the MFP 107 by FAX, the MFP 107 sends the document data to the external document storage apparatus 103 with attribute information indicating that the FAX sender is “X”. The external document storage device 103 refers to the document storage location verification DB 104, and since the received document is a FAX received document and the sender is “X”, the document storage location is “route 1 ¥” according to the example of FIG. It is determined that the folder 11 \ folder 111 ". Thereafter, the document management apparatus 101 is requested to save the document under “root 1 \ folder 11 \ folder 111”. In response to the request, the document management apparatus 101 receives the document and stores the document in a designated position.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of the system management apparatus 105 shown in FIG.

  The system management apparatus 105 is an apparatus for the system administrator to actually perform operations and perform system maintenance.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the system management apparatus 105 is configured such that a storage device 601, a CPU 602, a RAM 603, and an external interface 604 are connected by a data bus, and a display device 605 and an input device 606 are connected to the outside. Yes.

  The storage device 601 is a nonvolatile storage device in which data is not erased even when the power is turned off, and is intended to store data that may be stored for a long period of time. Usually, a hard disk (HD) is used. The storage device stores a system management program for executing the system.

  The CPU 602 is a central processing unit that can execute various programs by arithmetic processing. The RAM 603 is a volatile storage device and is a memory that is effective only while the power is on. The RAM 603 is also used as a work area, and the CPU 602 loads a system management program from the storage device 601 onto the RAM 603 and executes it. The RAM 603 is also used for temporarily storing data transmitted / received by the external interface 604.

  The external interface 604 is a connection part with a network, and is a device serving as a window for data transmission / reception with an external device connected to the network.

  The display device 605 is used to show the operator the operation result of the system administrator (operator), the result of information processing, and the result of the system management device 105 communicating with the external device, and is usually a display such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display. Is used. For connection, a general interface for a display device is mainly used.

  The input device 606 is a device for an operator to operate the system management device 105. Usually, a code input device such as a keyboard or a pointing device such as a mouse is used. For connection, a general interface for an input device or a general-purpose interface such as USB is used.

  Maintenance operations that can be performed by the system management apparatus 105 are: the document management DB 102 changes the hierarchical relationship and folder name of each folder through the document management apparatus 101, and the document storage destination verification DB 104 stores each row of documents. The previous description can be changed through the external document storage device 103. At this time, a point of the present invention is that a plurality of change operations for the document management DB 102 can be automatically reflected in the document storage destination collation DB 104. This will be described in detail later.

  The entire system will be described again with reference to FIG. 1 based on the description of each device.

  The document management apparatus 101 controls the document management DB 102 to acquire, store, and change the hierarchical structure of documents from other apparatuses on the network. A plurality of general user terminals 106 exist on the network, and each user uses this terminal to refer to and save a document. The request for this is processed by the document management apparatus 101.

  When it is desired to store documents that exist outside the network, such as FAX received documents and scanned documents, in the document management DB 102, the MFP 107 that has received these documents sends the document to the external document storage device 103 with attribute information. The document storage destination verification DB 104 determines a hierarchical path where the document is to be stored, and requests the document management apparatus 101 to store the path. In response to the request, the document management apparatus 101 stores an external document at a designated position.

  The above is the normal business using this system. In order to perform maintenance work for changing the hierarchical structure of the document management DB 102 and the storage destination of the document storage destination verification DB 104 in this system, the administrator can use the system management apparatus 105.

<Operation example of the presupposed system>
This system, which is the premise of the present invention described so far, shows an example of how it is actually used.

  Assume that this system is installed at an X sales office of a company. This sales office has two sales departments, and there are two sections below it, each of which has several employees. At the X sales office, the hierarchical structure of the document management DB 102 is constructed in accordance with the structure of the organization as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of hierarchical structure data of the document management DB 102 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the root of the hierarchy is the X sales office, the folder of each department is provided in the next layer, the folder of each section is provided in the lower layer, and the folder of each employee is provided in the lower layer. The department name, section name, and employee gender.

  Each employee creates a business document with a PC that also serves as a terminal, saves the document under his / her folder in the document management DB 102, and performs browsing and modification.

  At this sales office, orders for products from customers are received by FAX, and the document storage destination verification DB 104 is set as shown in FIG. 8 in order to electronically process the order slip transmitted by FAX.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of document storage destination data in the document storage destination verification DB 104 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 8, for example, Mr. Yamada, who belongs to the A district sales department, A district sales department 1, is in charge of two customers, “LLL industry” and “OOO industry”, and orders received from these customers. Is sent to the Yamada folder, the electronic sales order form is automatically stored in the Yamada folder. Mr. Yamada can do the corresponding work when he sees the order slip in his folder.

  The following is an example of maintenance work.

  One day, Mr. Yamada moved from the A district sales department A district sales section 1 to the B district sales department B district sales section 2 due to personnel changes. Conventionally (when the present invention is not used), the system administrator has to perform maintenance manually.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the position of “Yamada folder” in the document management DB 102 is changed to the position after the change.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of conventional maintenance in the document management DB 102.

  As shown in FIG. 9, by changing the position of “Yamada folder” in the document management DB 102 to the position after the change, the absolute path of “Yamada folder” is “X sales office / A district sales department / A district sales 1”. Section \ Yamada "is changed to" X Sales Office \ B District Sales Department \ B District Sales Section 2 \ Yamada ".

  For this purpose, the old absolute path described in the document storage destination verification DB 104 must be rewritten to a new absolute path. In the case of the example, two cases must be corrected as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of conventional maintenance in the document storage destination verification DB 104.

  As shown in FIGS. 10 and 9, the maintenance work is completed by completely ending the change of the two DBs.

<Problems of maintenance work>
As described above, there are some problems in the maintenance work before the present invention.

  First, in the above example, the total number of document storage destination verification DBs 104 was 5, of which 2 were changed, but there are actually hundreds and thousands of customers. Mr. Yamada There can be many people in charge. In such a case, it is difficult to correct all of Yamada's responsibilities without missing a single case. Also, if the absolute path is manually input using a keyboard or the like, an incorrect input may be written due to an input error, which may hinder business.

  Next, in the example, there was a single personnel change, but in reality, many companies often have a large number of personnel changes and organizational changes at the same time. A large amount of change may be required. In such a case, changing the hierarchical structure of the document management DB 102 one by one is too time-consuming and impractical, and it is further difficult to change the document storage destination verification DB 104 accordingly.

<Improvement by the present invention>
The present invention aims to improve the above-mentioned problems and to improve efficiency and avoid work mistakes by automating the maintenance work of the administrator.

  The part particularly improved in the present invention is a system management program installed in the system management apparatus 105. When this program is started, a graphical user interface (GUI) as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the display device 605.

  FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a graphical user interface (GUI) displayed on the display device 605 of the system management device 105 shown in FIG. 6, and corresponds to a document storage destination verification DB display screen (system management screen). To do. Although not a characteristic part of the present invention, processing such as new insertion, deletion, and change of the storage destination can be performed by operating this screen.

  In FIG. 11, the button 1101 is shown, but the display screen can be switched to the screen shown in FIG. 12 by operating a button or menu input device 606 (pointing device such as a mouse).

  FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a graphical user interface (GUI) displayed on the display device 605 of the system management apparatus 105 shown in FIG. 6, and corresponds to a document hierarchical structure display screen.

  As shown in FIG. 12, on this document hierarchical structure display screen, the hierarchical structure of the document management DB 102 is displayed. On this screen, the hierarchical structure is operated by an operation (drag and drop) of the input device 606 (pointing device such as a mouse). The folder name can be changed by operating an input device such as a keyboard.

  The result of the operation on this screen is not reflected in real time on the document management DB 102, but is reflected at once by an operator's instruction after performing some change operations.

  In the example shown in FIG. 12, the CPU 602 controls the “execution” button 1201 to be reflected when the input device 606 (pointing device such as a mouse) is clicked. When the “Cancel” button 1202 is clicked, the CPU 602 controls the change operation to be invalid and not reflected. When the “cancel” button 1202 is clicked, the screen shown in FIG. 11 is displayed.

  FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a maintenance operation on the document hierarchical structure display screen shown in FIG.

  The example shown in FIG. 13 shows two change operations and their procedures.

  First, change the location of the Yamada folder. This is called [Change 0001]. Next, the name of the “B district sales section 2” folder is changed to “B district sales section”. This is called [Change 0002].

  After that, when the execution button 1201 is clicked, the CPU 602 controls to reflect in the document management DB 102 in the order of [change 0001] and [change 0002].

  Further, the CPU 602 performs control so that the document storage destination verification DB 104 is also changed in order to maintain consistency.

  In the process of changing the document storage destination verification DB 104, the backup of the document storage destination verification DB 104 is stored on the RAM 603 before updating to the document storage destination verification DB 104. The backup on the RAM 603 is used to roll back the document storage destination verification DB 104 before executing a series of change processing.

  Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram for explaining the change processing of the document storage destination collation DB 104 accompanying the change of the document hierarchical structure of the document management DB 102 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the CPU 602 checks the first case in the document storage destination verification DB 104 for [change 0001] and applies it when it is necessary to apply [change 0001]. Change 0002] is applied when necessary.

  In the example shown in FIG. 14, since the first document storage destination is the target of the change [change 0001] and [change 0002], the result of applying [change 0001] and [change 0002] It is reflected in the document storage destination verification DB 104.

  Subsequently, the second case is examined, but the second case is not applied because neither [Change 0001] nor [Change 0002] is relevant. The same applies to the third case.

  Since the fourth change is related to [Change 0001] and [Change 0002], it is applied and the result is reflected in the document storage destination verification DB 104.

  Since the fifth case is related only to [Change 0002], it is applied and the result is reflected in the document storage destination verification DB 104.

  Since the change processing for [Change 0001] and [Change 0002] has been completed for all cases in the document storage destination verification DB 104, the CPU 602 ends the change processing.

  As a result, all changes in two independent DBs (document management DB 102 and document storage destination verification DB 104) can be automatically updated (without manual operation) so as to be consistent. Because the process is automatic (because it is not necessary to perform the process of matching the consistency of two independent DBs manually), the burden on the operator is greatly reduced, and there is no destruction of consistency due to an input error. .

  As means for realizing this, it is necessary to store the above-mentioned information of [Change 0001] and [Change 0002] in the RAM 602 as “change history”. FIG. 15 shows a change history corresponding to [Change 0001] and [Change 0002] described above.

  FIG. 15 is a data configuration diagram showing an example of change history information stored in the RAM 603 (or storage device 601) of the system management apparatus 105 during the change processing in the present embodiment, and is shown in FIGS. 0001] and [Change 0002].

  In this embodiment, the change history information (table) shown in FIG. 15 is added to the RAM 603 of the system management apparatus 105 each time a change operation is performed on the document management DB as shown in FIG.

  This change history information includes, as items, a change number for distinguishing each change, an absolute path before the change, an absolute path after the change, and an item indicating whether the change is “move” or “folder name change”. have.

  This change history is created by the CPU 602 sequentially recording the operations in FIG.

  When the document management DB is reflected, an absolute path “before change” is searched for and changed to an absolute path “after change”. By repeating this in order of history, reflection to the DB is realized.

  When reflecting to the document storage destination verification DB, first, on the screen, it is checked whether the absolute path of the first document storage destination includes the absolute path before the change. (Reflect to DB) If not included, proceed to the next history as it is, and check in the same manner. When all the change histories have been checked for the first case, the process proceeds to the second case, and the second and subsequent cases are similarly checked for each change history. Perform the investigation process. By this series of processing, it is possible to realize the reflection of the change history information held in the RAM 603 to the document storage destination verification DB.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the change history information is expressed by an absolute path, and in the case of change processing, changes are made based on the change history information in the documents shown in FIGS. 3 (b) and 3 (c). This is reflected in the folder management table 3-1 and document management table 3-2 of the storage DB 102 and the document storage location reference DB 104 (document storage location verification table) shown in FIG.

<Process rollback>
During the series of changes to the plurality of DBs (document storage DB 102 and document storage destination reference DB 104) described above, a situation may occur in which some error occurs and the process cannot be continued.

  In such a case, if the process ends in the middle, the consistency of the plurality of DBs may not be maintained. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to cancel the entire process at the time of an error and perform a rollback process to restore the state before the process. In the system of the present embodiment, there is a need for two rollbacks: a rollback of the document management DB 102, a rollback of the document storage destination verification DB 104, and so on.

  The rollback of the document management DB 102 is realized by tracing back the change history from the position at the time of error occurrence and returning from the “after change” absolute path to the “before change” absolute path in each change.

  Rollback of the document storage destination verification DB 104 is realized by taking backup data of the DB before starting overwriting in advance and restoring the data from the backup in case of an error.

<Conditions for executing this process>
If a general user's operation or an external document is received during the processing of the present invention, there is a possibility that the processing cannot be performed correctly. Therefore, in order to perform this maintenance operation, the system is not used. . Therefore, it is necessary to make both DBs unusable by a person other than the administrator. Since the administrator does not affect the work, it is desirable to perform this maintenance operation on a holiday or at midnight.

<Flowchart of the present invention>
As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to a specific example. FIG. 16 shows a flowchart abstracting this. This flowchart describes a portion that is automatically performed after the operator clicks the execution button 1201 (a portion that the operator is not aware of). For this reason, it is assumed that before the execution of this process, the operator changes the hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. 13 and the change history shown in FIG. 15 is created.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of a first control processing procedure in the system management system of the present invention. The CPU 602 of the system management apparatus 105 shown in FIG. 6 loads a system management program from the storage device 601 onto the RAM 603. It is realized by executing. In the figure, S1601 to S1619 indicate steps.

  When the execution button 1201 shown in FIG. 12 is instructed (clicked), the CPU 602 starts the processing of this flowchart.

  First, in step S1601, the CPU 602 sets a change history that is a variable indicating the target item secured on the RAM 603 in order to set the first change item of the change history (FIG. 15) held on the RAM 603 as the target item. Substitute “1” for N.

  In step S <b> 1602, the CPU 602 reflects the change in the target item in the document management DB 102. That is, the CPU 602 indicates data of the first change item in the change history (FIG. 15) (absolute path before change, absolute path after change, and whether the change content is “move” or “name change”). Information) is transmitted to the document management apparatus 101.

  In step S1603, the CPU 602 receives the reflection result in the document management DB 102 from the document management apparatus 101, determines whether the reflection in the document management DB 102 performed in step S1602 has been normally completed, and the reflection is performed. If it is determined that the processing has not been completed normally (reflection is impossible), the rollback processing of the document management DB 102 shown in FIG. 17 described later is executed, and the processing is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the CPU 602 determines in step S1603 that the reflection in the document management DB 102 performed in step S1602 has been normally completed, in step S1604, the CPU 602 changes the target item to the next change history. The change history N is incremented.

  Next, in step S1605, the CPU 602 determines whether there is a change history corresponding to the target item changed in step S1604 (the change history has not been processed to the end), and the change history corresponding to the target item. If it is determined that there is an item, the process returns to step S1602, and the CPU 602 continues to reflect the change in the target item in the document management DB.

  On the other hand, if the CPU 602 determines in step S1605 that there is no change history corresponding to the target item changed in step S1604 (the change history has been processed to the end), the process advances to step S1606 to check the document storage destination. The process proceeds to the DB 104.

  In step S 1606, the CPU 602 creates a backup of the document storage location verification DB 104 and stores it in the RAM 604 or the storage device 601.

  Next, in step S1607, the CPU 602 sets a document management destination DB variable M, which is a variable indicating a target case of the document management DB secured on the RAM 603 in order to set the target case of the document storage destination verification DB as the first case. Substitute “1” for. At this time, the CPU 602 displays, for example, a system management screen as shown in FIG. 14 on the display device 605 to indicate that the target row of the document storage destination verification DB 104 that is the target is processed, and the target Display control is performed such that the line corresponding to the case (target line, the first line at this time) is highlighted (determination display, display is changed in color, etc.) or the target line is indicated by a display such as a cursor.

  Next, in step S1608, the CPU 602 changes the variable indicating the target item secured on the RAM 603 in order to set the first change item of the change history (FIG. 15) held on the RAM 603 as the target item. “1” is substituted into the history N.

  Next, in step S1609, if the CPU 602 determines that the change history N is not related to the subject matter M, the process proceeds to step S1612.

  On the other hand, if the CPU 602 determines in step S1609 that the change history N is related to the target case M, in step S1610, the CPU 602 reflects the change in the target item for the target case in the document storage destination verification DB 104. That is, the CPU 602 is based on the change item data (information indicating whether the change is an absolute path before the change, an absolute path after the change, or the change content is “move” or “name change”) in the change history (FIG. 15). , It is determined whether or not the “absolute path of the document storage destination” of the document storage destination matching DB 104 corresponding to the target case is affected. If it is determined that there is an influence, the target is determined based on the data of the change item. The absolute path after the change of the "absolute path of the document storage destination" corresponding to the case is derived, the "absolute path of the document storage destination" before the change (or a combination of type and document attribute information), and the derived change The change request data including the subsequent “absolute path of the document storage destination” is transmitted to the external document storage device 103.

  Next, in step S1611, the CPU 602 receives the reflection result to the document storage destination verification DB 104 from the external document storage device 103, and whether or not the reflection to the document storage destination verification DB 104 performed in step S1610 has ended normally. In step S1617, the CPU 602 uses the backup data of the document storage destination verification DB 104 created in step S1606 to store the document storage destination verification DB 104 in a step S1617. Roll back. That is, the CPU 602 transmits the change request data of the document storage destination verification DB 104 including the backup data of the document storage destination verification DB 104 created in step S 1606 to the external document storage device 103. As a result, the external document storage apparatus 103 that has received the change request data of the document storage location verification DB 104 executes a process of changing the document storage location verification DB 104 using the backup data (not shown).

  The CPU 602 receives the result of step S1617 from the external document storage device 103, determines whether the rollback to the external document storage device 103 performed in step S1617 has ended normally, and the reflection has ended normally. When it is determined that there is no (impossible to reflect), a message indicating that the rollback has failed is controlled to be displayed on the input device 606, and the administrator is notified that the rollback has failed.

  Next, in step S <b> 1618, the CPU 602 sets the change history to “maximum value + 1”, and in step S <b> 1619, executes a rollback process of the document management DB 102 shown in FIG. 17 described later, and ends the process.

  On the other hand, if the CPU 602 determines in step S <b> 1611 that the reflection in the document storage destination verification DB 104 performed in step S <b> 1610 has ended normally, the CPU 602 changes the target item to the next change history in step S <b> 1612. Therefore, the change history N is incremented.

  Next, in step S1613, the CPU 602 determines whether there is a change history N (the change history has not been processed to the end), and if it is determined that there is a change history corresponding to the target item, Returning to step S1609, the CPU 602 continues the process of reflecting the next target item.

  On the other hand, if the CPU 602 determines in step S1613 that the change history N does not exist (the change history has been processed to the end), the process proceeds to step S1614, and the CPU 602 sets the document storage destination verification DB as the next target item. In order to change to (row), the document storage destination verification DB variable M is incremented.

  Next, in step S1615, the CPU 602 determines whether or not the subject matter changed in step S1614 exists (not processed up to the last line in the table of the document storage destination verification DB 104), and in step S1614. If it is determined that there is a changed target case, the process returns to step S1608, and reflection in the document storage destination verification DB 104 is continued.

  On the other hand, if the CPU 602 determines in step S1615 that there is no target item changed in step S1614 (the last line in the table of the document storage destination verification DB 104 has been processed), the process is terminated.

  The above is the description of the processing flow of the present invention.

  Next, the rollback processing of the document management DB 102 when an error occurs will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Note that the rollback processing of the document storage destination verification DB 104 is only restored using the backup data, and therefore there is no particular change, so the flowchart is omitted.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of a second control processing procedure in the system management system of the present invention, and corresponds to the rollback processing of the document management DB in steps S1616 and S1619 of FIG. Note that the processing of this flowchart is realized by the CPU 602 of the system management apparatus 105 shown in FIG. 6 loading a system management program from the storage device 601 onto the RAM 603 and executing it. In the figure, S1701 to S1704 indicate each step.

  First, when an error occurs at the time of reflection, it is called from the program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16, and a change history N that is a variable indicating a target item secured on the RAM 603 is passed (step S1701). Here, it is assumed that an error has occurred when the target item of the change history is the Xth item. If an error occurs in the reflection process, the value of X is “the actual number of change histories in the document management DB 102 + 1”.

  Since the target item X at the time of error occurrence is not successful, there is no need for rollback, so the target item is returned to the previous change history. That is, in step S1702, the CPU 602 decrements the change history N by “1”.

  Next, in step S1703, the CPU 602 determines whether or not the change history N is “0” (the change history has returned to “0”), and the change history N is “0” (the change history is not changed). If it is determined that “0” has been returned), the CPU 602 ends the process.

  On the other hand, if the CPU 602 determines in step S1703 that the change history N is not “0” (the change history has not yet returned to “0”), the change history corresponding to the change history N is determined in step S1704. Return the reflection result to the state before reflection. That is, the CPU 602 changes the hierarchical structure of the document management DB 102 including change data in which “absolute path before change” and “absolute path after change” of the Nth change item data in the change history (FIG. 15) are replaced. The request is transmitted to the document management apparatus 101. By this process, one document management DB is rolled back.

  The CPU 602 receives the result of step S1704 from the document management apparatus 101, determines whether or not the rollback to the document management DB 102 performed in step S1602 has ended normally, and the reflection has not ended normally (reflection) If it is determined that the rollback has failed, a message indicating that the rollback has failed is displayed on the input device 606, and the administrator is notified that the rollback has failed.

  When the reflection process in step S1704 ends normally, the CPU 602 returns the process to step S1702.

  Note that the processing of this flowchart is based on the premise that when an error occurs in the change history N = X, the data of N = X does not become abnormal data. Needless to say, the above steps need to be changed. For example, when there is an error at N = X, the change history number is subtracted after the process of restoring N = X first.

  Hereinafter, with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 18 and 19, the change history as shown in FIG. 15 is stored in the tables 3-1 and 3- in the document management DB 102 shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C. 2 will be described.

  18 and 19 are flowcharts showing an example of the third control processing procedure in the system management system of the present invention. In response to the change request of the document management DB 102 transmitted in step S1602 in FIG. 16 and step S1704 in FIG. Accordingly, the document management apparatus 101 side corresponds to the process of actually changing the document management DB 102. Note that the processing of this flowchart is realized by the CPU 202 of the document management apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 2 loading a document management program from the storage device 201 onto the RAM 203 and executing it. In the figure, S1900 to S1920, S2001 to S2012 indicate each step. Steps S1901 to S1920 correspond to change processing related to folder movement, and steps S2001 to S2012 correspond to name change processing.

  In the process of this flowchart, the CPU 202 secures and uses an area for storing the variables “Name”, “Parent”, “Target”, “Path”, and “NewParent” on the RAM 203.

  First, in step S1900, the change content included in the document management DB change request received from the system management apparatus 105 is determined. If it is determined that the change content is “move”, the process proceeds to steps S1901 to S1920. Then, change processing relating to folder movement is executed, and the data in the table 3-1 for performing hierarchical management shown in FIG. As a result, one folder movement having a hierarchical structure can be realized in the document management DB.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1900 that the change content included in the document management DB change request received from the system management apparatus 105 is “name change”, the process proceeds to steps S2001 to S2012, and the name change process is performed. Execute and change the data of 3-1 for performing the name management shown in FIG. As a result, one folder name change with a hierarchical structure can be realized in the document management DB.

  First, the change processing related to folder movement in steps S1901 to S1920 will be described.

  First, in step S1901, the CPU 202 determines whether or not the last folder name of “absolute path before change” and “absolute path after change” included in the change request received from the system management apparatus 105 matches. . The absolute path before the change and the last folder of the absolute path after the change included in the change request received from the system management apparatus 105 are the folders to be moved, and the names are not changed, so the folder names match. Should do.

  If the CPU 202 determines in step S1901 that the last folder name of “absolute path before change” and “absolute path after change” included in the change request received from the system management apparatus 105 does not match, Since it is irregular, the process shifts to an error process in step S1920 as an error, returns information indicating that the change cannot be reflected due to the error, and returns to the system management apparatus 105, and ends the process.

  On the other hand, if the CPU 202 determines in step S1901 that the last folder name of “absolute path before change” and “absolute path after change” included in the change request received from the system management apparatus 105 match. The process proceeds to step S1902.

  In step S1902, the CPU 202 extracts the first folder name in the absolute path before the change and assigns it to the variable “Name”. For example, if the absolute path is “route 1 \ folder 11...”, “Route 1” is substituted into the variable “Name”.

  Next, in step S1903, the CPU 202 assigns “0” to the variable “Parent” indicating the parent folder ID of the folder of the variable “Name”. When this process is performed first, “Name” contains the folder name of the uppermost layer, so there is no parent folder of “Name”. Therefore, “0”, which means that there is no parent folder, is substituted for “Parent”.

  Next, in step S 1904, the CPU 202 stores the conditions “folder name = Name” and “parent folder ID = Parent” in the table 3-1 as illustrated in FIG. 3B stored in the storage device 201. Perform search processing. Since the “folder name” of folders having the same parent folder is unique, the search result is at most one.

  In step S1905, the CPU 202 determines whether a folder satisfying the condition has been found (whether the search result is 1) or not, and a folder satisfying the condition has not been found (the search result was 0). If it is determined, the folder does not exist and is inconsistent with the operation of the user who should have specified the existing folder. Therefore, the process proceeds to the error processing of step S1920 as an error, and the change cannot be reflected due to the error. Information to that effect is returned to the system management apparatus 105, and the processing is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1905 that the CPU 202 has found a folder that satisfies the condition (the search result is one), in step S1906, the CPU 202 sets the next to “absolute path before change”. It is determined whether or not the folder exists, and if it is determined that the next folder exists, it is necessary to search the lower folder to search for the target folder, and thus the process proceeds to step S1907 and the search process is continued.

  In step S1907, the CPU 202 extracts the next folder from “absolute path before change”, and substitutes the folder name of the extracted folder into a variable “Name”.

  In step S 1908, the CPU 202 substitutes the value of the “folder ID” item of the folder searched last time for the variable “Parent”. Now that new search conditions have been established, the CPU 202 returns to the search process in step S1904 and searches for the next folder.

  If the CPU 202 determines in step S1906 that the next folder does not exist in the “absolute path before change”, it determines that the target folder has been reached, exits the search processing loop, and proceeds to step S1909. Proceed to

  For example, when the absolute path is “root 1 \ folder 2 \ folder 3”, if the previously searched folder is “root 1”, the next “folder 2” exists and the search is continued. If the searched folder is “Folder 3”, there is no next folder, and the search loop is exited.

  Since the target folder has been searched, next, in step S1909, the CPU 202 assigns the ID of this folder to the variable “Target”.

  Next, the CPU 202 enters a process of searching for the ID of the folder that is the parent to which the folder is moved. For this reason, since it is necessary to search the part of the change history excluding the last folder name that is the moved folder in the “absolute path after change”, in step S1910, the CPU 202 The part obtained by removing the last folder name from “the absolute path after” is substituted for the variable “Path”.

  For example, if the folder to be moved is “Folder C” and the changed absolute path is “Root 1 \ Folder A \ Folder B \ Folder C”, “Folder C” is excluded and “Root 1 \ Folder A” Substitute “Folder B” into the variable “Path”.

  In step S 1911, the CPU 202 extracts the first folder name from the variable “Path” and substitutes it for the variable “Name”. For example, if the variable “Path” is “route 1 ¥ folder 11...”, “Route 1” is substituted into the variable “Name”.

  Next, in step S 1912, the CPU 202 assigns “0” to a variable “Parent” indicating the parent folder ID of the folder of the variable “Name”.

  Next, in step S1913, the CPU 202 uses the conditions “folder name = Name” and “parent folder ID = Parent” in the table 3-1 illustrated in FIG. 3B stored in the storage device 201. Perform search processing.

  Next, in step S1914, the CPU 202 determines whether or not a folder satisfying the condition has been found (whether the search result is one) or not, and a folder satisfying the condition could not be found (the search result was zero). If it is determined that the folder does not exist, it is inconsistent with the operation of the user who should have specified the existing folder. Therefore, the process proceeds to the error processing of step S1920 as an error, and the change is reflected by the error. Information indicating that it is impossible is returned to the system management apparatus 105, and the process ends.

  If it is determined in step S1914 that the CPU 202 has found a folder that satisfies the condition (the search result is one), in step S1915, the CPU 202 determines whether the next folder exists in the variable “Path”. If it is determined whether or not the next folder exists, it is necessary to search the lower folder to find the target folder, and thus the process proceeds to step S1916.

  In step S1916, the CPU 202 extracts the next folder from the variable “Path”, and substitutes the extracted folder name into the variable “Name”.

  Next, in step S1917, the CPU 202 substitutes the value of the “folder ID” item of the folder searched last time in the process of step S1913 into the variable “Parent”. Now that new search conditions have been established, the CPU 202 returns to the search process in step S1913 and searches for the next folder.

  If the CPU 202 determines in step S1915 that the next folder does not exist in the variable “Path”, it determines that the target folder has been reached, exits the search processing loop, and proceeds to the processing in step S1918. move on.

  For example, when the absolute path is “root 1 \ folder 2 \ folder 3”, if the previously searched folder is “root 1”, the next “folder 2” exists and the search is continued. If the searched folder is “Folder 3”, there is no next folder, and the search loop is exited.

  Since the target folder has been searched, next, in step S1918, the CPU 202 assigns the ID of this folder to the variable “NewParent”.

  Next, in step S1919, the CPU 22 performs a search under the condition “folder ID = Target”. Since the folder ID is unique, one item is searched. Then, the CPU 202 overwrites the item “parent folder ID” of the searched folder with the value of the variable “NewParent”. As a result, the folder moving process of the present case is reflected in the document management DB, and in a step (not shown), the CPU 202 returns information indicating that the change has been normally reflected to the system management apparatus 105 and performs the process. finish.

  Next, the name change process in steps S2001 to S2012 will be described.

  First, in step S2001, the CPU 202 determines whether or not other than the last folder name of the “absolute path before change” and the “absolute path after change” included in the change request received from the system management apparatus 105 match. To do. Note that the absolute path before the change and the last folder of the absolute path after the change included in the change request received from the system management apparatus 105 are the folders to be renamed, except for the last folder name. is there.

  If the CPU 202 determines in step S2001 that there is no match other than the last folder name of “absolute path before change” and “absolute path after change” included in the change request received from the system management apparatus 105 Since it is irregular, the process shifts to an error process in step S2012 as an error, information indicating that the change cannot be reflected due to the error is returned to the system management apparatus 105, and the process ends.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S2001 that the CPU 202 determines that the “absolute path before change” and “absolute path after change” included in the change request received from the system management apparatus 105 other than the last folder name match. Advances to step S2002.

  In step S2002, the CPU 202 extracts the first folder name in the absolute path before the change and assigns it to the variable “Name”. For example, if the absolute path is “route 1 \ folder 11...”, “Route 1” is substituted into the variable “Name”.

  Next, in step S2003, the CPU 202 assigns “0” to the variable “Parent” indicating the ID of the parent folder of the folder of the variable “Name”. When this process is performed first, “Name” contains the folder name of the uppermost layer, so there is no parent folder of “Name”. Therefore, “0”, which means that there is no parent folder, is substituted for “Parent”.

  Next, in step S2004, the CPU 202 uses the conditions “folder name = Name” and “parent folder ID = Parent” in the table 3-1 illustrated in FIG. 3B stored in the storage device 201. Perform search processing. Since the “folder name” of folders having the same parent folder is unique, the search result is at most one.

  In step S2005, the CPU 202 determines whether a folder satisfying the condition is found (whether the search result is one) or not, and it is determined that a folder satisfying the condition cannot be found (the search result is zero). If it is determined, the folder does not exist and is inconsistent with the operation of the user who should have specified the existing folder. Therefore, the process proceeds to the error processing in step S2012 as an error, and the change cannot be reflected due to the error. Information to that effect is returned to the system management apparatus 105, and the processing is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2005 that the CPU 202 has found a folder that satisfies the condition (the search result is one), in step S2006, the CPU 202 sets the next to “absolute path before change”. It is determined whether or not the folder exists, and if it is determined that the next folder exists, it is necessary to search the lower folder to search for the target folder, and thus the process proceeds to step S2007 and the search process is continued.

  In step S2007, the CPU 202 extracts the next folder from the “absolute path before change”, and substitutes the folder name of the extracted folder into a variable “Name”.

  Next, in step S2008, the CPU 202 substitutes the value of the “folder ID” item of the folder searched last time into the variable “Parent”. Now that new search conditions have been established, the CPU 202 returns to the search process in step S2004 again to search for the next folder.

  If the CPU 202 determines in step S2006 that the next folder does not exist in the “absolute path before change”, the CPU 202 determines that the target folder has been reached, exits the search processing loop, and proceeds to step S2009. Proceed to

  For example, when the absolute path is “root 1 \ folder 2 \ folder 3”, if the previously searched folder is “root 1”, the next “folder 2” exists and the search is continued. If the searched folder is “Folder 3”, there is no next folder, and the search loop is exited.

  Since the target folder has been searched, in step S2009, the CPU 202 assigns the ID of this folder to the variable “Target”.

  Next, in step S2010, the CPU 202 substitutes the last folder name of “absolute path after change” into a variable “NewName”. This folder name becomes the new folder name.

  Next, in step S2011, the CPU 202 performs a search under the condition “folder ID = Target”. Since the folder ID is unique, one item is searched. Then, the CPU 202 overwrites the “folder name” item of the searched folder with the value of the variable “NewName”. As a result, the folder name change process of this case is reflected in the document management DB, and the CPU 202 returns information indicating that the change has been normally completed to the system management apparatus 105 in a step (not shown). Exit.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the CPU 602 of the system management apparatus 105 creates and holds a hierarchical structure change history (FIG. 15) in the RAM 603 based on a change operation from the user as shown in FIG. 12. By doing so, a single execution instruction (clicking on the OK button 1201) can automatically (instead of manually) make a plurality of changes in the hierarchical structure of the document management DB 102, and link with the change processing of the document management DB 102 Then, another database (document storage destination verification DB 104) to be linked is also changed so as to be consistent. If an error occurs when the document management DB 102 and the document storage destination verification DB 104 are changed, the document management DB 102, By performing a rollback process on the document storage destination verification DB 104, the document management DB 102 and the document storage destination verification DB 104 Significantly reduce the burden of work for updating and integrity maintenance of the hierarchical structure by administrator, and has the effect of preventing the integrity of the destruction by misoperation. Also, based on one change instruction, the change is reflected to a plurality of databases and table information of different forms prepared for realizing different functions, such as the document management DB 102 and the document storage destination collation DB 104. can do.

  Therefore, it is possible to provide an excellent system management environment in a system in which a plurality of databases having different forms prepared for realizing different functions are linked.

  In the above embodiment, as shown in steps S1606 to S1617 in FIG. 16, the update of each document storage location information in the document storage location verification DB 104 is sequentially updated so as to follow each change history (FIG. 15). The configuration requested to the storage device 103 (S1610 in FIG. 16) has been described. However, the copy information of the document storage destination verification DB 104 is held on the RAM 603, and the information on the RAM 603 is stored as each change history (FIG. 15). The update is sequentially performed as follows, and when all the updates are completed on the RAM 603, the external document storage device 103 is requested to update the document storage destination verification DB 104 in a batch with the changed data in the RAM 603. You may comprise as follows.

  Even in the case of a configuration in which update requests are made in a batch, a backup of the document storage destination verification DB 104 is created on the RAM 603 or the storage device 601 before a request for changing (reflecting) the document storage destination verification DB 104 to store the document. When an update to the destination verification DB 104 results in an error, the document storage destination verification DB 104 is configured to be rolled back with the created backup.

  The system management apparatus 105 and the document management apparatus 102 or the external document storage apparatus 104 are not limited to the scope of the present invention, but the functions of the system management apparatus are the document management apparatus or the external document storage. It may be provided as a function of the device.

  It should be noted that the configuration and contents of the various data described above are not limited to this, and needless to say, they are configured with various configurations and contents according to applications and purposes.

  Although one embodiment has been described above, the present invention can take an embodiment as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or recording medium, and specifically includes a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to a system including a single device.

  Moreover, all the structures which combined one or all of each modification of the said embodiment are also included in this invention.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the system management apparatus 105 dedicated for the administrator is connected to the network, and the change in the hierarchical structure of the document management DB 102 itself is not input from the system management apparatus 105 by text input. A graphical operation using a pointing device or the like is performed (FIG. 13), and a change in the hierarchical structure by this operation is not reflected in the document management DB 102 in real time. Documents are recorded on the RAM 604 of the apparatus 105. After all operations are completed, the document is managed at once by tracing the operation history automatically (without the operator's conscious work) by the operator's instruction (pressing the OK button 1201). The hierarchical structure of the DB 102 was changed, and the document storage destination verification DB 104 was also used as the operation history at the same time. To sequentially change the contents Te, and wherein the configuration CPU602 of the system management device 105 is controlled.

  In this way, the administrator can automatically make a large number of changes in the document management database and the document storage destination collation database simply by changing the hierarchical structure by a graphical operation. In addition, since it is automatic (not performed manually by an administrator as in the prior art), it does not take time and the integrity is not broken.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, when an error occurs during automatic processing and it is impossible to continue processing, the rollback processing is performed by tracing back the operation history to prepare different functions. In addition, a rollback function is also provided to protect consistency between a plurality of different types of databases (in this embodiment, the document management DB 102 and the document storage destination verification DB 104).

  Therefore, there is an effect that the burden of the work for updating the hierarchical structure and maintaining the consistency by the administrator of the document management DB 102 and the document storage destination verification DB 104 is greatly reduced and the destruction of the consistency due to an operation error is prevented.

  In addition, a change can be reflected to a plurality of databases and table information of different forms prepared for realizing different functions based on one change instruction.

  The configuration of a data processing program that can be read by the information processing apparatus (system management apparatus 105, document management apparatus 101) according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the memory map shown in FIG.

  FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining a memory map of a recording medium (storage medium) that stores various data processing programs that can be read (read out) by the information processing apparatus (system management apparatus 105, document management apparatus 101) according to the present invention. is there.

  Although not specifically shown, information for managing a program group stored in the recording medium, for example, version information, creator, etc. is also stored, and information depending on the OS on the program reading side, for example, a program is identified and displayed. Icons may also be stored.

  Further, data depending on various programs is also managed in the directory. In addition, when a program or data to be installed is compressed, a program to be decompressed may be stored.

  The functions shown in FIGS. 16, 17, 18, and 19 in this embodiment may be performed by a host computer by a program installed from the outside. In this case, the present invention is applied even when an information group including a program is supplied to the output device from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or an FD, or from an external recording medium via a network. Is.

  As described above, a recording medium in which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded is supplied to the system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus is stored in the recording medium. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the recording medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD-ROM, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, EEPROM, A silicon disk or the like can be used.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) or the like running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.

  Furthermore, after the program code read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted in the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the case where the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or apparatus. In this case, by reading a recording medium storing a program represented by software for achieving the present invention into the system or apparatus, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

  Furthermore, by downloading a program represented by software for achieving the present invention from a server, database, etc. on a network using a communication program and reading it, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention. It becomes.

1 is a system configuration diagram of a system (a system management system to which a document management apparatus, an external document storage apparatus, and a system management apparatus of the present invention can be applied) as a premise of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a document management apparatus and a document management DB illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows an example of the document management structure in document management DB. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the external document storage apparatus and document storage location collation DB which were shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a data configuration diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a document storage location verification DB (document storage location verification table) illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the structure of the system management apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the hierarchical structure data of document management DB shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the document storage location data of document storage location collation DB shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram explaining an example of the conventional maintenance in document management DB. It is a schematic diagram explaining an example of the conventional maintenance in document storage destination collation DB. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the graphical user interface (GUI) displayed on the display apparatus of the system management apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the graphical user interface (GUI) displayed on the display apparatus of the system management apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a maintenance operation on the document hierarchical structure display screen illustrated in FIG. 12. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the change process of the document storage destination collation DB104 accompanying the document hierarchy structure change of document management DB shown in FIG. It is a data block diagram which shows an example of the change log information memorize | stored in RAM (or memory | storage device) of a system management apparatus at the time of the change process in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 1st control processing procedure in the system management system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 2nd control processing procedure in the system management system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 3rd control processing procedure in the system management system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 3rd control processing procedure in the system management system of this invention. It is a figure explaining the memory map of the recording medium (storage medium) which stores the various data processing program which can be read (read) with the information processing apparatus (system management apparatus, document management apparatus) which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

101 document management apparatus 102 document management DB
103 External document storage device 104 Document storage location verification DB
105 System management device 107 MFP
201 Storage device 202 CPU
203 RAM
401 Storage device 402 CPU
403 RAM
601 Storage device 602 CPU
603 RAM

Claims (10)

An information processing system including an external document storage device that outputs an electronic document according to storage location information indicating a storage location of the electronic document, and a document management device that stores the electronic document,
The document management apparatus includes:
Change instruction receiving means for receiving an instruction to change the hierarchical structure obtained according to an operation on a display screen on which a hierarchical structure in which the electronic document is stored is displayed according to the storage location information;
Using the change instruction of the hierarchical structure received by the change instruction receiving means, a change history generating means for generating a change history of the hierarchical structure;
A change history output means for outputting the change history generated by the change history generation means to the external document storage device in order to cause the external document storage device to change the storage location information;
The external document storage device includes:
Storage location information changing means for changing the storage location information according to the change history output by the change history output means,
An information processing system, wherein the storage location information is changed by the storage location information changing means to match the changed hierarchical structure with the storage location information.   The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the change history includes an absolute path in the hierarchical structure before the change and an absolute path in the hierarchical structure after the change.   The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the change history output unit outputs the change history in the order of the change instructions received by the change instruction reception unit.   The storage location information that has failed to be changed is changed to the storage location information that was backed up before the change when the storage location information change unit fails to change the storage location information. The information processing system according to any one of 1 to 3.   5. The document management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a hierarchical structure changing unit that changes the hierarchical structure based on a change history generated by the change history generating unit. 6. Information processing system.   The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the document management device and the external document storage device communicate with each other via a network. A document management device for storing an electronic document output according to storage location information from an external document storage device,
Change instruction receiving means for receiving an instruction to change the hierarchical structure obtained according to an operation on a display screen on which a hierarchical structure in which the electronic document is stored is displayed according to the storage location information;
A change history generating means for generating a change history of the hierarchical structure using the change instruction of the hierarchical structure received by the change instruction receiving means;
A change history output means for outputting the change history generated by the change history generation means to the external document storage device in order to cause the storage location information to be changed in the external document storage device;
A document management apparatus comprising: An information processing method in an information processing system including an external document storage device that outputs an electronic document according to storage location information indicating a storage location of the electronic document and a document management device that stores the electronic document,
The document management apparatus includes:
A change instruction receiving step of receiving an instruction to change the hierarchical structure obtained according to an operation on a display screen on which a hierarchical structure in which the electronic document is stored is displayed according to the storage location information;
A change history generation step of generating a change history of the hierarchical structure using the change instruction of the hierarchical structure received in the change instruction reception step;
A change history output step for outputting the change history generated in the change history generation step to the external document storage device in order to cause the external document storage device to change the storage location information,
The external document storage device includes:
A storage location information changing step for changing the storage location information according to the change history output in the change history output step,
An information processing method characterized by matching the storage structure information with the changed hierarchical structure by changing the storage destination information in the storage destination information changing step. A document management device for storing an electronic document output according to storage location information from an external document storage device;
Change instruction receiving means for receiving an instruction to change the hierarchical structure obtained according to an operation on a display screen on which a hierarchical structure in which the electronic document is stored is displayed according to the storage location information;
A change history generating means for generating a change history of the hierarchical structure using the change instruction of the hierarchical structure received by the change instruction receiving means;
A program for causing a change history generated by the change history generating means to function as a change history output means for outputting to the external document storage device so that the external document storage device can change the storage location information.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 9 is recorded.

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