JP2001273279A - Electronic filing system and document preparing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To unnecessitate copy processing of files having overlapped contents, to reduce the load of a server computer and to efficiently and effectively utilize disk capacity. SOLUTION: In a client/server type electronic filing system, with which a document shared by plural client computers is unitarily managed by the server computer, the server computer is provided with a divert content providing means for providing the diverted contents of a second file to the client computer as the contents of the first file of a first document when the contents of the first file contained in the first document are same as the contents of the second file contained in a second document different from the first document.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a client /
The present invention relates to a server-type electronic filing system and a document creation method of the system, and more particularly, to an electronic filing system and a document creation method that enable a document to be revised more efficiently.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent improvement in information and communication technology, for example, in an office or the like, a LAN (Local Area) is used.
Network). In an office or the like in which the LAN is laid, various resources such as a printer and a memory device are shared. And
As one of the systems supporting the sharing of resources, there is a client / server type electronic filing system.

In this client / server type electronic filing system, documents shared by a plurality of client computers are centrally managed by a server computer. The server computer executes exclusive control between a plurality of users in each document. By doing so, its consistency is maintained.

[0004] The term "document" as used herein does not refer to a single document file in which text information is stored, but each file is regarded as a page regardless of the type of file, and these pages (files) are mutually associated. Refers to an aggregate consisting of a plurality of files associated with. Examples of the file include a file storing an image in addition to a document file, and a file storing processing results of spreadsheet software.

[0005] How to ensure consistency by the server computer will be described more specifically. Normally, all documents are made available to all client computers.

When a document is rented out on the premise of revision by any client computer,
When a document is lent (read) on the premise of revision by another client computer, the revision (writing) of the document by another client computer is prohibited, but only reference is permitted (this function is called a checkout function). ). Then, when the revised document is returned (written) from the client computer that lent the document, the revised document is immediately released to another client computer to enable access (check this function. ).

As described above, if this client / server type electronic filing system is used, a document can be shared by a plurality of users, and its consistency can be surely ensured.

[0008]

In the client / server electronic filing system, when a document is revised by a client computer, all pages (files) of the revised document are created. That is, a copy of the corresponding page of the old version is created for a page whose contents are not changed from the old version.

Here, a large number of pages (files) may be registered in one document. At this time,
The amount of data in a document tends to increase with the number of pages. In such a case, even if there are few modifications,
It takes a considerable amount of time to copy the remaining unchanged pages. As a result, a load may be applied to the server computer, which may hinder other leaf growing.

Further, since a plurality of pages (files) having the same contents are provided on the disk of the server computer, the disk capacity of the server computer may not be effectively used.

[0011] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide an electronic filing system and a document creation method that enable the following.

(1) The load on the server computer can be reduced by eliminating the need for duplication of files whose contents are duplicated.

(2) Use the disk capacity of the server computer efficiently.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an electronic filing system according to the present invention employs the following solution.

(1) In a client / server type electronic filing system in which a document shared by a plurality of client computers is centrally managed by a server computer, the server computer includes a content of a first file included in the first document. Is the same as the content of the second file included in the second document different from the first document, the content of the second file diverted to the first document of the first document It is characterized by comprising diversion contents providing means for providing the contents of the file to the client computer.

In the electronic filing system of the present invention, since a diversion contents providing means is provided, when a document diverts a file of another document, it is necessary to copy a file of another document which is a diversion source. Disappears. As a result, the load on the server is reduced. In addition, since it is not necessary to store the same file twice, the disk capacity of the server can be effectively used.

(2) In (1), the diverted-content providing means may include a third document in which the content of a third file included in the first document is different from the first and second documents. When the content of the third file is the same as the content of the fourth file included therein, the content of the diverted third file is further provided as the content of the fourth file of the first document.

By diverting from a plurality of diverted source documents, the load on the server can be further reduced and the disk capacity can be effectively utilized.

(3) In (1) or (2), the server computer has a diversion relationship management table indicating a correspondence relationship between a file of the diversion destination document and a file of the diversion source document. I do.

By using the diversion relationship management table, the diversion relationship can be efficiently managed.

(4) In (3), the diversion relationship management table is updated when the document is revised.

By updating the diversion relationship management table in response to the revision of the document, the contents of the diversion source document can always be used.

(5) In the electronic filing system according to any one of (1) to (4), the electronic filing system is an electronic filing system for managing the generation of a document, wherein the first document and the second document have different versions. It is characterized by being.

For example, a more flexible revision operation can be performed, for example, using a part deleted in the past.

[0025]

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

(First Embodiment) First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a client / server type electronic filing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In this client / server type electronic filing system, a document shared by a plurality of clients is centrally managed by a server, and the revision of each document by the client is exclusively controlled by the server, thereby ensuring the consistency of each document. Is kept.

More specifically, when each client revises any document, the client first borrows the document from the server. This event is called checkout, and this prevents other clients from accessing the document at all.

Then, the client that has performed the revision processing on the borrowed document returns the revised document to the server. This event is called check-in, and the revised document is made available to other clients.

It should be noted that the term “document” does not refer to a single document file storing text information, but each file is regarded as a page irrespective of the type of file, and these pages (files) are mutually associated. Refers to an aggregate consisting of a plurality of files associated with. Examples of the file include a file storing an image in addition to a document file, and a file storing processing results of spreadsheet software.

In FIG. 1, a filing server 10, a management database (DB) 11, and a document storage device 12 are components on the server side.

The filing server 10 is a server computer having a function of storing and managing documents shared by a plurality of clients. This filing server 10
Has a diversion contents providing means 101 for providing the contents of the diversion source file to the server side when the document diverts a file of another document.

The filing server 10 provides the document retrieved from the document storage device 12 to each filing client 20, and stores the revised document subjected to the revision processing in the document storage device 12.

The management database 11 is for managing information for realizing a document management function by check-in / check-out management.
01 is provided with a diversion relationship management table 111 used. In addition, the management database 11 can store information such as the lending status and lending destination of each document. The details of the diversion relationship management table 111 will be described later.

The document storage device 12 is for storing a document 121 shared by a plurality of clients, and under the document management control of the filing server 10, the document 121 is stored.
In and out.

Here, the diversion relationship management tables 111A-111
C and the documents 121A to 121C are respectively associated with one pair, and the documents 121A to 121C are stored in the diversion relationship management tables 111A to 111C.
Each row has a row (data). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the diversion relationship management tables 111A to 111C exist separately for each document 121.

Note that the management database 11 and the document storage device 12 are, for example,
D), using a large-capacity storage device such as a magneto-optical disk device (MO).

On the other hand, the filing client 20
The filing server 10 has a LAN 30 which is a private network
A plurality of clients are connected to each other via a network, and each client has a reference function of freely referencing (searching, printing, etc.) any document from the filing server 10 and managing the check-in check-out of the filing server 10. Below, there is a revision function for revising a document borrowed in the checkout process and returning it in the check-in process.

When reference or revision is performed, the diversion relationship management table 111 is used by the diversion content providing means 101. As a result, if the new version of the document uses a file in the old version of the document (when the contents of the file are the same), the file of the old version of the document can be used for reference or revision, It is unnecessary to copy the same file as the old version.

As an example, three files A, B and C,
That is, a case where only B is changed to B1 in the three-page document 121A (A and C are diverted as they are) will be described as an example. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, only the changed file B1 is placed in the revised document 121B, and the unchanged files A and C are not placed.

At this time, in the diversion relationship management table 111B corresponding to the document 121B, as an example, the correspondence between the document 121A and the document 121B is shown as shown in FIG. Here, the documents 121A and 121B have document numbers 1 and 2, respectively, and the files A and
Assume that files B, C correspond to page numbers 1 to 3, respectively, and files A, B1, C of document 121B correspond to page numbers 1 to 3, respectively.

At this time, from the line of FIG.
It is understood that page 1 of 21B corresponds to document number 1 and page 1, that is, the content is the same as file A of document 121A. From the same line, page 3 of the document 121B corresponds to document number 1 and page 3, that is,
It can also be seen that the contents are the same as the file C of the document 121A.

From the further lines, it is found that there is no document number and page number corresponding to document number 2 and page number 2 (file B1 of document 121B) (Null).

The diversion relationship management table 1 shown in FIG.
In 11A, the lines from to indicate that the files A, B, and C of the document 121A have no corresponding document number and page number (there is no file being diverted).

As a result of the filing server 10 being provided with the diverted content providing means 101, the diverted file is provided without making the filing client 20 aware of whether or not the file is diverted.

For example, when referring to the document 121B,
The diversion content providing means 101 is a diversion relation management table 11
1, the document 121A is included in the document 121B.
Document 1 even if files A and C diverted from
For files A and C of 21B, the file of document 121A is referred to. The same applies to copying. Document 1 if you want to change files A and C
The files A and C are copied from the document 121A and the contents are changed so that the contents of the document 21A are not changed.

The above is a case where there is one document 121 to be diverted, but there may be a plurality of documents 121 to be diverted. Diversion relation management table 111 in this case
C is shown in FIG. It can be seen that the corresponding document numbers of the page numbers 1 and 3 are different, and that there are two diverted documents 121.

As described above, the diverted content providing means 101 provides the diverted content by using the diverted relationship management table 111, so that unnecessary copying of files is unnecessary. As a result, the document storage device 12 can be effectively used,
In addition, copying work in the filing server 10 is reduced.

Next, a procedure for revising a document in the electronic filing system will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
5 is a timing chart for explaining a document revision procedure in the electronic filing system.

A client who wishes to revise one of the documents first requests the filing server to check out the document ((1) in FIG. 5). on the other hand,
The filing server receiving this request prohibits revision of this document. As a result, in this electronic filing system, revision of the document by all clients, including the client that has requested check-out, is prohibited.

Next, the client requesting this check-out requests the filing server to start check-in ((2) in FIG. 5). On the other hand, the filing server that has received this request permits only this client to revise the document.

Subsequently, the client permitted to perform the revision process proceeds with the revision process for the document, and sequentially requests the filing server for various document processes in accordance with the revision process (FIG. 5). (3)).

Then, the client that has completed the revision processing requests the filing server to complete check-in ((4) in FIG. 5). On the other hand, the filing server receiving this request saves the latest version of the document after the revision and starts publishing the document.

Next, a document revision procedure will be described with reference to FIGS.

Of the three files A, B, and C already shown in FIG. 2, that is, the document 121A consisting of three pages,
When only B is changed to B1 (A and C are diverted as they are)
Will be described as an example.

In this case, the filing server 10 receives the check-in start request from the filing client 20 (assuming that the check-out request has already been made from the filing client 20). The provision of the document 121A starts. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, revision diversion relationship management data 103 is prepared.

Here, instead of retrieving all the pages of A, B, and C from the document storage device 12 and starting to provide the document, first, an empty document having no page is used as the revision document 104. Start providing documents after creating them.

As a result of the diversion content providing means 101 referring to the revision diversion relationship management data 103, even if the document 121A diverts a part of a file of another document 121C, all the contents of the file of the document 121A are erroneous. It can be revised without any change.

On the other hand, in the filing client 20 provided with an empty revision document without this page, first,
As shown in FIG. 7, a request is made to the filing server 10 to fetch the B to be revised into the document for revision. In addition, filing server 1 which has received this request
0 retrieves the requested B from the document storage device 12 and copies it into the revision document 104. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the filing client 20 executes a revision process to convert B copied in the revision document 104 to B1.

Subsequently, the filing client 20
Requests the filing server 10 to reuse the other pages in the document for revision, that is, the two files A and C to be diverted. Then, the filing server 10 receiving this request updates only the revised diversion relationship management data 103 as shown in FIG.
That is, the requested diverted pages, that is, A and C, are not taken out from the document storage device 12 and copied into the revised document. Since only the revised diversion relationship management data 103 is updated, there is no useless occupation space on the filing client 20. Further, the copying work of the filing server 10 is reduced.

Then, the filing client 2
In response to a request to start check-in from 0, the filing server 10 saves the revised document 121B consisting of B1 in the document storage device 12, as shown in FIG. 103 to Document 12
It is stored in the management database 11 as the diversion relationship management table 111B of 1B.

Thereafter, the filing client 20
Requests the filing server 10 to complete check-in.

Then, publication of the document 121B is started. When publishing the document 121B, the diverted content providing unit 10
1 refers to the diversion relationship management table 111B, and although the files A and C are not actually included in the document 121B, the document 121B is published as a document composed of B1 and the diverted files A and C. .

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a document revision operation in this electronic filing system.

First, the filing client 20
It requests the filing server 10 to check out the document 121 (step B1).
Request start of check-in for 21 (Step B)
2).

On the other hand, the filing client 20
Is requested to start the check-in, the filing server 10 creates an empty document having no page as the revision document 104 and provides it to the filing client 20 (step B3). At this time, the revision diversion relationship management data 103 corresponding to the revision document 104 is prepared. The diversion content providing means 101 performs the diversion relation management data 103 for revision.
, The contents of the revision document 104 are correctly recognized even when the revision document 104 uses a file in another document.

In the filing client 20 provided with the empty revision document 104 without this page, first,
A revision page is selected (step B4), and the filing server 10 is requested to incorporate the selected revision page into the revision document (step B5). And
A revision process is performed on the revision document into which the revision page has been imported (step B6).

The processing of steps B4 to B6 is repeated for the number of revision pages. After the completion (Step B7
No), the filing client 20 requests the filing server 10 to reuse the diverted page (step B8). At this time, only the revision diversion relationship management data 103 is updated, and the revision document 104 remains unchanged.

The revised document 104 and the revised diversion relationship management data 103 are stored in the document storage device 12 and the management database 11 as a document 121B and a diversion relationship management table 111B, respectively.

Finally, the filing client 20
Request completion of check-in (step B9).

As described above, the electronic filing system revises the diversion relationship management table 111 when revising a document, thereby making it unnecessary to copy a file to be diverted. As a result, for example, when only one page in a document consisting of 100 pages is to be revised, 100
The revision work of the target page can be completed quickly without waiting for the completion of copying for the page.

Further, the capacity of the document storage device 12 of the filing server 10 and the memory area of the filing client 20 can be saved. Further, since all pages not to be revised can be easily reused from the original document, the document revision can be more efficiently performed.

As described above, this electronic filing system has the diverted content providing means 101, and changes the diverted relationship management table 111 when the document is revised.

From this, the document 121 is stored in another document 12
In the case where the file in the file 1 is diverted, useless processing of copying the original file is omitted. As a result, the document revision work can be performed more efficiently, and the document storage device 12 of the filing server 10 and the memory area of the filing client 20 can be effectively used.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The configuration of the client / server type electronic filing system according to the second embodiment is the same as the configuration of the electronic filing system according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1. This is the same as the document revision procedure in the electronic filing system of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

The difference between the electronic filing system of the second embodiment and the electronic filing system of the first embodiment is that the generation of documents shared by a plurality of clients is managed by a server.

Therefore, in the electronic filing system of the second embodiment, taking into account this point, in addition to the document providing method described in the first embodiment, pages can be fetched from an arbitrary generation. . More specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, for example, a document whose generation is managed up to the n-th edition and has three files A, B, and C, that is,
Of the document consisting of pages, A and C take in the file belonging to the nth edition, which is the latest version at that time, and B take in the file belonging to the n-1th edition one generation before, and execute the revision processing. It is possible to perform such as applying.

In this embodiment, a revision management table 112 is provided in the management database 11 in order to enable revision generation management.

FIG. 13 shows an example of the concept of the revision management table 112. As shown in FIG. 13, the correspondence between the new version document number and the old version document number is shown. Document number 3
And 2, 2 and 1 correspond to the new and old versions. That is, it is understood that the document version is revised in the order of document number: 1 → 2 → 3. Document number 1 has no previous version (Nul
l), that is, document number 1 is the first edition.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a document revision operation in this electronic filing system.

First, the filing client 20
It requests the filing server 10 to check out the document (step C1), and then requests the document to start check-in (step C2).

On the other hand, the filing client 20
Is requested to start the check-in, the filing server 10 creates an empty document having no page as a document for revision and provides it to the filing client 20 (step C3). At this time, the diversion relationship management table 111 corresponding to the revision document 104 is copied and used as the revision diversion relationship management data 103. Diversion contents providing means 1
01 refers to the revision diversion relationship management data 103, so that even if the revision document 104 diverts a file in another document, the content of the revision document 104 is correctly recognized.

The filing client 20 provided with the empty revision document having no page first selects a revision and a revision page (steps C4 to C).
5), requesting the filing server 10 to incorporate the selected revision / page into the revision document (Step C6).

Then, a revision process is performed on the revision document into which the revised edition / revision page is taken (step C7). Steps C5 to C7 are repeated for the number of revised pages. After the completion (YES in step C8), the filing client 20 requests the filing server 10 to reuse the diverted page (step C9). At this time, only the revision diversion relationship management data 103 is updated, and the revision document 104 remains unchanged.

The revised document 104 and the revised diversion relationship management data 103 are stored in the document storage device 12 and the management database 11 as a document 121 and a diversion relationship management table 111, respectively. At this time, the revision management table 112 is also updated.

Finally, the filing client 20
Requests the filing server 10 to complete check-in (step C10).

As described above, this electronic filing system has the diverted content providing means 101, and in addition to the operation principle of the second embodiment in which the diverted relation management table 111 is changed when the document is revised, is added to the revised page. Import source can be selected from any generation.

That is, each document is generation-managed, and at the time of check-out, an empty document without pages, that is, a document containing only a box, is prepared as a revision document and provided to the client computer. Thus, the files of the requested pages belonging to the document of the generation selected and designated are sequentially put into the box of the previously created revision document.

For this reason, more flexible revision work, such as using a part deleted in the past, can be realized.

Further, since all the pages not to be revised can be used from the original document, the document can be revised more efficiently.

[0092]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, by using the diverted content providing means, when a file of another document is diverted to a certain document, for example, the diverted original file is copied. Processing is omitted. As a result, unnecessary load on the filing server is reduced, and the space of the document storage device and the filing client is effectively used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a client / server according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a server-type electronic filing system.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram illustrating documents stored in a document storage device of the electronic filing system according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the concept of a diversion relationship management table stored in a management database of the electronic filing system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the concept of a diversion relationship management table stored in a management database of the electronic filing system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining a document revision procedure in the electronic filing system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a first conceptual diagram for explaining a document providing method at the time of document revision, which is a feature of the electronic filing system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a second conceptual diagram for explaining a document providing method at the time of document revision, which is a feature of the electronic filing system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a third conceptual diagram for explaining a document providing method at the time of document revision, which is a feature of the electronic filing system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a fourth conceptual diagram for explaining a document providing method at the time of document revision, which is a feature of the electronic filing system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a fifth conceptual diagram for explaining a document providing method at the time of document revision, which is a feature of the electronic filing system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a document revision operation in the electronic filing system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a document providing method at the time of document revision, which is a feature of the electronic filing system of the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram of a revision management table of the electronic filing system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a document revision operation in the electronic filing system of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Filing server 101 Diversion content providing means 103 Revision diversion relation management data 104 Revision document 11 Management database (DB) 111 Diversion relation management table 112 Revision management table 12 Document storage device 121 Document 20 Filing client 30 LAN (Local Area Network)
k)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 15/20 570M F-term (Reference) 5B009 NB04 NC05 NC06 SA03 SA12 SA14 VA09 5B075 KK03 KK07 KK13 KK33 KK37 KK45 KK54 KK66 MM04 MM11 ND03 ND06 ND23 ND26 ND34 NK10 NK13 NK24 NK54 NR02 NR20 PQ02 PQ03 UU06 5B082 GA05

Claims (9)

[Claims] An electronic filing system of a client / server type in which a document shared by a plurality of client computers is centrally managed by a server computer, wherein the server computer stores the contents of a first file included in the first document. When the contents of a second file included in a second document different from the first document are the same, the contents of the second file diverted to the first file of the first document An electronic filing system comprising a diversion content providing means for providing the content to the client computer. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said diverted content providing means includes a third file included in a third document different from said first and second documents, said third file included in said first document. 2. The electronic filing system according to claim 1, wherein when the content of the third file is the same as the content of the third file, the content of the third file diverted is further provided as the content of the fourth file of the first document. . 3. The diversion relationship management table according to claim 1, wherein the server computer has a diversion relationship management table indicating a correspondence between the diversion destination document file and the diversion source document file. An electronic filing system according to claim 1. 4. The electronic filing system according to claim 3, wherein the diversion relation management table is updated when a document is revised. 5. The electronic filing system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic filing system is a generation filing system that manages generations of documents, wherein the first document and the second document are different versions. The electronic filing system according to claim 4. 6. A document creation method for a client / server type electronic filing system in which a document shared by a plurality of client computers is centrally managed by a server computer, wherein the server computer includes a first document contained in the first document. When the contents of one file are the same as the contents of a second file included in a second document different from the first document, the contents of the second file diverted to the first document Providing the content of the first file to the client computer. 7. The server computer according to claim 2, wherein the server computer uses a diversion relationship management table indicating a correspondence relationship between the diversion destination document file and the diversion source document file.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the contents of the first file are provided to the client computer as the contents of the first file of the first document. 8. The document creation method according to claim 7, wherein the diversion relationship management table is updated when the document is revised. 9. The electronic filing system according to claim 6, wherein the electronic filing system manages the generation of the document, wherein the first document and the second document are different versions of the document. The document creation method according to claim 1.