JPH0546451A - File retrieving device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the file management by retrieving files which pass the time limits of preservation. CONSTITUTION:A data base 10 where files are stored and the time limits of preservation of these files are stored as retrieval attributes for files and files are retrieved in accordance with a request, a retrieval instruction issue device 5 which issues a file retrieval instruction to the data base based on retrieval attributes, and an abandonment mark giving and deleting device which gives an abandonment mark to files which pass the time limits of preservation or deletes the given abandonment mark are provided, and the preservation condition of a pertinent file is confirmed by the result retrieved with the time limit of preservation as the retrieval attribute, and the time limit of preservation of this file can be changed if necessary.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a file search device having a database means for storing a plurality of files and searching for a desired file from the database means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional file search device, when a discard attribute such as a storage time limit is set for a stored electronic file, the file is automatically notified without any notification to the user when the storage time limit expires. It had been deleted. Devices of this type are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 61-187051 and 1-173159.

[0003]

As described above, in the above-mentioned conventional file retrieval apparatus, the user could not try to refer to the file without knowing that the storage period has expired. In addition, if the file is needed again after the discard attribute is set, there is a problem that the discard attribute must be changed before the storage expiration date.

Further, in the above conventional file search device, 2
Since it is not possible to obtain the reference count information for the files stored in the secondary storage device, the user cannot know which files are frequently used and the capacity of the secondary storage device (file system). I couldn't distinguish the files that could be deleted, for example, when was full. Therefore, the user refers to the contents of the file by trial and error to determine whether or not the file may be deleted, and then
The file must be deleted, which complicates the work and makes it extremely difficult to determine whether or not the file can be deleted.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a file search device which makes it possible to search for files whose storage period has expired and which facilitates file management.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a file search device capable of searching a file based on the number of times the file is referenced.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the first invention is a file search device having a database means for storing a plurality of files, and searches the storage expiration date for each of the files. It comprises a storage means for storing as an attribute and a search means for searching a corresponding file based on the search attribute.

A second invention is a file search device having a database means for storing a plurality of files,
The storage device stores a reference count for each of the files as a search attribute, and a search unit that searches for a corresponding file based on the search attribute.

A third invention is a file search device having a database means for storing a plurality of files,
Storage means for storing the retention time limit and the reference count for each of the files as a search attribute; and a search means for searching the corresponding file based on the result of the logical sum or the logical product of the retention time limit and the reference count. It is equipped with

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the storage time limit of a file to be stored is stored in the storage means in advance as a search attribute, and when necessary, the storage time limit is used as a search attribute by the data base means to store the file. Since the file is searched for, the save status of the file can be seen from the search result. Therefore, according to the present invention, since it is possible to search the storage time limit of a file stored in advance as a search attribute, the user himself can determine the action to be taken for discarding the corresponding file. Further, even if the file whose retention period has expired is not automatically deleted, it is possible to refer to the file, and the usability can be improved by changing the discard attribute.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the number of times the file is referred to is stored in the storage means as a search attribute, and when necessary, the retrieval means searches the file from the database means using the reference number as the search attribute. Therefore, the reference status of the corresponding file can be seen from the search result. Therefore, according to the present invention, since it is possible to search with the reference count of a file as a search attribute, the user can easily determine which file should be deleted by referring to the reference count. it can.

In the third invention, the storage time limit and the reference count of the file are stored in the storage means as search attributes, and the search means responds to the result of the logical sum or the logical product of the storage time limit and the reference count when necessary. File database
Since the file is searched from the search means, the storage status of the file and the reference status of the file can be seen from the search result. Therefore, according to the present invention,
The user himself can decide whether to discard the file or not, and by referring to the reference count, the user himself can easily decide which file should be erased.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a first embodiment of a file search device according to the present invention. The file retrieval apparatus of the present invention retrieves files stored in the database based on the retention period of the files as retrieval conditions, and the user decides whether or not to extend the retention of the target file based on the retrieval result. At the same time, it is characterized in that a discard mark is added to indicate that the target file whose storage is to be extended is a discard candidate, and facilitates database management for files whose retention period has expired. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that a file that has been processed to be stored in the database and converted into an electronic file so that it can be read out on the desktop is handled. For example, the known apparatus described in the prior art can naturally be applied to the apparatus configuration for storing the file targeted by the present invention in the database.

In FIG. 1, the file search device is a storage condition input device 1 and a file storage instruction device 2 for storing a file with a retention period as a file attribute, and a search condition according to a file search. The search condition input device 3, the search condition analysis device 4, the search command issuing device 5, add the discard mark to the file that seems to be unnecessary and delete the discard mark assigned to the file, and set it. The discard mark input device 6 and the extension of the storage period input device 7 and the discard mark addition / deletion device 8 for extending the retention period, the output device 9 for outputting the search result, the display or the print, and the file are discarded. It is composed of a database 10 which is managed together with the use attributes and is searched according to a request.

The storage condition input device 1 inputs the storage deadline as the storage condition of the file after instructing which part of the document list for managing the file in the database to put the file to be stored. ..

The file storage instructing device 2 issues an instruction to store a file, which has been sent from the storage condition input device 1 and has a storage time limit, in the database.

The search condition input device 3 inputs various search conditions including files whose storage period has expired.

The search condition analysis device 4 converts the search condition input by the search condition input device 3 into a search condition expression that can be understood by the database.

The search command issuing device 5 uses the search condition formula created by the search condition analyzing device 4 to issue a search command to the database and to retrieve the search result from the database. It receives and outputs to the output device 9.

The discard mark input device 6 enables the user to confirm the existence of the file when the user wants to continue to use the file whose storage period has expired. Input an instruction to add a discard mark to the file in order to let other users and others recognize that the file is old but highly necessary.

The retention term extension input device 7 newly sets the retention term of the file when the retention term expires and the user wants to continue using the file. The target file is a file whose retention period has expired and which has no discard mark, or a file with a discard mark whose discard mark has been deleted.

The discard mark assigning / deleting device 8 is a discard mark.
Issue a command to add a discard mark to the discard candidate file input from the input device 6, and extend the storage expiration date to a new retention period for the storage extension candidate file input from the input device 7. Issue the command to set the.

The output device 9 displays or prints the search result from the search command issuing device 5. The output device 9 is, for example, a CRT display device or a printer. In particular, the display device also has a function to display a document list that describes the status of candidate discards (presence or absence of discard marks) after adding or deleting discard marks based on the search results. ..

The database 10 stores a large number of files, and has a storage unit for storing the storage time limit and the reference count as the search attributes of this file, and at least the storage time limit or the reference count can be searched as a search condition. It has a function.

Next, input of the file storage period will be described. FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the processing operation for storing a file with a retention period. FIG. 3 is a screen example of a window operation for storing the Y test report file with a retention period while looking at the document list display window opened on the desktop and the window display of the result.

First, a document list display window is opened on the desktop (step S1), and then a file to be stored is designated from the storage menu (step S).
2). Then, a position in the document list is designated (step S3), a storage expiration date setting window for inputting the storage expiration date of the storage file is opened (step S4),
Input the expiration date from the keyboard (step S5).
When the input is completed, a document list in which the file is inserted in the designated location is displayed (step S6).

An operation of storing this file with a retention period will be described with reference to the file name "test report of Y" as an example.
This will be explained using the window shown in. Select the icon representing the document on the desktop with the mouse. When a file to be stored is specified from the opened storage menu, the icon changes to the file name "test report of Y". The place where the file of the document list window shown in FIG. 3A is to be put, for example, "Test report of X"
And "YY minutes", click the position of the arrow shown with the mouse.

Then, the storage option sheet (retention period input window) shown in FIG. 3B is opened. This storage option sheet is provided with an input field for entering the expiration date on the keyboard. Click this input field with the mouse, enter a numerical value, and then click the "Finish" button. The storage term input by is attached to the file and stored. As the storage result, as shown in FIG. 3C, the updated document list is displayed in the document list display window. The initial value of the storage expiration date of the storage option sheet is configured to be automatically input in advance. In this example, the date three years after the storage date (the "creation date" in the document list) is the initial value. It is included as a value. If you want to correct this date,
Do it with the mouse and keyboard.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a file stored in the database. The file search of this database will be described. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the processing operation of the file search having the retention time limit and the reference count as the search attributes. Open the search window (see Figure 7) (step S
10) Then, a conditional expression including the storage period is input from the search condition input device 3 to the search condition input field of this search window (step S11). With respect to the input conditional expression, the search condition analysis device 4 determines whether or not the search attributes are the storage period and the reference count (steps S12 and S13). As a result, when the search attribute is determined, it is converted into a search condition expression that can be understood by the database 10 and sent to the search command issuing device 5. In the database, a search command based on the search condition expression is executed to search (step S14). Search results are
It is output to the output device 9 through the search command issuing device 5 and displayed (step S15).

In the search window, as shown in FIG.
There is a [Search Criteria] field for entering the search conditions and a [Search Result] field for displaying the search results, and a "Search Start" button for executing a search based on the search conditions and a discard mark is added from the search results. A "discard mark" button for executing deletion is provided. In the [Search condition] field, the file attribute type, condition, value, and AND condition are input. The types of file attributes are a storage period, a document name, the number of references, and the like. In addition, since the storage deadline enables a specified search of a file to which a discard mark described later is attached, the presence / absence of a discard mark can be used as a search attribute. The condition is an equal sign (=), an inequality sign (<,>), or the like. Further, as a value, when the attribute of the file is “document name”, the name of the document in the document name column shown in FIG. 4, for example, “functional specification”,
The reference date is, for example, “Today” when the storage time limit is set, and an arbitrary designated number of times, for example, “1” when the reference count is set. When narrowing down the files to be searched using a plurality of search conditions, "and" is input to the AND condition. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the storage period is "'89," as a search condition.
It is input to search the file before 1,1 "and the reference frequency is" 1 ". When you click the" Start Search "button, the search starts and the search result is displayed in the [Search Result] column of the window. A display example of this search result is shown in Fig. 8. In the example shown in the figure, slips 1 and 2 are displayed as search results as files that satisfy the search condition expression.

Next, description will be made regarding the addition of the discard mark to the file. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of adding a discard mark to a file whose storage period has expired. The search window (FIG. 7) is opened (step S20), the file search is performed (step S21), and it is checked whether or not there is a file whose storage period has expired (step S22). If there is a corresponding file, that file is displayed. A file (designated file) to be discarded is selected from the files displayed by the discard mark input device 6 (step S23). Disposal mark
The deleting device 8 judges whether the designated file is to be a discard candidate (step S24), and if it is a discard candidate, issues an instruction to add the discard candidate to the attribute of the designated file to the database 10 (step S25). .. The database 10 saves the attributes of the designated file (step S26), and adds a discard mark to the designated file (step S27).

The window operation for adding the discard mark to the file searched by the above file search will be described with reference to the window shown in FIG. FIG. 9 shows a sub-window opened by pressing the "discard mark" button in the window shown in FIG. 8 in which the search results are displayed. This subwindow gives an instruction to specify or cancel the specification of the discard candidate. For example, if you want to discard documents 1 and 2 from the search results as discard candidates, and add a discard mark to them, first click the "Voucher 1" column → "Specify discard candidate" in the sub-window in order to highlight the items. Then, it can be seen that the slip 1 is the designated file. Then, by clipping the "discard mark" in the sub-window with the mouse, the discard mark is attached to the slip 1. As shown in FIG. 10, this discard mark is displayed on the left side of the "slip 1" display as "disposal mark".
"" Is displayed. By the same operation, the discard mark is added to the slip 2.

As described above, whether or not the storage time limit of the file has expired can be known by performing a search by designating the storage time limit date as a search condition. Furthermore, if you add a discard mark to files whose retention period has expired, you can open the file list window shown in Fig. 11 and check the files with discard marks when you want to see the files you need later. it can. In this embodiment, the retention period is used as a discard attribute when searching for a file to which a discard mark is added. However, the retention period and the discard mark addition are not directly related, and other search attributes are used. Of course, it is also possible to add a waste mark retrieved using.

Next, the deletion of the discard mark given to the file will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of deleting the discard mark from the file.
Open the search window (Fig. 12) (step S30),
A search condition expression is input to perform a file search (step S31), and it is checked whether or not there is a file with a discard mark (step S32).

The file search (discard candidate file search) processing in step S31 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in the file search, a search attribute for specifying what the searched file is, for example, the name of the file or the search expression of the file with the discard mark is input (step S40). Next, it is determined whether or not the search formula is (discard candidate = Yes) (step S41). If the conditional expression is satisfied, a search is executed (step S4
2) The file with the discard mark is searched and displayed (step S43). When this step S43 ends,
The process returns to step S31 in FIG. 12, and as a result, the process proceeds to step S32.

Referring again to FIG. Disposal marker
A file (designated file) from which the discard mark is removed is selected from the files displayed by the mark input device 6 (step S33). The discard mark adding / deleting device 8 determines whether to remove the discard mark of the designated file (step S3).
4) When removing the discard mark, an instruction to delete the discard mark from the attribute of the designated file is issued to the database 10 (step S35).

The database 10 deletes the discard mark from the designated file (step S36). Next, a retention period extension setting window is opened in order to extend the retention period of the specified file from which the discard mark has been deleted (step S
37). When the necessity of extension of the storage period is input from the storage period extension input device 7, the discard mark giving / deleting device 8 checks the extension of the storage period of the designated file (step S3
8) When the extension is made, the storage term after the change is input (step S39).

From the file with the discard mark described above to the discard mark
A window operation for deleting a mask will be described with reference to the windows shown in FIGS. FIG. 14 shows a search window in which search results are displayed. In this search window, (candidate for discard = yes and file name = slip 2) is input as the search condition for the slip 2, and the slip 2 to which the discard mark is added is displayed as the search result. When the "discard mark" button is pressed in this search window, the sub window shown in FIG. 15 is opened. Use the subwindow to instruct the cancellation of the designation of the discard candidate.
When the mouse is clicked in the order of "Voucher 2" column → "Cancel discard candidate designation" in the sub-window, it is highlighted (Fig. 15).
It can be seen that the slip 2 is a designated file by being subjected to middle hatching). Then, by clicking "disposal mark" in the sub window with the mouse, the discard mark is removed from the slip 2. When the file list window is opened, it is possible to confirm the slip 2 in which the discard mark is removed from the file list shown in FIG.

The extension of the storage period of a file whose discard mark has been removed will be described. FIG. 18 shows a retention term extension setting window that is opened by executing the discard candidate designation cancel command. The storage period after changing the setting window is set by designating "from storage date" or "until designation", inputting a new storage period in the input area and pressing the "completion" button.

In the file search device of this embodiment, the database 10 stores the storage time limit and the reference count for each file as search attributes. Is analyzed as to the result of the logical sum or the logical product of the retention period and the reference count, and the search command issuing device 5 issues a search command to the database 10 according to the analysis result. By issuing, it is possible to search for a file that matches the search condition.

FIG. 19 is a functional block diagram showing a second embodiment of the file search device according to the present invention.

In the figure, the file search device is a secondary storage device 191 such as a magnetic disk for storing files.
0, a search device 1920 that accesses the secondary storage device 1910 to search for a file, a display device 1930 such as a display that displays the search result, a file read request, and a search condition expression when searching for a file. It has an input device 1940 including a mouse and a keyboard for inputting and giving various commands.

The secondary storage device 1910 is composed of a file group 1911 for storing the contents of files similar to the conventional file system, and a reference count storage unit 1912 for storing the reference count for each file. The reference count storage unit 1912 stores a table 2000 composed of file name and reference count fields 2010 and 2020 as shown in FIG. 20, and the reference count registered in this table 2000 refers to the corresponding file. It is incremented by 1 each time.

The search device 1920 includes a memory 1921,
The central processing unit 1922 has a central processing unit 1922 for searching a file, and the central processing unit 1922 transfers the file from the secondary storage device 1910 to the memory 1921.
923, a file reference number counting unit 1924 that counts up the file reference number, a file reference number display unit 1925 that outputs the file reference number to a display device 1930 as an output device, and a file reference number as a conditional expression. And a file reference frequency search unit 1926 that searches a file in the secondary storage device 1910.

Next, the reference count-up processing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the user performs a transfer operation for a desired file (this specific example will be described later) (step S40), the file transfer unit 1923 reads the corresponding file from the secondary storage device 1910 and stores it in the memory 192.
Transfer to 1. At the same time, the file reference frequency counting unit 192
4 retrieves the file name of the transcribed file (step S41), and retrieves a record in which the retrieved file name and the file name registered in the field 2010 of the table 2000 in the reference count storage unit 1912 are equal. (Step S42). Next, the reference count in the retrieved record is incremented by 1 (step S43).

Next, the reference frequency display processing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The reference count display unit 1925 displays the table 200 of the reference count storage unit 1912 when the file list is displayed.
The file name and reference count registered in 0 are read out and transferred to the memory 1921 (step S50). Next, the display device 19 associates the file name with the reference count.
It is displayed on 30 (step S51).

Here, specific examples of the transfer operation and the display operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining the transfer operation and the display operation. First, as shown in FIG. 23A, an icon 231 indicating a file system displayed on the screen of the display device 1930.
A cursor (mouse device icon) 232 that moves 0 according to the operation of the mouse as the input device 1940.
Select with 0. As a result, the reference count display unit 1925
Opens the file system, and FIG. 23 (b)
As shown in, a file name list window 2330 corresponding to the file system is displayed on the display screen. In the window 2330, the file name of each file stored in the file system and the reference count are displayed in association with each other. Next, as shown in FIG. 23C, when a desired file name, for example, file B, is copied (transcribed) from the file name list (FIG. 23C).
23. In FIG. 23D, the reference count display unit 1925 displays an icon 2340 indicating that the file B has been transcribed and the reference count count is displayed. The value of the reference count of the file B incremented by 1 by the unit 1924 is displayed again.

In this embodiment, the file list can be displayed in the display format as shown in FIG. 24 in addition to the file list format as shown in FIG. That is, in order to make it easy to recognize the correspondence between the file name and the reference count, each piece of information is displayed in a rectangle in the window 2400. Further, the list of files displayed in the display format as shown in FIG. 24 can be displayed in various display forms such as sorting by reference frequency, classification by reference frequency, and color classification by reference frequency.

Next, specific examples of the file list in the above various display modes will be described with reference to FIGS. 25 to 27.

25 to 27 are views for explaining the display processing for displaying the file list in the above various display modes.

First, the display mode of the file list sorted based on the reference count will be described. When the icon indicating the file system is selected and an instruction to display the property is given, the reference count display unit 1925
Displays the property sheet 2510 corresponding to the icon as shown in FIG. In the property sheet shown in this figure, it is necessary to specify whether to sort, whether to sort by name or reference count, and to sort from large value to small value when sorting. It is possible to specify "descending order" and "ascending order" for sorting from a small value to a large value. Here, when the sorting by the “descending order” is designated by the reference count using the property sheet, the reference count display unit 1925 opens the file system, and the reference number display unit 1925 opens the file system as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the file list sorted by the reference count is displayed in the window 2520.

Next, the display mode of the file list sorted and sorted according to the number of times of reference will be described. When the icon indicating the file system to be classified is selected and an instruction to indicate the reference count classification is given, the reference count display unit 1925 creates a folder (directory) for each reference count value in the file system, A file matching the reference count is placed in each folder. The display state at this time is shown in FIG. In the example shown in the figure, files with reference count values of “1”, “5”, and “6” are classified by folders and displayed in the window 2610. Here, when the folder 2620 having the reference count 1 is designated, the reference count display unit 1925 displays the folder 262.
0 is opened, and as shown in FIG. 26B, a list of files whose reference count is “1” is displayed in the window 2630.

Finally, the display form of the file list which is color-coded according to the number of times of reference will be described. When the icon indicating the file system is selected and an instruction to display the property is given, the reference count display unit 1925 displays
A property sheet 2710 corresponding to the icon is displayed as shown in FIG. This property sheet 2710 is used to specify an item 2720 for instructing coloring, that is, “reference count COLOR”, and a reference count value (which can be specified in a range) indicating which reference count is desired to be colored. 2730 and an area 2740 for designating a color. Item 2 here
720 (“reference count COLOR”) is selected, and area 2
When “0-1” is designated in 730 and “yellow” is designated in the area 2740, the reference count display unit 1925 displays the reference counts of “0-“ in the file list as shown in FIG. 27B. The rectangular area in which the file name of the file of "1" exists is displayed in the designated yellow color (in FIG. 27B, the shaded portion is colored).

Next, the file search processing based on the reference count will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the user operates the input device 1940 and inputs, for example, the value of the reference count as a search condition expression (step S60), the file reference count search unit 1926 is registered in the table 2000 of the reference count storage unit 1912. The reference count is searched, and the file name of the file in which the reference count matches the input search condition expression (reference count value) is extracted from the table 2000 of the reference count storage unit 1912 (step S61). The name is stored in the memory 1921 as the search result, and the file name as the search result is displayed on the display device 1930 (step S62).

Here, an operation example of the search process will be described. As shown in FIG. 29 (a), the user has fields 2910 A and 2 2 for setting a search range and a search condition that are set in advance in the search window 2910.
Set the desired value in 910B. In the example shown in the figure,
The file system A is set in the field 2910A, and “reference count = 0” is set in the field 2910B. Then, the file reference frequency search unit 1926 performs a search based on the content of the search window 2910, and as a result, as shown in FIG. 29B, the file of the file whose reference frequency is “0” in the file system A. The name (file name C, file name X in the example shown in FIG. 29B) is the search result window 29 as the search result.
It is displayed within 20.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the number of times the file is referenced is displayed for each file.
Among the files stored in the secondary storage device, it is possible to distinguish files that are frequently used and files that are rarely used, and can be used as a guide when deleting files that are rarely used. ..

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention, since it is possible to search the retention date of a file stored in advance as a search attribute, whether the user should discard the corresponding file based on the search result. You can decide what to do or not. In addition, even files whose retention period has expired are not automatically deleted, so the files can be referenced, and the usability can be improved by changing the discard attribute.

Since the number of times the file is referenced can be searched using the search attribute, for example, a file that is used less frequently can be searched and that file can be deleted as needed. You can easily decide whether or not it is a good file. Therefore, it is possible to provide a file search device in which file management by the user is easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a first embodiment of a file search device according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a file storage processing operation.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a window operation when a file is stored.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of file data stored in a database.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a file search processing operation.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation of discard mark addition processing.
To.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a screen example of a search window for explaining input of search conditions at the time of file search.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a screen example of a search window displaying search results.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a window screen for explaining an operation when a discard mark is added.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a window screen after a discard mark is added.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a screen example of a file list window after a discard mark is added.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing an operation of deleting a discard mark.
To.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a file search processing operation of a discard candidate.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a search window screen for explaining input of search conditions when searching for files of discard candidates.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a window screen for explaining an operation when deleting a discard mark.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a screen example of a window after deleting a discard mark.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a screen example of a file list window after deleting a discard mark.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a screen example of a setting window for extending the storage period of a file.

FIG. 19 is a functional block diagram showing a second embodiment of the file search device according to the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a table registered in a reference count storage unit.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a reference number count-up processing operation.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a reference count display processing operation.

FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining a transfer operation and a display operation when counting up and displaying the reference count.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a display process for displaying a file list based on the number of times of references.

FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining display processing for displaying a file list based on the number of times of references.

FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining a display process for displaying a file list based on the number of times of references.

FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining a display process for displaying a file list based on the number of references.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing a search processing operation based on the number of references.

FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining a search process based on the number of references.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Storage condition input device, 2 ... File storage instruction device, 3
... Search condition input device, 4 ... Search condition analysis device, 5 ... Search command issuing device, 6 ... Discard mark input device, 7 ... Retention period extension input device, 8 ... Discard mark addition / deletion device, 9 ... Output device, 10 ... Database, 1910 ... Secondary storage device, 1911 ... File, 1912 ... Reference count storage unit,
Reference numeral 1920 ... Search device, 1921 ... Memory, 1922 ... Central processing unit, 1923 ... File transfer unit, 1924 ... File reference frequency counting unit, 1925 ... File reference frequency display unit, 1926 ... File reference frequency search unit, 1930 ... Display device, 1940 ... Input device.

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Kenji Nishiyama 3-2-1 Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Zeroxus Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A file search device having a database means for storing a plurality of files, comprising: storage means for storing a storage expiration date for each of the files as a search attribute; and a file corresponding to the search attribute. A file search device comprising search means for searching. 2. A file search device having a database means for storing a plurality of files, wherein: storage means for storing a reference count for each of the files as a search attribute; and a corresponding file based on the search attribute. A file search device comprising search means for searching. 3. A file search device having a database means for storing a plurality of files, a storage means for storing a storage deadline and a reference count for each file as search attributes, the storage deadline and the reference count. And a search means for searching a corresponding file based on the result of the logical sum or logical product of the above.