JP2000330847A - Method and system for sharing information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the operation of a system manager and each information registrant in the registering operation of information shared by plural users in a system. SOLUTION: A client AP 3 executes processing operation necessary for instructing the preparation, change, updating or the like of a group for sharing one or plural information to a server AP 7 and processing operation for automatically registering information in the server AP 7 under the monitoring of a directory on a background. The client AP 3 executes also processing operation for retrieving automatically registered information and processing operation for acquiring the table information on the shared group to which the user concerned belongs. The server AP 7 executes each prescribed processing operation in accordance with a shared group preparing instruction, a shared group changing instruction, a shared group deleting instruction, an automatic information registration instruction, an information retrieving instruction, a shared group table information acquiring information, or the like transmitted from the client AP 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an information sharing method and method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a digital information communication system having a plurality of clients and a server, information shared by each client is previously stored in a database (DB) managed by the server, and A method of searching for and acquiring desired information by accessing a DB through a server has been proposed.

[0003]

By the way, the method of registering information in the DB includes a first method in which a system administrator or an information provider registers using a dedicated program, and a method in which information is stored as a file. There is a second method in which a disk (file server) storing a file is registered by monitoring and collecting the disk (file server) using an automatic patrol program on the assumption that the disk exists. In the first method, it is necessary for the system administrator or the information provider to perform registration while confirming target information one by one. In the second method, it is necessary to set which directory is to be registered in the disc.

[0004] Further, in any of the above methods, the person who registers the information must disclose the target information within the service range of the system (that is, the information disclosure belongs to the service range of the system). You need to be aware that it will be done. If the information disclosure is out of the service range of the system or is to be kept private from some organizations (or users), the information is not registered.

However, in the above system, in order to restrict access to information shared by each client, a system administrator needs to manually set access rights to a DB or a file server, which requires a great deal of work. There is a problem of hanging. For this reason, there are practically no systems that set access rights.

In the first method, when the information provider performs registration, the information creation operation (information digitization operation) and the information registration operation are different operations and require time and effort. There is a problem that the number of registered information must be reduced. Therefore, there is a problem that the user cannot search for desired information and that the user cannot search for desired information, thereby lowering the evaluation of the system and consequently causing a vicious cycle in which the number of registered information does not increase.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce the work of a system administrator and an information registrant in registering information shared by a user in a system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system in which information shared by a user is registered in a system without restricting access to the information without increasing the load on a system administrator. It is to make.

[0009]

The information sharing method according to the first aspect of the present invention is applied to an environment in which a plurality of clients obtain desired information from information stored in a server through a network. Means for organizing a group for sharing specific information by any user selected from the users of each client based on an instruction from the user of any client, When given by the client,
Means for determining which information belongs to which shared group to register the information, means for setting access rights to the registered information for each user belonging to each shared group, and a user of any client Means for outputting a search result of information corresponding to the access right set for the user in response to an information search request from the user.

[0010] According to the above configuration, a group for sharing specific information by any user selected from the users of each client should be organized and registered based on an instruction from the user of any client. When the information is given from any of the clients, it is determined whether the information should be registered as information belonging to which sharing group. Therefore, in the work of registering information shared by the user in the system, the work of the system administrator and the information registrant can be reduced. Further, according to the above configuration, the access right to the registration information is set for each user belonging to each sharing group, and the access right is set to the user in response to an information search request from a user of any client. The search result of the information according to the access right is output. Therefore, in the work of registering information shared by the user in the system, it is possible to restrict access to the information without increasing the load on the system administrator.

In a preferred embodiment according to the first aspect of the present invention, a server includes the above-described units. The shared group organizing unit creates a shared group, changes a member of the shared group, changes a shared group name, and deletes the shared group based on an instruction from a user of any client. The creation of the shared group is performed based on the information on the shared group name, the creator name, and the members belonging to the shared group given by the user of any client. The change of the members of the sharing group includes entry of a new user and deletion of an existing user, and is performed based on information relating to a user name given by a user of any client. When changing members of a shared group, deletion of the creator of the shared group is prohibited.

Further, the change of the shared group name and the deletion of the shared group are performed based on information on the shared group name given by a user of any client. The information to be registered is based on information on a specific directory to be monitored in the background given by a user of any client, information on a monitoring time interval, and sharing group name information for which information registration is desired. Is automatically registered in the storage unit under the management of. When the user of the client that has transmitted the information to be registered belongs to a plurality of sharing groups, the determining unit determines, based on an instruction from the user, which of the sharing groups the information should be registered as. The access right setting means controls access to information registered for each sharing group to a client of a user who does not belong to any sharing group according to the disclosure level of the information set for each sharing group. Not at all or partially.

The information sharing method according to the second aspect of the present invention is applied to an environment in which a plurality of clients obtain desired information from information stored in a server through a network. Means for transmitting a request for group formation for sharing specific information by any user selected from the users of the client; means for transmitting information desired to be registered together with a request for registration of information; Means for transmitting a search request.

An information sharing method according to a third aspect of the present invention is applied to an environment in which a plurality of clients obtain desired information from information stored in a server through a network. A first process of organizing a group for sharing specific information by an arbitrary user selected from users of each client based on an instruction from the user, and information to be registered,
A second step of determining, when given from any client, the information to be registered as information belonging to which shared group, and accessing the registered information for each user belonging to each shared group A third step of setting a right and a fourth step of outputting, in response to an information search request from a user of one of the clients, a search result of information according to the access right set to the user. .

[0015]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a digital information communication system to which an information sharing system according to one embodiment of the present invention is applied.

As shown in the figure, the system includes a client machine (client) 1 and an information sharing system server (server) 5 as a server machine. The client 1 has a client AP3, and the server 5 has a server AP7. , Respectively, are configured as application software. Further, the server 5 includes a file server 9, a full-text database (full-text DB) 11, and a document attribute system information database (system information DB) 13. In an actual system, not a single client 1 but a large number of clients 1 are installed, and a plurality of server APs 7 may be installed in the server 5. However, in FIG. 1, for the sake of illustration and description, only one client indicated by reference numeral 1 is described as a client, and only one server AP indicated by reference numeral 7 is described as a server AP.

The client AP3 creates a group (shared group) for sharing one or more pieces of information,
Processing operations necessary for instructing the server AP 7 to change, delete, etc. are executed. This processing operation corresponds to an operation (shared group operation) on the client 1 by the user.

In the processing operation related to the instruction to create a shared group, the names of one or more users belonging to the group and the name of the group are given from the client AP 3 to the server AP 7 together with the instruction to create the group. Further, in the processing operation related to the instruction to change the shared group, the user name to be changed (the user name to be deleted from the group or the user name to newly join the group) or the group name is changed as described above. Is provided from the client AP3 to the server AP7. Further, in the processing operation related to the instruction to delete the shared group, the name of the group to be deleted is given from the client AP3 to the server AP7 together with the above-mentioned deletion instruction.

In the client AP3, the server A monitors a specific directory in the background.
A processing operation for automatically registering information in P7 is also executed. This processing operation also corresponds to an operation for automatic registration of information in the client 1 by the user.

In the processing operation relating to the automatic registration, information relating to a specific directory monitored by the client AP 3 in the background, the above-mentioned monitoring time interval information, and the name of a shared group for which information registration is desired are automatically registered. The request is provided from the client AP3 to the server AP7 together with the request.

In the client AP3, a server AP7 of information to be searched from the automatically registered information is provided.
Instructions (search instructions) and display of search results (result display)
A processing operation at the time of information retrieval such as is performed. This processing operation also corresponds to an operation for searching for information in the client 1 by the user.

In the processing operation related to the information search, a notification relating to information that the user desires to search and a list of shared groups to which the user belongs are provided from the client AP 3 to the server AP 7 together with the information search request.

The client AP3 further executes a processing operation for acquiring list information of a shared group to which the user belongs. This processing operation also corresponds to an operation by the user for acquiring shared group list information at the client 1.

In the processing operation for obtaining the list information of the shared group, the user ID and the user name are transmitted from the client AP3 to the server AP7 together with the request for obtaining the shared group list.
Given to.

In each processing operation, necessary screen information is displayed on the display unit of the client 1.

In the server AP7, in response to an instruction to create a shared group, an instruction to change a shared group, an instruction to delete a shared group, etc., transmitted from the client AP3,
Each performs a predetermined processing operation.

That is, when the instruction content from the client AP 3 is to create a shared group, the server AP 7
Registers in the system information DB 13 one or more user names and group names given together with the instruction. At this time, the user name is always registered so that the user who is the creator of the group is not excluded from the group.

Here, when information created by any of the registered users belonging to the shared group is provided through the client AP 3, the server AP 7 converts the entire text of the information into public level information belonging to the group. Then, the full-text DB 1 can be used as information that can be accessed without restriction by all users belonging to the group.
Register to 1. When the user belongs to two or more shared groups, the server AP7 registers the information in the full-text DB 11 as information belonging to the shared group designated by the user.

When the content of the instruction from the client AP 3 is, for example, a change of the shared group relating to the deletion of the user name, the server AP 7 executes a process of deleting the user name given together with the instruction from the system information DB 13. Conversely, when an instruction to change a shared group relating to a new addition of a user name is given from the client AP 3, the server AP 7 performs a process of newly writing the user name given together with the instruction into the system information DB 13. Execute. When an instruction for changing the group name is given for a certain shared group, the name of the shared group registered in the system information DB 13 is updated with the new group name given together with the instruction. Further, when an instruction regarding deletion is given together with the group name of a certain shared group, the server AP7 deletes the shared group itself to which the group name is assigned from the system information DB 13 in the system information DB 13. Execute the process.

Further, in the server AP7, the client A
A predetermined processing operation is executed in response to an instruction for automatic registration of information transmitted from P3, an instruction for information search, an instruction for obtaining list information of a shared group, and the like.

That is, when the content of the instruction from the client AP 3 is the automatic registration of information, the server AP 7
Reads the directory from the client AP 3, the monitoring time interval, and the sharing group name as operation parameters related to the automatic registration processing, and reads the registration history file from the file server 9. Then, when there is a new file or an updated file in the registration history file, the target information is registered in the full-text DB 11 as the disclosure level information in the sharing group, and the information is registered in the registration history file. Is written.

When the instruction content from the client AP3 is an information search, the server AP7 reads the list information of the shared groups from the client AP3, and generates a list of information meeting the search conditions indicated by the client AP3. Obtained from the information DB 13. Then, when the user belongs to a plurality of sharing groups, information on the sharing group whose disclosure level (reference level) matches (that is, information on the sharing group specified by the user).
Is extracted from the above list. Further, a list of the information thus extracted is transmitted to the client AP3.

When the content of the instruction from the client AP 3 is the acquisition of the list information of the shared group, the server A
P7 is the user ID given by client AP3
And the user name are read, and based on the information, the shared group to which the user belongs is searched from the shared group information in the system information DB 13. Then, the list information of the shared group is transmitted to the client AP3.

In the server AP7, the created shared group (client AP3) is transmitted to the file server 9.
(In accordance with an instruction from the user), an instruction to create a directory, and an instruction to set the access right of each user to the created directory.

The file server 9 stores a copy of a file serving as a source of information shared by a plurality of users (belonging to the same sharing group) under the management of the server AP7.
The original file is automatically saved in the directory where the file server 9 sets the access right for each user. The file server 9 further stores a registration history file. Each time a new file is registered in the full-text DB 11 and the system information DB 13 or an existing file is updated in the registration history file,
Writing is performed by the server AP7. Although the file server 9 itself can be directly accessed from the client AP 3 without passing through the server AP 7, since the file server 9 sets an access right for each user, a directory that can be viewed by each user The configuration is different.

The full-text DB 11 stores, under the control of the server AP7, a full-text text of information shared by each set group.

The system information DB 13 stores various information (creator, creation date, reference level, etc.) of a file which is a source of information shared by users who are members of each created shared group under the control of the server AP 7. save. In addition to the above, the system information DB 13 further provides information on all the users (user information), information on all the sharing groups (shared group information), and the like in the general service provided by the server AP7 to the client AP3. Is stored as information relating to

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the server AP7 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the server AP 7 has various functions such as an information registration unit 15, an information search unit 17, and a shared group operation unit 19, and a function as a control unit 21. Under the control of the control unit 21, the information registration unit 15 executes the above-described processing for automatic registration when there is an instruction for automatic registration of information from the client AP3. In addition, the information search unit 17 controls the client A under the control of the control unit 21.
When the information search is instructed from P3, the processing operation for the information search is executed. Furthermore, under the control of the control unit 21, the shared group operation unit 19 executes a predetermined processing operation when there is an instruction from the client AP3 to create, change, or delete the above-described shared group. The control unit 21 includes the information registration unit 15, the information search unit 17, the shared group operation unit 19, and the like, and the file server 9 illustrated in FIG.
The full-text DB 11 and the system information DB 13 are placed under the management.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a database (DB) used for creating a shared group in the system information DB 13 described above.

As shown in FIG. 3, the DB includes a user table 23, a shared group information table (information table) 25, a shared group member table (member table) 27, and a document attribute table (attribute table) 29.
And Each of the tables 23 to 29 is set in the DB in a number corresponding to the number of all users who use the system, the number of shared groups created, the number of documents to be registered, and the like.

Each user table 23 is set for each user who uses the above system. The user table 23 has an ID (user ID) assigned to each user and a user name (user ID). The information may include information for identifying the user, such as the title of the user or the name of the affiliation in the company). User table 2
Reference numeral 3 is referred to by the server AP7 when the server AP7 reads user information in response to, for example, a shared group list information acquisition request from the client AP3.

For example, there are six users who can use the above system, and the user IDs of the users are "0001", "0002", "0003", and "000", respectively.
4 "," 0005 "and" 0006 ".
In this case, a total of six user tables 23 including one user ID and one corresponding user name are generated.

Each information table 25 includes a client AP
3 in response to a request for creating a shared group from the server AP7.
Is generated as a result of executing the above processing operation for creating a shared group. Each information table 25 is generated for each sharing group. In the information table 25, information such as a shared group ID, a shared group name, and a user ID of a creator of the shared group, which are given from the client AP3 together with the creation request, are registered by the server AP7.

For example, "11111111", "222
22222 "as the respective sharing group ID, and" TES
T1 ”and“ TEST2 ”as the respective shared group names,
It is assumed that two shared groups having “0001” and “0002” as user IDs of respective group creators have been created. In this case, the shared group ID is “1111111
1 ", the sharing group name is" TEST1 ", and the user I
An information table 25 in which “0001” is registered in D,
The sharing group ID is “22222222”, the sharing group name is “TEST2”, and the user ID is “0002”.
And an information table 25 in which are registered respectively.

Each member table 27 stores the total number of members of each shared group excluding the creator of the group.
It is created by multiplying the total number of sharing groups. Similarly to the information table 25, each member table 27 is generated as a result of the server AP 7 executing the above-described processing operation for creating a shared group in response to a shared group creation request from the client AP3. Things.
In each member table 27, a counter (identification number) for identifying a record included in the table is set, and a sharing group ID obtained by referring to the corresponding information table 25 is registered by the server AP7. . Also, each user table 2 in which the user IDs and user names of the users belonging to the corresponding sharing group are registered
One user ID obtained by referring to any one of No. 3 is also registered. As is clear from the above description, the user ID of the shared group is not registered in the user ID of each member table 27.

For example, the shared group “TEST1”
It is assumed that there are two members except for the creator, and their user IDs are “0002” and “0003”. The members other than the creator of the shared group “TEST2” are three, and their user IDs are “0004” and “000”.
5 ". Suppose that it was "0006".

In this case, as the member table 27 relating to the first shared group, “1111” is assigned to the shared group ID.
1111 "," TEST1 "as the shared group name, and" 0002 "as the user ID are registered, and the shared group ID and the shared group name with the same user ID registered as" 0003 "are generated. You. In addition, the shared group ID is related to the second shared group.
And “TEST” for the shared group name.
2), the user ID “0004” is registered, and the shared group ID and the shared group name are the same.
User ID "0005" registered and "000"
6 ”is generated.

Each attribute table 29 is also the information table 2
5, and as in the member table 27, it is generated as a result of the server AP 7 executing the above-described processing operation in response to a request for automatic information registration from the client AP3. The attribute table 29 includes an instruction for automatic registration of information from the client AP 3 and a server AP.
7, a file ID (ID of the document file to be registered), a file name, and a sharing group ID obtained by referring to the information table 25 are registered by the server AP7. In the attribute table 29,
Further, information such as a document creator name, a document creation date, and a reference (public) level which are given to the server AP7 together with the above-mentioned instruction from the client AP3 are also registered by the server AP7.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams showing screen information displayed on the display unit of the client 1 when a shared group is created.

In the screen information (shared group utility) shown in FIG. 4, in the area 31, the name of the shared group to which the creator of the shared group belongs, such as a network group or a manager group, is displayed. . The area 33 includes a group creation key that is pressed when a new group is created, a group deletion key that is pressed when a certain group name selected from a plurality of group names in the area 31 is deleted, and a selected key. A property key to be pressed when referring / changing the attribute of the group is displayed. The area 33 also displays a close key to be pressed when closing the window shown in FIG.

Next, in the screen information (new creation of a shared group) shown in FIG.
A list of members that can be added to the shared group, such as C and D, is displayed. The key 37 is pressed when adding any of the users (A to D) in the area 35 to the shared group, and the key 39 is pressed when deleting any of the users from the shared group. In the area 41, the name (group name) of a newly created shared group is input. Entering a group name is an essential requirement for creating a shared group. In the area 43,
For example, a selected user list such as “* Manager user” is displayed. Here, the user marked with “*” is the creator of the shared group, and the user cannot be deleted from the members of the shared group. The key 47 is pressed when a shared group is created, and the key 49 is pressed when closing the window shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing security setting screen information displayed on the display unit of the client 1 when the shared group described in FIGS. 4 and 5 is created.

In the screen information shown in FIG.
, "Public", "non-public", and "partially public" are displayed as selectable reference levels. Next, the area 53
Displays the name of the sharing group selected as the target of the partial disclosure when the reference level is partially disclosed. The item “disclose the location to persons other than the above groups” displayed in the area 55 discloses the storage location of the document file to be partially disclosed to a person outside the sharing group selected as the target of partial disclosure. When you do, it will be checked.
The key 57 is pressed when the shared group utility is called.

When the "OK key" 59 is used to save a series of settings (reference level settings) and close the window shown in FIG. 6, the "Cancel key" 61 is used to save the series of settings without saving the series of settings. Is closed, the "update key" 63 is pressed to save the changes made in the settings and close the window.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a shared group creation process in the digital information communication system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 7, when a request to create a shared group is received from the client AP3, information (shared group registration information) such as a shared group name, a creator name, and a member to which the client AP3 gives the request is read. (Step S71). Next, the shared group name and the user ID of the creator of the shared group are registered in the information table 25 shown in FIG. 3 (step S7).
2) The user IDs of all the members are registered in the member table 29 shown in FIG. 3 (step S73).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a shared group list information acquisition process in the digital information communication system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 8, upon receiving a request for obtaining shared group list information from client AP3, a user ID given from client AP3 along with the request is received.
And the user name (user information) are read (step S7).
4). Next, based on the user ID, the shared group to which the user belongs is searched from the plurality of member tables 27 shown in FIG. 3 (step S75). Based on the member table 27, the shared group list information to which the user belongs is retrieved. Generate it and output it to the client AP3 (step S76).

FIGS. 9 and 10 are explanatory diagrams showing screen information displayed on the display unit of the client 1 at the time of the information automatic registration processing operation.

In the screen information (parameter setting screen in the automatic registration processing operation) shown in FIG.
The security setting key 77a is used when registering a file on the desktop.
b is pressed when opening. Security setting screen 7
7b, the set reference level (public level) is displayed. The area 79 is used when registering a file in a directory other than the desktop, and the key 79a is pressed to open a setting screen of the registered directory. The registered directory name is displayed on the directory display screen 79b. Security setting key 79c
Is pressed when opening the security setting screen 79d. The set reference level (public level) is displayed on the security setting screen 79d. On screen 81,
The time interval set for registering information is displayed. The values displayed on the screen 81 are valid between 0 and 9999.

When the "OK key" 83 saves a series of settings (reference level setting) and closes the window shown in FIG. 9, the "Cancel key" 85 operates without saving the series of settings. Are closed, each is pressed.

Next, in the screen information (parameter setting screen in the automatic registration processing operation) shown in FIG. 10, the area 87 has the name (registration directory) that is currently set.
Is displayed. In the area 89, the selected drive name is displayed. Further, in the area 91, the name of the selected directory is displayed.

An "OK key" 93 is used to save a series of settings and close the window shown in FIG. 10, and a "Cancel key" 95 is used to close the window without saving a series of settings. Push operation is performed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a procedure of an automatic information registration process in the digital information communication system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 11, when an automatic information registration request from the client AP 3 is received, a monitoring directory, a monitoring time interval, a corresponding shared group name, and the like given from the client AP 3 are read as operation parameters together with the request (step S 101). . Next, the registration history file is read from the file server 9 (step S10).
2) whether a new file is registered, or
It is checked whether the existing file has been updated (step S103).

As a result of this check, if it is confirmed that a new file or an updated file exists, the system information DB 13 and the like are referred to as the information that can be referred to by all members belonging to the sharing group without restriction. (Step S104), and write into the registration history file (step S10).
5).

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a search process in the digital information communication system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 12, when an information search request is received from the client AP 3, the system information DB 13
, The shared group list information to which the user who has requested the search belongs is acquired (step S111). Next, a list of information matching the information search condition from the client AP3 received with the request is acquired from the system information DB 13 (step S112), and information in which the shared group to which the user belongs and the reference level (public level) match Is extracted therefrom (step S113). Then, the extracted information is transmitted to the client AP3 in the form of a list as a search result (step S114).

Next, an example in which the above configuration has four users, three sharing groups, and four pieces of registration information will be described.

The names of the users are A, B, C, D for convenience.
And each shared group name is Project A Group,
Network group and manager group. Further, the names of the information are 1, 2, 3, and 4. Users A, B, C, and D belong to the project A group, users B and D belong to the network group, and users A and B belong to the manager group. The information 1 is created by the user A, the information 2 and 3 are created by the user B, and the information 4 is created by the user C.

Now, it is assumed that user A is searching for information through client AP3 and server AP7. Here, if the disclosure level (reference level) of all information (that is, information 1, 2, 3, 4) is checked, the project A
The group has information 1 and 4, the network group has information 2 and the manager group has information 3 as disclosure levels. Therefore, user A is in project A group,
User A because it belongs to both
Can refer to information 1, 3, and 4 (obtain a list related to information 1, 3, and 4).

The above description relates to one embodiment of the present invention, and does not mean that the present invention is limited only to the above description.

[0075]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the work of registering information shared by the user in the system, the work of the system administrator and the information registrant can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, in the operation of registering information shared by the user in the system, it is possible to restrict access to the information without increasing the load on the system administrator. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a digital information communication system to which an information sharing method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a server AP shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a database used for creating a shared group in the document attribute system information database shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing screen information displayed on a display unit of a client when a shared group is created.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing screen information displayed on a display unit of a client when a shared group is created.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing security setting screen information displayed on a display unit of a client when a shared group is created.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a shared group creation process in the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a shared group list information acquisition process in the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing screen information displayed on the display unit of the client when the information is automatically registered.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing screen information displayed on a display unit of a client during an information automatic registration process operation.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a procedure of automatic information registration processing in the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a search process in the system shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 client machine (client) 3 client AP (application software) 5 server machine (information sharing system server) 7 server AP (application software) 9 file server 11 full-text database (full-text DB) 13 document attribute system information database (system information) DB) 15 information registration unit 17 information search unit 19 shared group operation unit 21 control unit 23 user table 25 shared group information table (information table) 27 shared group member table (member table) 29 document attribute table (attribute table)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Mitsuhiro Mizuno 3-3-3 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo Inside NTT Data Corporation (72) Masatoshi Nishimura Toyosu Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo F-term (reference) in NTT Data Co., Ltd. C3-3-3 5B017 AA02 BA06 CA16 5B082 EA11 FA16 GA13

Claims (12)

[Claims] In an environment in which a plurality of clients acquire desired information from information stored in a server through a network, based on an instruction from a user of one of the clients,
A means for organizing a group for sharing specific information by an arbitrary user selected from the users of each client; and when the information to be registered is given from any client, the information is shared by any of the clients. Means for determining whether to be registered as information belonging to a group; means for setting an access right to the registered information for each user belonging to each shared group; and means for receiving an information search request from a user of any client. Means for outputting a search result of information according to the access right set for the user in response to the information. 2. The information sharing method according to claim 1, wherein the server includes the respective units. 3. The information sharing method according to claim 1, wherein the sharing group formation unit creates a sharing group, changes a member of the sharing group, and changes a name of the sharing group based on an instruction from a user of one of the clients. And an information sharing method for deleting a sharing group. 4. The information sharing method according to claim 3, wherein the creation of the sharing group is performed based on information relating to a sharing group name, a creator name, and a member to which a user of one of the clients belongs. Information sharing method. 5. The information sharing method according to claim 3, wherein the change of the member of the sharing group includes entry of a new user and deletion of an existing user. An information sharing method performed based on such information. 6. The information sharing method according to claim 5, wherein deletion of a shared group creator is prohibited when changing a member of the shared group. 7. The information sharing method according to claim 3, wherein the change of the shared group name and the deletion of the shared group are performed based on information on a shared group name given by a user of any one of the clients. Sharing method. 8. The information sharing method according to claim 1, wherein the information to be registered includes information on a specific directory to be monitored in the background given by a user of any client, and information on the monitoring time interval. , Based on the shared group name information desired to register the information,
An information sharing method that is automatically registered in a storage unit managed by the server. 9. The information sharing method according to claim 1, wherein said determining means, when a user of the client who transmitted the information to be registered belongs to a plurality of sharing groups, based on an instruction from the user, An information sharing method that determines which shared group should be registered as information. 10. The information sharing system according to claim 1, wherein said access right setting means accesses a client of a user who does not belong to any of said sharing groups to information registered for each of said sharing groups. An information sharing method in which the information is not permitted or partially permitted according to the disclosure level of the information set for each sharing group. 11. An environment in which a plurality of clients obtain desired information from information stored in a server through a network, wherein each of the clients has a specific information by an arbitrary user selected from the users of the respective clients. An information sharing method, comprising: means for transmitting a group formation request for sharing information; means for transmitting information desired to be registered together with an information registration request; and means for transmitting a desired information search request. 12. An environment in which a plurality of clients acquire desired information from information stored in a server through a network, based on an instruction from a user of one of the clients.
A first step of forming a group for sharing specific information by an arbitrary user selected from the users of each client; and when the information to be registered is given from any client, the information is registered. A second step of determining which shared group should be registered as information belonging to the shared group; a third step of setting an access right to the registered information for each user belonging to each shared group; A fourth step of, in response to an information search request from a user of the client, outputting a search result of information corresponding to the access right set for the user, a fourth step.