JP2003085260A - Document management system, method for controlling the same, storage medium with control program for client computer stored thereon and storage medium with control program for server computer stored thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a document management system constituted of a computer network capable of providing a desired analysis processing service concerning the analysis of the picture data of a document to a service receiver, and reducing the load of each computer. SOLUTION: The picture data of a document read from a client 104 by a picture reader 102 and the set data of the kind of analysis processing of picture data set by a receiver 101 from a plurality of kinds of analysis processings are transmitted to a server 108, and transferred to an analysis computer 112. Then, the analysis processing for the set data is performed to the picture data, and analytic result data are transmitted to a server 108, and stored with the picture data in a storage medium 109. A client 104 is able to access the picture data and the analytic result data in the storage medium 109 of the server 108.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a client computer having an image reading means for reading image data of a document, and a server computer having a storage means for storing the image data and analysis result data of the image data. The present invention relates to a document management system configured by a network in which an analysis computer that analyzes the image data is connected via a communication line, a control method thereof, and a storage medium storing a control program of the client computer or the server computer. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a large amount of documents, which are left behind because they are important or may be used later, are stored as paper, waste space, and the more documents there are, the more There was a problem that it was difficult to find the target document.

Therefore, a method of reading image data of a document with an image reading device such as a scanner and storing it in a disk such as a hard disk has been considered, but the image data itself has a large amount of data and consumes the disk capacity. , It became necessary to convert the image data into text data by character recognition and save it to the disk.

However, when there are a large number of documents, it is difficult to convert the text data into text data. On the other hand, a company that provides a service for converting document image data into text data has appeared. Then, you can send the document as a paper to this trader, have it converted into text, and have it returned to you on a recording medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk or magneto-optical disk, or you can receive the service via a public communication line. A method has been adopted in which image data of a document is transmitted from a client computer used by a person to a server computer of a trader, converted into text data and returned.

[0005]

However, in the system in which the above-mentioned trader converts the text into a text, the text of the converted text data is corrected or edited, and the text data returned from the trader is organized and indexed. Since the title of the document is entrusted to the service recipient, the burden on the service recipient is heavy and lacks in convenience. When the amount of the document is large, the work of the processing is difficult. There was a problem.

Further, if many service recipients send image data of a document to the server computer of the trader in the same time zone, not only the expected performance cannot be obtained due to the congestion of the communication line and the increased load on the server computer. However, there is a problem that the public communication line is adversely affected by congestion.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a document management system composed of a computer network, and to provide a service receiver with a desired type of analysis processing service from a plurality of types regarding analysis of image data of a document. It is an object of the present invention to provide a document management system that can be provided, can reduce the load on the client computer and the server computer that form the system, and can avoid congestion of communication lines.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, a client computer provided with an image reading unit for reading image data of a document, the image data and an analysis result of the image data are displayed. A server computer having a storage means for storing data, and an analysis computer for analyzing the image data are configured from a network connected via a communication line, and the image data is transmitted from the client computer via the server computer. The data transferred to the analysis computer, analyzed by the analysis computer, transmitted as analysis result data to the server computer and stored in the storage means together with the image data, from the client computer or another computer connected to the communication line. Server computer A document management system capable of accessing the image data and analysis result data stored in a storage means of a computer, wherein the client computer provides a service recipient who operates the client computer with the image data of the document. Analysis setting means for selecting and setting the type of analysis processing to be performed from among a plurality of types, and setting data of the type of analysis processing set by the analysis setting means together with the image data of the document is transmitted to the server computer. Image data transmission means, the server computer has means for transferring the image data of the document and the setting data of the type of analysis processing received from the client computer to the analysis computer, and the document is stored in the analysis computer. The image data of the It has adopted a configuration in which to be executed.

In addition, the image data transmission means of the client computer is set to a first mode in which the image data of the document is immediately transmitted after being read, or a schedule condition selected by the service receiver from one of a plurality of modes. Setting means for allowing the service recipient to select and set the second mode for transmission at a suitable time, and a plurality of the schedule conditions for the service recipient when the second mode is set by the setting means. One of the above is selected, and a configuration is provided which has a scheduler means for transmitting the image data and the setting data of the type of analysis processing to the server computer at a time that meets the schedule condition.

Further, the configuration of the control method of the document management system corresponding to these configurations, the storage medium storing the control program of the client computer, and the storage medium storing the control program of the server computer are adopted.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a document management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 101 is a service receiver (hereinafter, abbreviated as receiver) who receives a service by this system,
Reference numeral 107 denotes a service provider (hereinafter abbreviated as provider) who is a provider of services, and 111 denotes a plurality of analysts who have previously contracted with the provider 107 for image analysis work.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a client computer (hereinafter abbreviated as a client) which is a computer of the recipient 101, and an image reading device 102 for reading image data of a document is connected by a connection cable 103.
The image reading device 102 is, for example, a sheet-through type reading device that performs automatic paper feeding, conveys documents (documents) one by one under the control of the client 104, and reads the image data of the documents with a linear reading unit, Once stored in the internal memory, it is transmitted to the client 104 via the connection cable 103.

Further, the client 104 and the provider 107
A server computer (hereinafter abbreviated as a server) 108 and a browsing computer 114 are connected to each other via a communication line 106, and are connected to each other via the communication line 106 by line communication means (not shown) provided in each. Data communication can be performed between them.

Further, the server 108 and the respective analysis computers 112 of the plurality of analysts 111 are connected to each other via the communication line 110, and the line communication means (not shown) provided for each of them connects each other via the communication line 110. Data communication can be performed between them.

Further, the client 104 and the server 10
8, analysis computer 112, browsing computer 114
In the storage medium 105, 109, such as a hard disk,
113 and 115 are respectively connected.

The communication lines 106 and 110 are communication lines for networks such as the Internet and LAN. All data such as image data and personal information, which will be described later, transmitted through the communication lines 106 to 110 are compressed and encrypted, and then transmitted / received.

The client 104 is the image reading device 10.
The image data of the document is read by controlling 2 and is transmitted to the server 108 via the communication line 106 together with the setting data of the type of analysis processing of the image data which will be described later. Also, it transmits / receives data of other information to / from the server 108.

The server 108 transmits the above-mentioned image data and the setting data of the type of the analysis processing and other data to and from the analysis computer 112 via the communication line 110. The image data of the document transmitted from the client 104 to the server 108, the analysis result data transmitted from the analysis computer, and other data are accumulated in the storage medium 109. In particular, the document data such as the image data of the document and the data of the analysis result thereof are registered in a document database created on the storage medium 109 as described later.

The analysis computer 112 is operated by the analyst 111 who has a contract with the provider 107 as described above. The analyst 111 downloads the image data of the document and the setting data of the analysis processing type from the server 108 to the analysis computer 112, and the analysis computer 112 analyzes the image data of the type according to the setting data. , Analysis result data to the server 108
Send to.

The browsing computer 114 is the server 10.
8 is a computer for searching and browsing desired document data among the document data registered in the document database on the storage medium 109. Client 1
04 can also search and browse. That is, the recipient 101 can access the document database of the server 108 by both the client 104 and the browsing computer 114 to browse desired document data.

The storage media 105, 109, 113,
115 stores a control program of application software (hereinafter referred to as an application) operating on each computer of the client 104, the server 108, the analysis computer 112, and the browsing computer 114, and other data. When the CPU (not shown) of each computer executes the application, the application operates and each computer operates as described below.

The application operating on the client 104 controls the image reading device 102 to read the image data of the document and send it to the server 108 together with other data, or receive the image analysis result data from the server 108. It is for doing.

Next, the operation of this system will be described with reference to FIG. The operation of each computer of this system described below is based on the control program of the application of each computer as described above.

[Registering Beneficiary to Server] When the above application is started on the client 104, first, if the beneficiary 101 who uses the client 104 is not registered as a beneficiary on the server 108, it is shown in FIG. As described above, a screen for confirming whether or not to register the beneficiary in the server 108 is displayed on a display (not shown) of the client 104 (note that if the beneficiary is already registered from the beginning, a job executed by the application, For example, a menu screen (not shown) for selecting reading and transmission of an image of a document described later is displayed).

When the recipient presses the "register" button 21 (clicks with the mouse) on the screen of FIG.
As shown in (a), a screen that prompts the recipient to enter the recipient's personal information (name, address, telephone number, etc.) is displayed. On this screen, the recipient is the client 10
When personal information is input in the personal information input fields 31, 32, and 33 by key input of a keyboard (not shown) of 4 and the send button 34 is pressed, as shown in FIG. 3B, the password of the recipient is set. A screen prompting you is displayed. When the recipient inputs the desired password in the password input field 35 on this screen and then presses the setting button 36, the password entered is checked to see if it has been entered by mistake, such as by a mistake on the keyboard. As shown in FIG. 3C, a screen for confirming the entered password is displayed. On this screen, the recipient confirms the password displayed in the password display field 37, and if it is incorrect, makes a correction input. After that, when the setting button 38 is pressed, the application of the client 104 is changed to the client 10
By connecting to the server 108 via the communication line 106 using the line communication means of No. 4, the inputted personal information of the recipient and the password data are transmitted to the server 108.

Upon receipt of this, the server 108 receives an ID, that is, a unique number (hereinafter, referred to as a recipient) who newly registers.
Call the beneficiary ID). This recipient ID is determined from the registration order of the recipient in the server 108 and the like. The server 108 transmits the determined recipient ID to the client 104.

Upon receipt of the recipient ID, the client 104 displays the recipient ID on the screen as shown in FIG. When the recipient checks the recipient ID displayed in the ID display field 41 on this screen and presses the OK button 42, OK
Information of (accept) is transmitted to the server 108.

The server 108 having received it registers the recipient. That is, in the area of the registrant list in the storage medium 109, the determined recipient ID and the client 1
The personal information of the recipient received from 04 and the password data are written in association with each other. And the client 104
To disconnect from.

In the client 104, the menu screen (not shown) described above is displayed on the display after the recipient has been registered as described above or when the recipient has already been registered from the beginning.

[Reading and Sending Document Image] When reading the document image and sending it to the server 108, the recipient sets the original document on the image reading device 102 and displays the document on the display of the client 104. Select to read and send the document image on the menu screen. In response to this, the setting screen for reading, transmission, and analysis shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. The recipient can set the resolution, brightness, and details when reading the image of the document by operating the buttons 51, 52, and 53 on this setting screen. Also, by operating the buttons 54 or 55,
Regarding transmission, the mode of “send immediately after reading” or the mode of “scheduler setting” can be selected. By operating the buttons 56, 57, or 58, “title only”, “simple analysis”, or “normal analysis” can be selected as the type of analysis processing of image data of a document requested to the server 108. The contents of each of these will be described later.

Here, if the recipient sets the reading and analysis processing types as desired, sets "Send immediately after reading" for transmission and presses the OK button 57,
As shown in FIG. 6, as a procedure for logging in, that is, connecting to the server 108 and starting the use of the service, a screen prompting the input of the recipient ID and password is displayed.

When the recipient inputs the recipient ID and password in the input fields 61 and 62 on this screen and presses the OK button 63, the client 104 operates via the communication line 106 by the operation of the line communication means of the client 104. Is connected to the server 108, and the recipient ID and password are transmitted to the server 108.

Upon receipt of this, the server 108 checks whether or not the condition that the received recipient ID is in the registrant list and the passwords match is satisfied, and only when satisfied, the access to the server 108 is permitted. That is, the use of the service is permitted (login). However, at this time, the server 108 investigates the payment status of the service charge of the recipient (stored in the storage medium 109 in association with the registrant list) by a well-known method, and pays the recipient for a certain period of time. If you are in arrears, refuse to log in. That is, access is denied.

When the login is made, the client 10
4 drives the image reading device 102 to read the image data of the document and sends it to the server 108 together with the setting data of “title only”, “simple analysis” or “normal analysis” set for the type of analysis processing described above. To do.

It should be noted that the image data of the document includes Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
By the digital watermarking technology published in No. 65440 or the like, a unique number (scanner ID) stored in advance in the image reading apparatus 102, various settings at the time of image scanning, and other information data are embedded.

On the other hand, if the "Send immediately after scanning" button 54 is not pressed and the "Scheduler setting" button 55 is pressed on the setting screen of FIG. 5, the scheduler included in the application is activated, and as shown in FIG. Display the scheduler setting screen shown. Here, the scheduler is software for transmitting image data of a document at a time that matches a schedule condition selected from a plurality of items by the recipient.

In the scheduler setting screen of FIG. 7,
By operating the buttons 71 to 74, as a transmission time schedule condition, "time designation", "a time period when the line is free (communication charge) is low", "when the computer is not used for a long time" or "automatic" Is selected. When the "time designation" is selected, the numerical values of "hour" and "minute" of the transmission time designated in the time input fields 75 and 76 are input by operating the ten keys of the keyboard. Here, when the recipient selects and sets the schedule condition as desired and presses the OK button 77, the setting ends, and the screen returns to the setting screen for reading, transmitting, and analyzing in FIG.

After that, if the OK button 59 is pressed in a state where the button 54 is not pressed and "Send immediately after reading" is not set, the image data of the document and the analysis at the time when the OK button 59 is pressed. The scheduler reserves the transmission of the processing type setting data, the image data of the document is read by the driving of the image reading device 102, and the storage medium 1 is read.
In addition to being saved in 05, the input screen for login of FIG. 6 is displayed. In this case, since the actual login is performed after the current time and at the transmission time determined according to the setting of the scheduler described above, the recipient is the recipient I.
Enter D and password, press OK button 63,
The connection and transmission operations for login are not performed, and the entered recipient ID and password are temporarily stored in the memory.

After that, the transmission time of the image data is determined according to the setting of the scheduler described above. When the determined transmission time arrives, the scheduler transmits the temporarily stored recipient ID and password to the server 108, logs in, and then sets the image data of the stored document as the type of analysis processing. It transmits to the server 108 with data.

Here, "time designation" is set in the scheduler.
When is selected, of course, it is transmitted at the time designated by the recipient. "Low-priced time when the line is free"
When is selected, it will be sent at an appropriate time in that time zone, that is, generally from midnight to early morning, and if it cannot be sent within that time zone, it will be sent again later (for example, the next day) By reducing the transmission cost.

When "when the computer is not used for a long time" is selected, it is checked how long the recipient has stopped using the computer, that is, the client 104, and the time is predetermined. When the time exceeds the specified time, transmission is started. This can reduce the load on the client 104.

When "automatic" is selected, the scheduler first follows the processing procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8 when the transmission check time is reached regularly or irregularly as in general network diagnostic software. (Step S1), the system time t1 at that time is stored (Step S2), and a predetermined number, for example, 3 is stored in the server 108.
2-byte data is transmitted (step S3). Then, unless a connection error (timeout) occurs, a response from the server 108 is waited for (steps S4, S
7) If there is a response, the system time t2 at that time is stored (step S5), and it is checked whether the response time of the server 108, that is, the time t2-t1, is larger than the specified value (step S6). Detects whether the is busy or free. When it is determined that the response time is equal to or less than the specified value and the line is idle, transmission is started (step S9). If the response time is longer than the specified value, it is determined that the line is congested and the connection with the server 108 is disconnected (step S8), and the process returns to the first step S1.

Further, while the scheduler is activated and waiting for transmission of image data, a screen indicating that the transmission is waiting is displayed as shown in FIG. In this screen,
Information about the image data to be transmitted (scan time, data amount, scheduled transmission time, etc.) is displayed. Also, button 9
1, 92 are displayed, which allows selection of "send now" and "reset scheduler". When “Send Now” is selected, the user immediately logs in to the server 108 and sends the image data and the setting data of the analysis processing type. If "reset scheduler" is selected, the scheduler setting screen shown in FIG. 7 is displayed again, and the scheduler can be reset.

If the recipient tries to turn off the power of the computer (client 104) while the scheduler is activated and waiting for transmission, the warning message screen shown in FIG. 10 is displayed and the image data is immediately transmitted. You will be prompted to choose whether or not to do it. Here, when the "Yes" button 11 is pressed, the server 104 is immediately powered off after logging in to the server 108, transmitting the image data and the setting data of the type of analysis processing. If the “No” button 12 is pressed here, the client 104 is powered off, and then automatically when the client 104 is powered on and started again, or when the application is started. Alternatively, the image data of the document and the setting data of the analysis processing type are transmitted by the operation of the recipient.

Since the scheduler automatically transmits the image data of the document read as described above, the recipient (service requester) continues to read and transmit the image of another document and perform another job. Can be performed.
When the image of the document is continuously read and transmitted, the screen of FIG. 6 prompting the input of the recipient ID and the password is not displayed, and the login and the transmission for the transmission are automatically performed.

By the way, it is assumed that the above menu can be selected on the screen of the display of the client 104 even while the scheduler is waiting for transmission. Then, while waiting for sending, reading and sending of the image of the document is selected from the menu, the reading, sending, and analysis setting screen of FIG. Then, when the OK button 59 is pressed, an interrupt occurs and interrupt transmission is performed.

The control procedure by the application in that case is shown on the right side of FIG. That is, first, it is determined whether or not an interrupt has occurred (step S11), and if so, the scheduler is temporarily stopped (step S1).
2) The image data of the document is read according to the settings on the setting screen of FIG. 5 and is transmitted to the server 108 together with the setting data of the type of analysis processing (step S13). Then, the suspension of the scheduler is released and the scheduler is restarted (step S14).

On the other hand, as shown in the left side of FIG. 11, the scheduler waits for the scheduled transmission time of the image data reserved for transmission (step S22), and temporarily stops the application from the application by the above interrupt and cancels it. Is checked, and if there is a temporary stop instruction, it is temporarily stopped, and if there is a cancellation instruction, it is restarted (step S21). When the scheduled transmission time arrives, the image data is sent to the server 108 together with the setting data for the type of analysis processing.
(Step S23).

[Analysis of Image Data] The server 108
When the image data and the setting data of the analysis processing type are received from the client 104, the status of the image data is set to the analysis waiting state. Then, as shown in FIG. 12, among the analysis computers 112 (A, B, C ...) Of the plurality of analysts, the image data is received by the analysis computer C of the analyst who is currently free to perform the analysis work. Communication line 1
Notification is made via 10 via mail or the like according to the well-known SMTP protocol. If there is no analyst who can analyze,
Wait for an analyst who can analyze the image status while waiting for analysis.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, a file of image data status notice is prepared for the analyst to view the status of the image data, and the analyst who has received the above-mentioned notice creates his / her own analysis computer 112. To access the image data status. Then, on the display screen, a button 131 for the analyst to select to analyze each of the image data waiting to be analyzed is displayed, and the analyst selects the button 131 for the desired image data on the display screen. By pressing, the image data is transferred from the server 108 to the analysis computer 1 of the analyst.
12 downloaded. In addition to the image data, the type of analysis processing set for the image data, that is, setting data of "title only", "simple analysis" or "normal analysis" is downloaded.

When the analysis process type setting data is "title only", the analyst looks at the image data of the document,
A title of the document is created according to the content. In the case of "simple analysis", the title of the document is added, and the image data of the document is recognized by OCR (optical character reader) software and converted into text data. In the case of "normal analysis", the title of the document is attached, the image data of the document is character-recognized by the OCR software and converted into the text data, and then the erroneous correction of the text or the edit for adjusting the appearance is performed. When the analysis processing is completed, the data of the processing result is sent to the server 1
08.

[Registration of analysis result] When the server 108 receives the data of the analysis result of the image data of the document from the analysis computer 112, the status of the image data subjected to the analysis processing is changed to the analysis completion, and the analysis processing result is obtained. Is registered in the document database on the storage medium 109 as document data together with data such as image data of the document. The contents of the document data registered in the database are the image data of the document, the document title as the analysis result, the document contents as the analysis result (text data), the storage date and time (image data transmission date and time), and the recording date and time (when scanning an image). ), Image information (file name, width, height, size,
The data includes one-sided / two-sided), the recipient ID of the client, and the scanner ID. The image data can be deleted from these data as described later.

Further, the server 108 registers a document title, document contents (analysis result), storage date and time (image data transmission date and time), recording date and time (image scan time), when registering document data such as analysis results in the document database. An index useful for searching is created from image information (file name, width, height, size, single-sided / double-sided), requester's recipient ID, scanner ID, etc., and the index table is stored in the storage medium 109. To do. As a method of creating an index, a known index creating method for searching a document, such as that disclosed in JP-A-8-314966, is used.

[Calculation of Fee] Further, the server 108
Calculate the analysis fee of the fee charged to the requester (receiver) according to the amount of image data and the amount of analysis result data,
It is stored in the storage medium 109. The calculation method is, for example, according to the following formula 1.

Analysis fee = A + data size (disk usage size) × B + number of analyzed characters × C (Equation 1) where A, B, and C are constants, A is a title fee, and B is a data size fee conversion coefficient. , C are charge conversion factors for the number of characters. When the type of analysis processing is “title only”, the charge is only A in Expression 1. In addition, the coefficient C multiplied by the number of analysis characters is different between the “simple analysis” and the “normal analysis” (the “normal analysis” is made larger), so that the amount of money depends on the quality of the analysis. to add.

The fee charged by the provider at a later date is the sum of the above analysis fee and the data storage fee described later.

[Analysis completion notice] When the data of the analysis processing result is registered and the analysis fee is calculated, the server 108
Sends to the client 104 data notifying the recipient that the analysis has been completed, such as e-mail according to the well-known SMTP protocol. As shown in FIG. 14, the notification content includes a title attached to the document, an analysis fee, and the like when the analysis is completed.

[Browse] The server 108 browses the document data registered in the document database as described above (actually, the image data of the document or the data of the analysis result thereof is browsed).
Allow the beneficiaries. The browsing is performed by using software that displays a file described in well-known HTML. The beneficiary is the server 1 by the client 104.
08, the document data can be browsed, and the browsing computer 114 can access the server 108.
You can also access to view the document data.

In the display of the HTML file for browsing on the server 108, first, the beneficiary I
A screen as shown in FIG. 6 that prompts the user to input D and a password is displayed. When the beneficiary inputs the beneficiary ID and the password, it is confirmed whether the beneficiary is a beneficiary registered in the server 108. At the same time, the payee's fee payment status is checked in the same way as above, and if the payee has failed to pay for a certain period of time, by rejecting login,
Prevents delinquent people from browsing or searching.

When the recipient passes the authentication, the recipient sends a part of the index list of the images of the documents transmitted to the server 108 and stored in the server 108. Then, as shown in FIG. 15, a screen prompting the user to input a keyword for searching the document is displayed. When the recipient inputs a keyword on this screen and presses the search start button 151, the server 108 starts the search.

When the recipient sets a plurality of search keywords, first the document corresponding to the first keyword is searched, and then the document corresponding to the second keyword is searched in the search results. Then, a so-called narrowed search is performed to search for documents corresponding to all keywords.

The search keywords are the document title, words in the document, storage date and time (image data transmission date and time), recording date and time (image scanning), image information (width, height, size, single-sided / double-sided), requester's The recipient ID, scanner ID, etc. may be used.

The search is performed using a known search method using the above-mentioned registered index table. When the search is completed, the server 108 displays a search result list screen as shown in FIG. After selecting the document to be browsed on this screen, the recipient receives an image display button 161 to see the image read from the document, and a content display button 162 to see the text of the analysis result of the image data.
push.

When the image display button 161 is pressed, the read image of the selected document is displayed as shown in FIG. When the delete button 171 is pressed on this screen, the image data of the displayed document is deleted from the database of the server 108. Only the image data is deleted here, and other data such as the analysis result is left.

When the content display button 162 is pressed, as shown in FIG. 18, the text of the processing result of the image data of the selected document is displayed.

[Correction] Here, if the recipient wants to correct the text displayed on the screen of FIG. 18, the correction button 18
Press 1. As a result, the correction screen as shown in FIG. 19 is displayed. FIG. 19 shows a screen for displaying text by an editor having a known edit function. On this screen, the recipient moves a cursor 193 to correct a desired portion of the text. Server 1 after modifying the text
When registering again in the 08 document database, the registration button 191 is pressed. As a result, the corrected text is registered again in the document database. The correction contents are canceled by pressing the "close" button 192. Pressing any of the buttons 191 and 192 returns to the text display screen of FIG. In this way, modify the text,
It can be re-registered in the document database of the server 108.

[Billing and Payment] The billing of the provider to the beneficiary is carried out by, for example, invoking the bill from the server 108 to the client 104 on a fixed billing date every month.
This is done by sending it by e-mail according to the P protocol. Of course, the provider may also send the bill to the beneficiary by mail.

The fee charged is calculated based on the analysis fee calculated by the above-described equation 1 (when the image data of a plurality of documents is analyzed, the total of the respective analysis fees) and the server 10
8 is the sum of the data amount of the document of the recipient stored in the document database of the storage medium 105 and the storage fee according to the storage period.

The recipient who receives the bill for the fee may pay the billed amount to the provider by a well-known payment method. As described above, if payment is delinquent for a certain period, login to the server 108 is rejected.

Further, the provider pays the analyst, according to the amount of the analysis result, a wage corresponding to, for example, a certain proportion of the analysis fee of the fee charged to the recipient.

Although the embodiment described above is a pay document management system, for example, as a document management system on a network within a company, a free document management system that does not involve billing and payment for services. May be

[0074]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the document management system of the present invention, the recipient only has to read the image data of the document at the client and send it to the server. It is possible to receive a service of a desired type of analysis processing among a plurality of types of analysis processing such as titleing and conversion of image data into text data, and it is not necessary to perform the analysis processing by itself. Further, since the analysis result data is stored in the storage medium of the server together with the image data of the document, the recipient does not need to consider the storage location of the data or the free space of the storage disk.

In addition to the fact that the recipient accesses the image data or the analysis result data stored in the storage medium of the server by the client to which the image reading device is connected, the recipient is connected to the communication line. Since it can also be accessed by the computer (in the embodiment, the browsing computer), it can be accessed at a remote place, and the burden on the client can be reduced.

Since the image data of the document is analyzed by the analysis computer different from the server, the load on the server can be significantly reduced. Moreover, since the analysis computer is connected to the server via a communication line, it is possible to perform analysis even at a remote location.

Since the image data of the document can be transmitted asynchronously with the reading operation of the image data of the document by the scheduler, the load on the client can be minimized. Further, the scheduler can perform transmission while avoiding the time zone when the communication line is congested, and the communication fee can be suppressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a document management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen for allowing a recipient who is an operator of a client of the document management system to select whether or not to perform recipient registration on a server.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an input screen of a recipient's personal information for recipient registration, a password setting screen, and a password confirmation screen.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen for notifying the recipient of registration and the recipient ID.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a setting screen related to reading, transmitting, and analyzing image data of a document.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an input screen of a recipient ID and a password for logging in to the server.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a setting screen of a scheduler that performs reservation transmission of image data.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of image data transmission by the scheduler according to a line congestion state.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen on standby for transmission of image data by the scheduler.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a confirmation screen displayed when an attempt is made to turn off the power of the client while waiting for transmission.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for interrupt-transmitting other image data while waiting to transmit image data.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a server notifies a free analysis computer of reception of image data of a document.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an image data status display screen for an analyst to view the status of image data received by the server.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing the content of an analysis completion notification e-mail to the recipient sent from the server to the client after the image data is completed.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a search keyword setting screen for the recipient to search and browse the document data registered in the document database of the server.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen of the search result.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen of image data of a searched document.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen of an analysis result (text data) of image data of a retrieved document.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a correction screen for the recipient to correct the text data.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Service recipient 102 image reading device 103 connection cable 104 client computer 105, 109, 113, 115 storage medium 106,110 communication line 107 Service Provider 108 server computer 111 Analyst 112 Analysis Computer 114 browsing computer

Claims (27)

[Claims] 1. A client computer having image reading means for reading image data of a document, a server computer having storage means for storing the image data and analysis result data of the image data, and analyzing the image data. An analysis computer to be performed is configured from a network connected through a communication line, the image data is transferred from the client computer to the analysis computer via the server computer, and the analysis result data is analyzed by the analysis computer. The image data and the analysis result data stored in the storage means of the server computer are transmitted to the server computer and stored in the storage means together with the image data from the client computer or another computer connected to the communication line. A document management system accessible to a client, wherein the client computer selects a type of analysis processing to be performed on the image data of the document from a plurality of types to a service receiver who operates the client computer. The image data of the document and the image data transmission unit for transmitting the setting data of the type of analysis processing set by the analysis setting unit to the server computer together with the image data of the document. The analysis computer has means for transferring the image data of the document and the setting data of the type of analysis processing received from the client computer to the analysis computer, and the analysis computer analyzes the type of the setting data for the image data of the document. Document management system characterized in that 2. The plurality of types of analysis processes include a process of creating a document title corresponding to the contents of the document, a process of converting image data of the document into text data by character recognition, and an image data of the document. 2. The document management system according to claim 1, further comprising at least two processes of converting text data into text data by character recognition and then correcting or editing the text data. 3. The client computer has means for registering the service recipient in the server computer, causing the service recipient to input his / her personal information and password data, and transmitting the data to the server computer. The server computer determines means for determining the ID of the service recipient and registers the service recipient when the personal information and password data is received from the client computer; and the client computer or the communication line. A means for rejecting the login is provided when the data of the service recipient ID and password transmitted at the time of access for login from another connected computer does not match the registered service recipient ID and password. Characterized by Document management system according to Motomeko 1 or 2. 4. The server computer, after the analysis process of the analysis computer is completed and data of the analysis result of the image data of the document is received from the analysis computer, the type of analysis process for the image data and the image data The document management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an analysis charge calculation unit that calculates an analysis charge based on at least one of a data size and a data size of an analysis result. . 5. The server computer has means for transmitting to the client computer data of information for notifying the service recipient of the analysis fee calculated by the analysis fee calculation means. Document management system described in. 6. The image data transmitting means of the client computer is set to a first mode in which the image data of the document is immediately transmitted after being read, or a schedule condition selected by the service recipient from a plurality of modes. Setting means for allowing the service recipient to select and set the second mode for transmission at a suitable time, and a plurality of the schedule conditions for the service recipient when the second mode is set by the setting means. 6. A scheduler means for selecting one from among the above, and transmitting the image data and the setting data of the type of analysis processing to the server computer at a time that meets the schedule condition. The document management system according to any one of the above. 7. The scheduler means has a detecting means for detecting a congestion state of the communication line, and the detecting means detects an idle state of the communication line as one of options of the schedule condition. 7. The document management system according to claim 6, wherein the image data and the setting data of the analysis processing type are transmitted to the server computer at a time. 8. The server computer indicates that the analysis of the image data is completed after the analysis processing of the analysis computer is completed and the data of the analysis result of the image data of the document is received from the analysis computer. 8. The document management system according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting data of information to be notified to a recipient to the client computer. 9. The server computer is provided with means for rejecting a login from a client computer of a service recipient who has been delinquent for a predetermined period of time. Document management system described in paragraph. 10. A client computer having image reading means for reading image data of a document, a server computer having storage means for storing the image data and analysis result data of the image data, and analyzing the image data. An analysis computer to be performed is configured from a network connected through a communication line, the image data is transferred from the client computer to the analysis computer via the server computer, and the analysis result data is analyzed by the analysis computer. Of the image data and the analysis result transmitted to the server computer and stored in the storage unit together with the image data, and stored in the storage unit of the server computer from the client computer or another computer connected to the communication line. A method of controlling a document management system that enables access to data, wherein a service receiver who operates the client computer selects from a plurality of types of analysis processing to be performed on the image data of the document. An analysis setting step of selecting and setting, and an image data transmitting step of transmitting setting data of the type of analysis processing set by the analysis setting step together with the image data of the document to the server computer, the server computer, Performing the step of transferring the image data of the document and the setting data of the type of analysis processing received from the client computer to the analysis computer, and the analyzing computer analyzes the type of the setting data for the image data of the document. To be done Control method for a document management system according to claim. 11. The client computer, in order to register the service recipient in the server computer, a step of causing the service recipient to input his / her personal information and password data and transmitting the personal information and password data to the server computer, In the server computer, determining the ID of the service recipient and registering the service recipient when the personal information and the password data are received from the client computer; and connecting to the client computer or the communication line. If the data of the ID and password of the service recipient transmitted at the time of access for logging in from the other registered computer do not match the ID and password of the registered service recipient, a step of rejecting the login is performed. The method of the document management system of claim 10, wherein the door. 12. In the server computer,
After the analysis processing of the analysis computer is completed and the analysis result data of the image data of the document is received from the analysis computer, the type of analysis processing for the image data, the data size of the image data, and the data size of the analysis result 11. An analysis fee calculation step of calculating an analysis fee based on at least one of
Alternatively, the control method of the document management system according to item 11. 13. The server computer,
13. The control method of the document management system according to claim 12, further comprising the step of transmitting data of information for notifying the service recipient of the analysis fee calculated by the analysis fee calculating means to the client computer. 14. In the image data transmitting step of the client computer, according to a first mode in which the image data of the document is transmitted immediately after being read, or a schedule condition selected by the service recipient from one of a plurality of modes. A setting step of allowing the service recipient to select and set a second mode for transmission at a suitable time; and a plurality of schedule conditions for the service recipient when the second mode is set by the setting step. 14. A scheduler process for selecting one of the above, and transmitting the image data and the setting data of the type of analysis processing to the server computer at a time that meets the schedule condition is performed. The method for controlling the document management system according to any one of items 1 to 6 above. 15. In the scheduler step, as one of the options of the schedule condition, the image data and the setting data of the analysis processing type are transmitted to the server computer at a time when a state where the communication line is idle is detected. The control method of the document management system according to claim 14, wherein 16. In the server computer,
After the analysis processing of the analysis computer is completed and the analysis result data of the image data of the document is received from the analysis computer, the information data for notifying the service recipient that the analysis of the image data is completed is 16. The control method of the document management system according to claim 10, further comprising the step of transmitting to the client computer. 17. In the server computer,
17. The control method of the document management system according to claim 10, further comprising the step of rejecting a login from a client computer of a service recipient who has delinquent charges for a predetermined period. 18. A client computer having image reading means for reading image data of a document, a server computer having storage means for storing the image data and analysis result data of the image data, and analyzing the image data. An analysis computer to be performed is configured from a network connected through a communication line, the image data is transferred from the client computer to the analysis computer via the server computer, and the analysis result data is analyzed by the analysis computer. A storage medium storing a control program for the client computer of the document management system, which is transmitted to a server computer and stored in the storage means together with image data, wherein a service for operating the client computer is provided. An analysis setting step that causes the recipient to select and set the type of analysis processing to be performed on the image data of the document from a plurality of types; and a type of analysis processing set by the analysis setting step together with the image data of the document A control program for performing an image data transmitting step of transmitting setting data to the server computer, and a step of accessing the image data or the analysis result data of the image data stored in the storage means of the server computer. A storage medium characterized by being stored. 19. In the client computer, in order to register the service recipient in the server computer, a step of causing the service recipient to input personal information and password data of the service recipient and transmitting the data to the server computer The storage medium according to claim 18, wherein the storage medium stores the control program. 20. In the image data transmitting step, first transmitting the image data of the document immediately after reading the image data.
Or a setting step of causing the service recipient to select and set a second mode for transmitting at a time that matches a schedule condition selected from a plurality of modes by the service recipient, and by the setting step, When the second mode is set, the service recipient is made to select one of the plurality of schedule conditions, and when the time that meets the schedule conditions comes, the image data and the setting data of the analysis processing type are set. 20. The storage medium according to claim 18 or 19, wherein a control program for performing a scheduler process for transmitting to the server computer is stored. 21. In the scheduler step, as one of the options of the schedule condition, the image data and the setting data of the type of analysis processing are transmitted to the server computer at a time when a state where the communication line is idle is detected. 21. The storage medium according to claim 20, wherein a control program for performing the operation is stored. 22. A client computer having image reading means for reading image data of a document, a server computer having storage means for storing the image data and analysis result data of the image data, and analyzing the image data. A storage medium storing a control program of the server computer of a document management system configured by a network connected to an analysis computer via a communication line, wherein the image of the document is read from the client computer in the server computer. When the setting data of the type of analysis processing to be performed on the image data set by the service recipient who operates the client computer is received together with the data, the setting data of the image data and the type of analysis processing is received. A step of transferring the data to an image data and the analysis result data obtained by performing the analysis processing of the type of the setting data on the image data from the analysis computer, A control program for performing a step of storing in a storage means and a step of accepting an access to the image data or analysis result data stored in the storage means from the client computer or another computer connected to the communication line. A storage medium having stored therein. 23. In the server computer,
Determining the ID of the service recipient and registering the service recipient when the personal information and password data of the service recipient is received from the client computer; and connecting to the client computer or the communication line. And a control for performing a step of rejecting login if the data of the ID and password of the service recipient transmitted at the time of access for login from another computer do not match the ID and password of the registered service recipient. The storage medium according to claim 22, wherein a program is stored. 24. In the server computer,
After the analysis processing of the analysis computer is completed and the analysis result data of the image data of the document is received from the analysis computer, the type of analysis processing for the image data, the data size of the image data, and the data size of the analysis result 24. The storage medium according to claim 22, wherein a control program for performing an analysis fee calculation step of calculating an analysis fee based on at least one of the above is stored. 25. In the server computer,
25. The control program for performing the step of transmitting to the client computer the data of information for notifying the service recipient of the analysis fee calculated by the analysis fee calculating step, according to claim 24. Storage medium. 26. In the server computer,
After the analysis processing of the analysis computer is completed and the analysis result data of the image data of the document is received from the analysis computer, the information data for notifying the service recipient that the analysis of the image data is completed is The storage medium according to any one of claims 22 to 25, which stores a control program for performing a step of transmitting to a client computer. 27. In the server computer,
27. The storage according to claim 22, further comprising a control program for performing a step of rejecting a login from a client computer of a service recipient who has delinquent charges for a predetermined period. Medium.