JP2000099378A - File management system, file managing method and storage medium with its program recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a file management system which allows even an operator (user) who is unfamiliar with computer operations to easily extract desired version, a file managing method and a storage medium on which its program is recorded. SOLUTION: The information of date and hour when generation management is started and the end date and hour information of the current generation when the next generation comes are stored in addition to the file name of each file in which generation (version) management is performed and version information in a version management table 4a (by a file version registering part 3a), and when an operator searches for a past file, the period of each generation of a file is displayed on time base along time series by a file version displaying part 3b through the use of the stored information. A document file which is registered before a designated period and is not subjected to version up after that is also displayed as an object to be processed in addition to a document file registered during the period designated by the operator.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for managing the history of a document file, a program source file, and the like using a computer. And a file management method and a recording medium on which a program for recording the program is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FD (Flexible) is used in a computer system or a document creation device (word processor).
2. Description of the Related Art When searching for a desired file from a plurality of files stored in a portable storage medium such as a disk, a process of inputting a file name, a title, a serial number, and the like, and searching for the file is performed.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional system for performing general version management processing of a document file. A generation management processing device 91 having a computer processing function based on a storage program method includes a designated version document file extracting unit 92 and a difference information acquiring unit 9.
3, and a document file registration unit 94.

In a storage area (file version registration area 90) managed by the generation management processing device 91, a registered document file 95, version information 96 storing and storing version information corresponding to each version, and , And difference information 97 that stores difference information for each version.

The specified version document file fetching section 92 of the generation management processing device 91 obtains difference information 97 to be applied to the registered document file 95 with reference to the version information 96 for the version requested to be fetched.
By causing it to act on the registered document file 95, a specified version of the document file 98 is created. Further, the difference information acquisition unit 93 acquires a difference between the two files.

Further, a document file registration section 94 registers a latest version of a document file. That is, the document file registration unit 94 retrieves the registered latest document file via the designated version document file retrieval unit 92, and retrieves the latest version of the document file 99 via the difference information acquisition unit 93. Registered latest document file (specified version of document file 9
8) and the difference information is obtained. Then, the version information 96 is updated, the difference information obtained by using the difference information obtaining unit 93 is additionally stored in the difference information 97, and the latest version of the document file is registered.

However, in such a conventional technique, if the operator forgets the target document file name, serial number, etc.,
It takes a lot of time to identify the target document file. Further, when different versions are managed with the same document name, it takes much more time to specify the target version.

As a conventional technique for solving such a problem, for example, there is a technique described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-15787. In this technique, a time axis designated by an input unit is displayed, and a document file of a version corresponding to designation of a position on the time axis by a position designation unit is searched.

However, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-15787, a time axis is displayed on a display device, and an operator designates a period on which the document file will be registered on the time axis. By doing so, a list of document files registered within that period is displayed, and the operator selects a document file from the list to retrieve a target document file.

[0010] Therefore, in this technique, only document files registered within a specified period are to be processed. For example, a document file registered before the specified period but not upgraded (revised / updated) thereafter is designated as a document file. Even though it is valid (can be selected), it is not displayed in the list. In the case of a document file that has been upgraded many times, the same document name appears more than once, and it is difficult to visually grasp the period from the registration of each document file to the revision. Is difficult to identify.

[0011]

The problem to be solved is that the state of revision of a file cannot be easily grasped visually with the conventional technology.

An object of the present invention is to solve these problems of the prior art and to provide a file management system and a file management system which enable an operator (user) unfamiliar with computer operation to easily retrieve a desired version of a file. An object of the present invention is to provide a management method and a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a file management system and a file management method of the present invention perform generation management in addition to file name and version information of each file to be generation (version) managed. The start date and time information and the end date and time information of the current generation when the next generation is reached are saved, and when the operator searches for past files, the saved information is used for the period of each generation of the file. Are displayed in time series on the time axis. Further, in addition to the document files registered during the period designated by the operator, document files registered before the designated period and not upgraded after that are displayed as processing targets.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of the file management system of the present invention according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an example of a version management screen displayed on a display device by the file management system in FIG. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the file management system of FIG. 1 displays a version management screen 21 in which the document files of each version are arranged in a time series according to the date of the version upgrade. I do. The version management screen 21 has a time axis 20a provided with a column 22 for displaying a year value and a column 23 for displaying a month value. On this time axis 20a, a cursor 24 representing a search target period is displayed.
Moves in the column 23 for displaying the month value in accordance with the instruction of the operator.

The time axis 20b to 20d of each document file which exists within the search target period indicated by the cursor 24 among the version-controlled document files is displayed. Is displayed as a rectangle. That is, when the same document file is out of the range of the cursor 24 indicating the search target period, it is displayed as a straight line instead of a rectangle.

For example, the cursor 24 is located at the position as of December 1997 on the time axis 20a. As for the document A file, the version of “Rev 3.0” is displayed as a rectangle, and “Rev 2.0” is displayed. "Rev4.
For "0", the version information is displayed on a straight line (time axis 20b). For the document B file,
“Rev1.0” and “Rev.
"1.0" is displayed as a rectangle on the time axes 20c and 20d, respectively.

As a result, the operator can easily understand that Rev. 3.0 of the document A file, Rev. 1.0 of the document B file, and Rev. 1.0 of the document C file were the latest in December 1997. can do.

As described above, the line 26 represents the version management information of the document A file, and the line 27 represents the version management information of the document B file. The position of the version information on each of the time axes 20b to 20d is as follows. It corresponds to the position of the year and month on the time axis 20a.
As a result, the document A file is Rev 2.0 until November 1997, and Rev.
It is easy to see that the version of the document B file has been updated to 4.0 at the end of February 1998, and that the version of the document B file was started at the end of September 1997.

The document A file “Rev3.
The cursor 25 indicating the current of the document file is located at the version management information “0”. This cursor 2
Numeral 5 moves between corresponding versions of each document file represented by a rectangle in the document file corresponding to the cursor 24 indicating the search target period in accordance with an instruction of the operator.

When a click operation is performed with a mouse or the like for moving the cursor 25 in this state, the version management screen 21 is displayed on the version management screen 21a shown in FIG.
It changes to the contents. In other words, the version management screen 21a in FIG. 2B is a scene in which the user clicks the Rev. 3.0 of the document A file after making it current in the scene of the version management screen 21 in FIG. Has appeared.

This pop-up screen 28 has a column 28a for displaying the document file name and version information of the current document file, a column 28b for displaying the comment of the current document file, a column 28c for displaying directory information where the current document file exists, It comprises a column 28d for displaying information of the application that created the current document file, a "take out" button 28e, and a "close" button 28f.

When the operator designates an "extract" button 28e on this pop-up screen 28 and presses a mouse button or the like, the contents of the document A file at the time of Rev 3.0 are extracted, and a "close" button 28f is pressed. When pressed, the pop-up screen 28 is closed. Hereinafter, the file management system of FIG. 1 that performs display control of the version management screens 21 and 21a will be described.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a CRT (Cathode Ray).
Tube, etc., 2 is an input device comprising a keyboard and a mouse, 3 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit)
nit), an information processing apparatus having a main memory and performing computer processing by a storage program method, 4 is an HDD
(Hard Disk Drive) etc., 5 is F
D or CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory)
And a drive device 6 for reading programs and data recorded on the recording medium 5.

The file management system of this embodiment is configured by reading the program and data recorded on the recording medium 5 into the main memory and the external storage device 4 via the driving device 6 by the information processing device 3.

That is, the information processing apparatus 3 includes a file version registration unit 3a for registering a version of a document file using the version management table 4a stored in the external storage device 4, and a version management screen 21 shown in FIG. , 2
File version display unit 3b for performing display control of 1a
And a file detail display unit 3c displaying a pop-up screen 28 in FIG. 2 showing the detailed contents of the current document file in response to a request from the file version display unit 3b.
And a file reading unit 3d for extracting the contents of the corresponding version of the current document file in response to a request from the file details display unit 3c when the "extract" button 28e is pressed on the pop-up screen 28 in FIG. An existing file version processing unit 3e for writing and reading each version of the document file using the file version registration area 4b is provided.

The existing file version processing section 3e and file version registration area 4b are the same as the prior art generation management processing section 91 and file version registration area shown in FIG. 9, respectively.

The operator issues an operation request to the present system using the display device 1 and the input device 2. Upon receiving a file registration request from the operator, the file version registration unit 3a acquires a file name, a version registration date, application information that created the file, and the like, and accumulates the information in the version management table 4a of the external storage device 4. The file version is managed using the existing file version processing unit 3e.

The existing file version processing unit 3e performs file version management using the file version registration area 4b, similarly to the prior art generation management processing unit 91 shown in FIG. Is
The existing file version processing unit 3e is used to extract the target version file of the target file.

The operation of the file management system having such a configuration will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of contents of a version management table in FIG. 1. The version management table 4a is a table for storing version management information on files to be version-controlled, and includes a creation directory name column 31, a file name column 32, a start date / time information column 33, an end date / time information column 34, and a version I version.
D column 35, creation AP column 36, and annotation column 37,
One line stores information about one version of one file.

The created directory name column 31 is a column for storing a directory name in which a file for version registration selected and designated by the operator exists, when the version is registered. The file name column 32 is a column for storing a file name for performing version management requested by the operator.

The start date / time information column 33 is a column for storing current date / time information at the time when the operator requests version management. The end date / time information column 34 stores the maximum date / time information (December 31, 9999) defined by the system for the file for which the version management request is made for the first time, and when the version is updated for the same file, the previous date and time is stored. The maximum date and time information value set by the system set in the end date and time information column 34 of the row storing the version information is changed to the current date and time information.

The version ID column 35 is a column for storing version information for performing version management.
1.0 is a column for storing version information which is incremented by one each time the version is updated thereafter. Create AP
A column 36 is a column for acquiring and storing identification information of an application program that has created a file to be version-controlled by the system. The comment column 37 is a column for storing the contents of the comment given to the corresponding version of the file for version management, which is given to the system by the operator.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the file version registration unit in FIG. When the operator issues a file version registration request, the file version registration unit 3a of FIG. 1 operates. In the file version registration unit 3a, first, a creation directory name, file name,
An input process such as a comment is performed (step 401).

Next, current date and time information is obtained (step 402). Then, the version management table 4a in FIG.
And the column value of the creation directory name column 31
1 and the column value of the file name column 32 matches the operator-specified version control file name obtained in step 401,
Further, a search is performed under the condition that the column value of the end date / time information column 34 is the maximum date / time information value determined by the system (step 403). By the processing in step 403, the latest version line of the specified file can be detected.

Next, it is checked whether or not there is a row satisfying the condition of step 403 (step 404).
If the line does not exist, it is determined that a version control request has been generated for the specified file for the first time, and the variable Rev
Is set to 0 (step 407). If the corresponding line exists, it means that the same file has been version-controlled before. In this case, the column value of the end date / time information column 34 of the row is changed to the current date / time information acquired in step 402 (step 405), and the column value of the version ID column 35 of the row is set to the variable Rev (step 406). ). After that, the application information that created the file for which the version management request was made is acquired (step 408).

Then, the creation directory name value obtained in step 401 is stored in the creation directory column 31 of the version management table 4a, and the file name column 32 is stored in step 40.
1 in the start date / time information column 33 and the current date / time information value obtained in step 402 in the end date / time information column 3
4 shows the maximum date and time information (12/9999
Month 31) value in the version ID column 35 in the variable Rev.
The value obtained by incrementing the stored value by 1 is added to the created AP column 36, and the created application information value obtained in step 408 is
A row in which the comment value obtained in step 401 is set is newly added to the comment column 37 (step 409).

Finally, the designated file version is registered using the existing file version processing unit 3e (step 410). Thus, the operation of the file version registration unit 3a in FIG. 1 is completed.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts showing an example of the processing procedure of the file version display unit in FIG. When the operator makes a file version display request,
The file version display section 3b of FIG. 1 operates.

In FIG. 5, in the file version display section 3b, first, for the version management screen 21 shown in FIG. 2, which is displayed immediately upon execution, a time axis with a date scale attached so that the current date is on the left end is displayed. 20a is displayed (step 501). Next, the center of the screen of the version management screen 21 is set as the current date, and the screen is shaded (step 5).
02). Then, the latest year / month information of the currently displayed screen is set to the variable YD (step 503), and the latest year / month information of the currently displayed screen is set to the variable LD (step 503). 504).

Next, in order to search for a row that covers the period represented by the currently displayed screen, the end date / time information column is set in the version control table 4a of FIG. 3 based on the value set in the variable YD. 34 is past or the variable L
A row in which none of the values of the start date / time information column 33 are past from the value set in D is acquired (step 5).
05).

Further, information on the first day of the current year and month is set in a variable SD (step 506), and information on the last day of the current year and month is set in a variable ED (step 5).
07). Also, for all the rows obtained in step 505, it is checked whether or not the ranges of the values of the start date / time information column 33 and the end date / time information column 34 overlap with the ranges specified by the variables SD and ED. (Step 50
8).

Here, the document file specified by the overlapped line indicates that it was the latest as of the current date. Then, it is checked whether or not there is an overlap (step 509). For the overlapped line, the value of the file name column 32 and the value of the version ID column 35 of the line obtained in step 505 are enclosed in a rectangle and displayed on the time axis. It is displayed (step 511), and for rows without overlap, the version ID column 35 value is displayed on the time axis (step 510). At this time, based on the start / end date and time information, the rectangle, the version ID value, and the like are obtained and displayed at the position on the time axis corresponding to the year / month scale of the time axis 20a.

After executing the processing of step 510 or step 511 for all the rows obtained in the processing of step 505, the system waits for an input from the operator in FIG. 6 (step 512). Here, when the operator selects the displayed file (step 513), the selected file is shaded (step 514), and the corresponding line of the version management table 4a is used as an argument to display the file details shown in FIG. The control is passed to the section 3c (step 515), and when the control is returned from the file detail display section 3c, step 512 is performed again.
Is waiting for operator input.

In step 513, when the operator requests the current year / month move instead of selecting the file (step 516), the process returns to step 502 in FIG. 5 and the display of the version management screen 21 in FIG. Perform processing.
If the operator presses the “end” button instead of the request for moving the current date in step 516 (step 517), the processing of the file version display unit 3b ends.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the file detail display unit in FIG. The file detail display section 3c in FIG. 1 is called and activated from step 515 in FIG. First, in the file detail display section 3c, from the given row of the version management table 4a in FIG.
The value of the file name column 32, the value of the annotation column 37, the value of the created directory name column 31, and the value of the created AP column 36 are extracted (step 701).

Next, the column values extracted in step 701 are displayed on the pop-up screen 28 in FIG. 2 (step 702). Here, input from the operator is waited for (step 703). When the operator presses the "extract" button 28e (step 704), control is passed to the file reading unit 3d of FIG. 1 using the given row of the version management table 4a as an argument (step 705), and the file reading unit 3d When the control returns from step 70, the operator waits for an operator input again (step 70).
Return to 3). In step 704, the operator selects the “close” button 2 instead of the “remove” button 28e.
When 8f is pressed (step 706), the file detail display unit 3c ends the processing and returns control to the file version display unit 3b.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the file reading unit in FIG. The file reading unit 3d in FIG. 1 is called up from the processing in step 705 in FIG. 7 and activated, and performs the following processing. First, the file reading unit 3d reads the value of the file name column 32 and the version ID column 35 from the given row of the version management table 4a in FIG.
And the value of the created AP column 36 are extracted (step 80).
1).

Next, a file of a target version is extracted by using the existing file version processing unit 3e of FIG. 1 (step 802). Then, the file extracted in step 802 is opened by activating the creation AP (application program) obtained in step 801 (step 80).
3), end the processing, and return the control to the file detail display section 3c in FIG.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8, in the file management system and the file management method according to the present embodiment, in addition to the file name and version information of each document file managed by generation (version). The date and time information when generation management started and the end date and time information for the current generation when the next generation is reached are saved, and when an operator searches for a past document file, the information is used for each generation of the file. Are displayed in time series on the time axis. Further, in addition to the document files registered during the period designated by the operator, document files registered before the designated period and not upgraded after that are displayed as processing targets.

Thus, the operator (user) can easily confirm and specify the version management status of the document file, and can easily extract the target version of the target document file from the screen. As a result, conventionally, the operator has learned the search procedure in order to identify the target version of the target document file. However, according to the file management system of this example, the operator can manage the version of the target document file. If the rough date information on the target document file is obtained, the target version information of the target document file can be specified, and the relevant document file can be easily taken out from the screen. That is, in the file management system of this example, the version management of the document file of the operator can be facilitated.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8, and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof. For example, in this example, the version (generation) management technique has been described for a document file. However, the same system configuration and method can be applied to program version management. Also, for example, even with a configuration / method that does not display a pop-up menu, it is possible to easily read the revision status of each file as compared with the related art.

[0053]

According to the present invention, the revision status of a file can be easily visually grasped, and an operator (user) unfamiliar with computer operation can easily retrieve a desired version of a file. Is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a configuration according to the present invention of a file management system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a version management screen displayed on a display device by the file management system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents of a version management table in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a file version registration unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example (1/2) of a processing procedure of a file version display unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example (2/2) of a processing procedure of a file version display unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a file detail display unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a file reading unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conventional system for performing general generation management processing of a document file.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: display device, 2: input device, 3: information processing device, 3
a: File version registration unit, 3b: File version display unit, 3c: File details display unit, 3d: File reading unit, 3e: Existing file version processing unit, 4:
External storage device, 4a: version management table, 4b: file version registration area, 5: recording medium, 6: drive device,
21, 21a: Version management screen, 22: Column for displaying year value, 23: Column for displaying month value, 24, 25: Cursor, 26, 27: Line, 28: Pop-up screen, 2
8a: a column for displaying the document file name and version information of the current document file, 28b: a column for displaying the annotation of the current document file, 28c: a column for displaying directory information where the current document file exists, 28d: a column for displaying the current document file A column for displaying the created application information, 28e: “extract” button, 28f: “close” button, 31: created directory name column, 32: file name column, 33: start date / time information column, 34: end date / time information column, 35: version ID column, 36: created AP column, 3
7: comment column, 90: file version registration area, 9
1: generation management processing device, 92: designated version document file take-out unit, 93: difference information acquisition unit, 94: document file registration unit, 95: registered document file, 96: version information, 97: difference information, 98: designation Version document file, 99: latest version document file.

Claims (4)

[Claims] A file registration location, a file comment, and application identification information used for file creation, which are input via an input device when a file is newly created and revised, together with a new creation date or a revision date of the file, Registering means for registering in the storage device in association with the version information; means for displaying a first time axis to which date information has been added on a screen of the display device; and a means for displaying the first time axis via the input device on the first time axis. The file registered on the designated date is specified with reference to the result of registration in the storage device by the registration means, and the second time axis parallel to the first time axis is displayed for each file. Displaying the version information of each file at a position corresponding to the date information on the first time axis on the second time axis; Means for displaying a duration of the version information corresponding to the date specified on the first time axis on the second time axis, wherein the version information is selected via the input device during display on the screen of the display device. Means for reading out each piece of information registered in the storage device by the registration means corresponding to the version information from the storage device, displaying the information in a pop-up menu provided with a menu item for instructing extraction of the file of the version, Means for reading out the file of the version based on selection of the pop-up menu extraction menu item by the device. 2. A file management method for a system comprising a central processing unit, a storage device, an input device, and an output device, wherein a file is created, registered, read out, and revised registered by computer processing. Or a step of registering the revision date in the storage device in association with the version information; a step of displaying a first time axis to which the date information is added on a screen of the display device; A step of specifying a file registered as of the date specified via the input device with reference to the registered contents of the storage device, and a second process in parallel with the first time axis for each of the specified files. Displaying a time axis on the screen of the display device; and displaying version information of each file on the first time axis of the second time axis.
Displaying at a position corresponding to the date information on the time axis, and displaying the duration of the version information at the date specified on the first time axis on the second time axis. File management method characterized by the above-mentioned. 3. The file management method according to claim 2, wherein at the time of new creation and revision of said file, a file registration location and a file comment input via said input device and application identification information used for file creation. Is registered in the storage device in association with the version information together with the new creation date or the revision date of the file, and the version information selected via the input device during the display on the screen of the display device. Reading the corresponding information from the storage device and displaying the information as a pop-up menu to which a menu item for instructing to retrieve the version of the file is displayed. 4. A recording medium for recording a program and data which can be read by a computer, wherein the program causes a computer to execute the processing of each step according to claim 2 or 3. A recording medium characterized by being recorded.