JP2003256064A - License management method, license management server, license acquired client, license management program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a license management method, license management server, license acquired client, license management program and recording medium capable of flexibly issuing a license according to use pattern of a user of an application. <P>SOLUTION: The license management method for controlling the number of licenses to become not more than a predetermined number of license as well as issuing the licenses of software for which authority for use is arranged has a judgement stage (S26) for judging if a license is issued or not for a client according to a predetermined authority (45c) of the client in response to a license acquisition request (S20) from the client who is to use the software and a license issue stage (S27) for issuing a license to the client based on the judgement by the judgement stage. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a license management method, a license management server, a license management program, and a recording medium, and more particularly to a license management method, license management server, and license for managing licenses of software for which usage rights are provided. The present invention relates to an acquisition client, a license management program, and a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, application software used on a computer (hereinafter referred to as an application) can be easily copied, so that an application for which a license (application usage right) contract is not signed is illegally used. There were many things. Therefore, in order to prevent the unauthorized use of the application, various license management systems for managing the license of the application have been developed.

Further, in companies and the like, LAN (Local Area Net)
As networks of systems such as work) and WANs (Wide Area Networks) are advancing, licenses (hereinafter referred to as simultaneous use licenses) that permit the maximum number of devices that can be used simultaneously on the network are often contracted. Generally, the maximum number of licenses that can be used simultaneously on the network by the license for simultaneous use is called the number of licenses.

In such an application for which a simultaneous use license contract is made, a use restriction is set by installing the application with a software lock. Then, when the application is used, the usage restriction is released by receiving the key for permitting the use of the application, and the application is used.

The key that allows the use of applications is
For example, it is issued by the license management server. The license management server manages the number of issued keys so that the number of applications simultaneously used on the network does not exceed the number of licenses and prevents unauthorized use of the applications.

[0006]

When users within a certain range, such as a company and a school, jointly use a license by using such a license management system, those who use the application every day and sometimes There is a difference in the form of use such as those who interfere with work if it cannot be used reliably. Due to such a difference in the usage method, all the licenses are issued when the user wants to use the application, which causes a problem that the application cannot be used.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is a license management method capable of flexibly issuing a license according to the usage pattern of a user of an application,
License management server, license acquisition client,
It is an object to provide a license management program and a recording medium.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a license management for issuing a license of software for which usage right is provided and limiting the number of issued licenses to a predetermined number or less A license management method in a server, comprising: responding to a license acquisition request from a client using the software,
Based on a predetermined authority to the client, based on a determination step of determining whether to issue the license to the client, and the determination result of the determination step,
A license issuing step of issuing a license to the client.

According to the first aspect, it is possible to determine whether to issue a license to the client according to the authority set in advance for the client. Therefore, the license issuance can be flexibly issued according to the usage form of the user of the application. It becomes possible to do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the judging step, if there is a license acquisition request from the client within a period in which the client reserves for using the software, the license is issued. Then, it is characterized by judging.

According to the second aspect, since it is possible to reserve the license, it is possible to prevent the license from being used up due to reservation of a desired period.

In the invention according to claim 3, in the judging step, if the authority of the client who has issued the license acquisition request is the authority to preferentially issue a license to another client, the license is issued. Then, it is characterized by judging.

According to the third aspect, by providing the authority of the client to use the application with priority over the other clients, it is possible to use the application with priority when the user wants to use the application.

The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that in the judging step, the issuance of the license is judged according to the order indicated by the constraint order information given in advance to the license.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when issuing a license, the license candidates to be assigned to the client are sorted in the restriction order and then selected, so that the license to which the priority authority is given becomes strict. Since the license is assigned if checked and available, effective use of the license as a whole can be realized.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a license management server which issues a license for software for which a usage right is provided and limits the number of issued licenses to a predetermined number or less. In response to a license acquisition request from a client who uses software, a determination unit that determines whether to issue the license to the client based on a predetermined authority of the client, and a determination result of the determination unit , License issuing means for issuing a license to the client.

According to the fifth aspect, it is possible to determine whether or not to issue a license to the client based on the authority set in advance for the client. Therefore, the license issuance can be flexibly performed according to the usage form of the user of the application. It is possible to provide a server capable of performing.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a license acquisition client which starts execution of the software after receiving the issuance of the license from a license server that manages a license that permits the execution of the software for which the usage right is provided. A license is acquired from the license management server based on means for notifying the license management server of a license acquisition request for causing the license management server to issue a license, and a predetermined authority to use the software. A license acquisition client comprising:

According to the sixth aspect, it is possible to provide a client that can acquire a license from the license management server according to the authority to use the software possessed by the client.

The recording medium for recording this program is a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk or a magneto-optical disk (MO) for recording information optically, electrically or magnetically, ROM, flash. Various types of recording media such as a semiconductor memory that electrically records information such as a memory can be used.

[0021]

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

First, in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, license management of software will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of license management.

In FIG. 1, the license management server 10 issues a license for an application for which a usage right is provided, and limits the number of issued licenses so as not to exceed the number of licenses. Further, the client 11 receives the issuance of a license permitting the execution of an application for which the usage right is provided, and executes the application.

More specifically, the application installed in the client 11 is restricted in use by attaching a software lock. The client 11 receives the key permitting the use of the application from the license management server 10 to release the use limitation of the application and execute the application.

The license management server 10 also manages the number of issued keys that permit the use of applications, thereby limiting the number of issued licenses so as not to exceed a predetermined value.

In step S1, the client 11 notifies the license management server 10 of a license acquisition request. The license management server 10 determines whether the license can be issued based on the number of licenses already issued and the number of licenses. If the number of already issued licenses is the same as the number of licenses, it is determined that the license cannot be issued.

In step S2 following step S1, if the license management server 10 can issue the license, the license management server 10 notifies the client 11 that the execution of the application is approved, and issues the license to the client 11. Upon receipt of the license, the client 11 starts executing the application.

After a lapse of a predetermined time after step S2, the process proceeds to step S3 after step S2, the client 11 determines whether or not the application is running, and if the result of the determination is that it is running. The license management server 10 is notified of the license confirmation request.

The predetermined time is determined by constraints such as the communication speed and communication quality between the license management server and the client, the average usage time of the application, and takes a value of 10 minutes, for example.

In step S4 following step S3, the license management server 10 receives the license confirmation request from the client 11 and then the client 1
1 is notified that the execution of the application is continuously approved.

When a predetermined time has elapsed after step S4, the client 11 determines whether or not the application is running, and if the result of the determination is that it is running, the processes of steps S3 and S4 are repeated. .

On the other hand, the client 11 notifies the license management server 10 of the license return request when the application ends. License management server 10
Responds to the license return request notified from the client 11, cancels the license issued to the client 11, and notifies the client 11 that the license return request is approved.

The client 11 discards the license issued by the license management server 10 in response to the approval of the license return request notified from the license management server 10. The license server 10 manages the number of licenses for each application and each user. Here, the user is a license contractor, for example, a company, etc., and a user belonging to the company uses the application.

The license management system according to the present invention will be described in detail below. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the license management system according to the present invention. In the license management system 1 of FIG. 2, a license management server 10 and one or more clients 11a to 11n are connected via a network 12 such as the Internet.

The license management server 10 issues to the clients 11a to 11n a license permitting execution of an application for which a usage right is provided, and manages the number of licenses issued to the clients 11a to 11n. Further, the license management server limits the number of licenses issued to the clients 11a to 11n so as not to exceed a predetermined value according to the concurrent license.

The clients 11a to 11n receive the license from the license management server 10 and then start the execution of the application for which the usage right is provided. In addition, the clients 11a to 11n, when the execution of the application is completed, the license management server 10
The license issued by the license management server 1
Return to 0.

In the license management system 1 of FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not the application of the client 11a to 11n for which the license is issued is actually operating at every predetermined time, so that, for example, the application is abnormally terminated. This prevents the license from being issued in some cases.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system which realizes the license management server of the present invention. The computer system of FIG. 3 has an input device 21 and a display device 22 which are connected to each other by a bus B.
A drive device 23, a recording medium 24, an auxiliary storage device 25, a memory device 26, an arithmetic processing device 27, an interface device 28, a database (hereinafter, DB).
, 29).

The input device 21 is composed of a keyboard and a mouse operated by a user of the computer system, and is used to input various operation signals to the computer system. The display device 22 displays various windows and data necessary for operating the computer system. The interface device 28 is an interface for connecting the computer system to the network 12, and is composed of, for example, a modem.

The DB 29 stores information necessary for managing licenses.

The license management program is a CD-RO.
It is provided by a recording medium 24 such as M. The recording medium 24 recording the license management program is set in the drive device 23, and the program is installed in the auxiliary storage device 25 from the recording medium 24 via the drive device 23.

The auxiliary storage device 25 stores the installed license management program and also stores necessary files and data. The memory device 26 reads out and stores the license management program from the auxiliary storage device 25 when the computer system is activated. The arithmetic processing unit 27 executes the process related to the license management server 10 according to the license management program read and stored in the memory unit 26.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system which realizes the client of the present invention. Figure 4
Of the computer system, the input device 31, the display device 32, the drive device 33, the recording medium 34, the auxiliary storage device 35, which are mutually connected by the bus B,
The memory device 36, the arithmetic processing device 37, and the interface device 38 are included.

The computer system shown in FIG.
The point that B is not included and the content of the license management program provided from the recording medium 34 are different from the computer system of FIG. The computer system of FIG. 4 may store information necessary for authentication such as user information and terminal information in the auxiliary storage device 35.

In the computer system of FIG. 4, the CD-
A recording medium 34 such as a ROM provides a license management program and applications. The license management program and application may be downloaded in advance from a server on the network 12, such as the license management server 10 or the like.

In the computer system of FIG. 4, the license management program and the application are stored in the memory device 36 by the same procedure as the computer system of FIG. The arithmetic processing unit 37 executes the process related to the client 11 according to the license management program and application read and stored in the memory unit 36.

The license management server 10 is configured to have a function as shown in FIG. 5 by executing processing in accordance with the license management program read and stored in the memory device 26.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the license management server. The license management server 10 of FIG.
Communication unit 40, license request reception unit 41, software operation monitoring unit 42, license information storage unit 43, operation status storage unit 44, various DBs 45 accessed by license request reception unit 41, license information DB 47, operation information DB
48, log DB 49, and authentication information DB 50.

Of these, the DB 45 is one of the user information DB 45a, the reservation information DB 45c, the priority information DB 45d, and the user limited information DB 45e as shown in FIG.
Group information DB configured to include one or more, if necessary
45b is included. Details of these various DBs will be described later.

The client 11 executes the processing in accordance with the license management program and the application read and stored in the memory device 36, so that FIG.
It is configured to have a function such as.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the client. The client 11 is configured to include a communication unit 52, an operation monitoring unit 53, an application 54, user information 55, and terminal information 56.

The description of the structure is completed above, and
Three types of embodiments will be described.

The first embodiment is a form in which a reservation function is added to the license management. First, client 1
Among the processes related to license management between the license management server 1 and the license management server 10, a process in which the client 11 reserves a software use time zone in the license management server 10 in advance will be described.

First, the license management server 10 operates as shown in FIG.
The reservation screen 100 shown in is displayed on the screen of the client 11. This reservation screen 100 has a reservation target input field 10
1, user input field 102, contact input field 103, date and time input field 104, user ID input field 105, business name input field 10
6, a comment input field 107, a registration button 108, a delete button 109, and a cancel button 110. Of these, the reservation target is the name of the application that makes the reservation. The user is a name of a worker who uses the application at the time of making the reservation. The contact information is the user's contact information. The date and time represents the scheduled appointment time, and is made up of the date of the appointment, the start time, and the end time. The user ID is the ID of the user. If the user uses the application for a certain business, the business name indicates the business name. Comments are used for memos and simple contacts.

By inputting the necessary items in the above fields and clicking the registration button 108, if the condition such as no reservation is made first, the license management server 10
You can make a reservation at The delete button 109, which is another button, is a button for deleting a reservation, and the cancel button 110 is a button for canceling the input content on the screen 100.

When a reservation is made, the reservation display screen 111 shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the screen of the client 11,
You can confirm that you have made a reservation. The previous week button 113 displayed on the reservation display screen 111 is displayed on the screen 111.
This button is for displaying the week before the one currently displayed in. Further, the next week button 114 is a button for displaying the next week after the week currently displayed on the screen 111. The reservation button 112 is a button for displaying the screen 100 shown in FIG. 8 to make a reservation again.

Next, an actual operation example by reservation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing how one license is allocated to the user A who has not reserved and the user B who has reserved, and the numbers below the figure represent time. .

First, the user B starts from 9:30 to 1
I have reserved until 1:00. In this situation, first, the user A makes a license acquisition request between 9:00 and 9:30. Since no reservation is made in this time period, the license can be assigned to the user A. However, since the reservation start time of the user B is immediately reached, the license management server 10 displays "9:30 to 11:00". Issues a license to user A with a warning such as "B has a reservation." Then, during use, the client used by the user A sends a confirmation message to the license management server 10 at predetermined time intervals, and the license management server 10 sends a response thereto.

Then, at 9:30 of the reservation start time, since the user B does not start the use, the license management server 10 permits the use of the user A. 10:00
When the user B starts using the license after a short time, the license management server 10 issues a license to the user B and, in response to the confirmation message of the user A, transmits “NG” indicating the return of the license, User A's application is stopped.

Next, the use of the application by the user B ends at about 11:30. Therefore, since the license given to the user B is returned, the license can be issued to the user A again, and the user A can use the application again.

As described above, the reservation of the license can be used even if the reservation is not made as long as the license has a margin.

Next, the processing relating to the license management of the license management server 10 and the client 11 will be described. FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of an example of processing of the license management server 10 according to the present invention.

In step S20, a connection request is transmitted from the communication section 52 to the communication section 40 when the user of the client 11 requests the execution of the application. In step S21 following step S20, the communication unit 40 of the license management server 10 receives the connection request transmitted from the communication unit 52 of the client 11 to start the process related to license management.

The connection request includes user profile information and usage request information. User profile information includes login ID, login password,
It includes items such as user ID, login user name, computer name, user name, department name, mail address, and telephone number. Login user name, login ID, login password, user ID, user name, user information 5
5, or input from the input device 31.
The computer name is acquired from the terminal information 56.
Other items may be arbitrarily input.

The use request information includes items such as package name, function, version, option flag, method, date and time. The method is for identifying the license acquisition request, the license confirmation request, and the license return request.

In step S22, the communication section 40 performs a user authentication and identification process. In the authentication identification process, the login ID of the received user profile information is used for the authentication information DB5.
0 is searched, the password corresponding to the searched login ID is compared with the login password of the user profile information, and authentication is performed by matching or not matching,
If the authentication is completed normally, the user is identified and step S2
Go to 3. On the other hand, if the authentication is not normally completed, the communication unit 40 returns an abnormality notification to the communication unit 52 of the client 11 and proceeds to step S28.

In step S23, the license request receiving unit 41 performs a package / option identification process. In the package / option identification process, step S22
The license information corresponding to the user identified in step 1 is read from the license information DB 47, and the available package name, the option flag identifying the available option, and the number of licenses are acquired from the read license information. The license information storage unit 43 stores the license information D
The license information is read from B47 and temporarily stored.

When the package / option identification process is completed normally, the process proceeds to step S24 after the process of step S23. On the other hand, if the package / option identification process is not normally completed, the communication unit 40 returns an abnormality notification to the communication unit 52 of the client 11 and returns to step S28.
Proceed to.

In step S24, the license request receiving section 41 carries out user authentication processing. In this embodiment, authentication is performed using the user ID and password, and the user I
The D and password input request processing is performed in the following procedure. First, the license request receiving unit 41 performs step S2.
Judgment information DB corresponding to the user specified in 2
The information is read from 45 to obtain information on which item is used to authenticate the user.

Note that the determination information includes items such as user ID, password, login user name, computer name, user name, etc. Each item is set with a true / false value, and the value is an item with a true value. The information corresponding to is used for authentication.

The license request receiving unit 41 determines the information used for authentication from the acquired information. The method is a license acquisition request and the user ID and password values of the determination information are true. At each time, each is determined as an input information item. In this way, the input information item is determined, and the client 11 is requested to make an input reminder notification of the determined input information item. Then, the license request receiving unit 41
Acquires the input information item supplied from the client 11 and proceeds to step S25. For example, a window for inputting a user ID and a password is displayed on the display device 32 of the client 11 to prompt input of input information items.

In step S25, the license request receiving section 41 performs profile identification processing. In the profile identification process, the judgment information and the user information corresponding to the user identified in step S22 are read from the judgment information DB 45 and the user information DB 46, and the user information and the user information are acquired in step S24 according to the read judgment information. The information item is compared. Then, the user is authenticated according to the comparison result.

For example, when the true / false value of the computer name is set to be true in addition to the user ID and password in the determination information, the user ID and password acquired in step S24 and the computer name acquired from the client 11 are used. , User I read from the user information DB 46
The user is authenticated depending on whether the D, the password and the computer name match.

When the authentication is completed normally, step S25
Subsequent to the process of step S26, the process proceeds to step S26. On the other hand, if the authentication is not normally completed, the communication unit 40 returns an abnormality notification to the communication unit 52 of the client 11 and returns to step S28.
Proceed to.

At step 26, license allocation / holding / discarding is performed by accessing the reservation information DB 45c and the operation status DB 48. Details of this processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart of FIG. 12 is, for example, one function, which is a process that is called from the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S30, the license request accepting unit 41 sets a specific item (for example, user ID and user ID) of user profile information in the operation status DB 48.
And the computer name) match the operation status record. Next, the license request receiving unit 41 proceeds to step S
At 31 it is determined whether or not there is an operating status record. As a result, if there is no activity record,
It proceeds to step S32. In step S32, it is determined whether the method of the usage request received from the client is a "license issuance" request. As a result, if it is not the license issuance request, the process proceeds to step S33. Then, in step S33, it is determined whether or not the request is a license confirmation request. If the license is confirmed, the client requests the confirmation of the license even though there is no operating status record. This is a state in which the original client loses the license and is operating because the license request accepting unit 41 reassigns the license to another priority client. Therefore, the license request receiving unit 41 asks the client to
At step S34, allocation of another empty license is tried. Even when the method of the usage request received from the client in step S32 is a "license issuance" request, the processing of step S34 is performed. Also,
If it is not the license confirmation request in step S33, a process of giving a permission response is performed in step S42.

Next, the process of step S34 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of. The processing of FIG. 13 is also realized by one function. In step S410,
The license request receiving unit 41 searches the reservation information DB 45c of the user who has issued the issuance request. This search process
It is a process of searching for a reservation information record in which a reservation information record that is a reservation for a time period including the current time and that matches a specific item in the user profile information matches a specific item in the user profile information received from the client. . As a result of this search processing, if there is a record that matches the conditions in the reservation information DB 45c, the user who issued the issuance request has been reserved, so step S41.
From 1 the process proceeds to step S412. In step S412,
The license request receiving unit 41 acquires the license number of the corresponding reservation information record, and confirms whether the license is being used by another user by searching the operation status DB 48 for the license number. If the operation status DB 48 has a license number, step S4
At 14, the license request receiving unit 41 recovers the license by deleting the license in use from the operation status DB 48.

Returning to the processing of step S411, if there is no reservation, the license not currently used is searched for in step S415. This search is performed, for example, by checking the license number registered in the operation status DB 48 and comparing it with the data item “license number” (license number range information) in the license information DB 47 to determine an unused license number. Done. Then, when there are a plurality of licenses that are not currently used, the reservation information DB 45c is searched by the license number, and the user first searches for a license that is a reserved time zone within a predetermined time (for example, 60 minutes), If there is no such license, the license with no reservation until the farthest future time is adopted. This search is for reservation information D
Of B45c, only the record having the login ID corresponding to the user to which the user belongs and the package name currently in use is targeted.

When the license is found by the search processing in step S415, the process proceeds from step S416 to step S417. Then, in step S <b> 417, the license request receiving unit 41 determines that the license to be adopted falls within the reserved time zone of another user within a predetermined time (for example, 120 minutes) or is currently in the reserved time zone. Is
In step S418, warning information is added to the permission answer. If there is no assignable license in step S416, "no license" is set.

Returning to the processing of step S35 in FIG. 12, the license request accepting unit 41 determines in step S34 if there is a license as a result of the license allocation processing in step S34.
At 356, a record is added to the operation status DB 48. At this time, the “final confirmation time” of the record is set as the current time. Further, in step S35, the license request receiving unit 41
If there is no license that can be adopted as a result of step S34, a rejection message is created in step S37.

Returning to the branching process of step S31, if there is an operation status record, the process proceeds to step S38.
In step S38, the license request receiving unit 41 determines to be reconnection when the request from the client is “license issuance”. Reconnect is a situation in which a license-allocated client requests license allocation again without being de-allocated on the license server side. This allocation request is treated as a license confirmation request, and the process proceeds to step S41 and the corresponding operating status record is recorded. "Final confirmation time" is updated at the current time. This step S
The process of 41 is performed even when the request from the client is determined to be "license confirmation" in step S39.

If the "license confirmation" is not judged in step S39, it means that it is a "license return request". Therefore, in step S40, the corresponding operation status record is deleted.

The license allocation / holding / discarding process is completed as described above, and the result of the process is notified to the client by the issuing process in step S27 of FIG. Then, in step S28, all the notification information transmitted to the client is converted into a predetermined format and stored as the log DB 49. In this log output process, all the notification information transmitted to the client 11 is converted into a predetermined format, and the converted notification information is recorded in the log DB 49. In the log DB 49, as shown in FIG. 20, the login ID and the user I
It includes items such as D, package name, date, time, action, and code.

The processing result notified to the client 11 is composed of a text file including a header part as shown in FIGS. 21 and 22 and a result notifying part as shown in FIGS. 23 to 25. It In the header part, login ID, login password, user ID, password, login user name, computer name, user name,
Package name, function, version, option flag,
Includes items such as method, day, and hour. Further, the result notifying section includes items such as a code indicating a normal end or an abnormal end, an error description, and a coping method. The code indicating normal termination includes a value indicating approval or rejection of the license acquisition or return from the client or the confirmation request. In addition, when each of the above steps sends an abnormal notice to the client, a code indicating abnormal termination is set in the result notifying unit, and the operation status information DB is not updated.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. Second
In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, instead of the reservation information DB 45c of FIG. 11, a new group information DB 4 is added.
5b and the priority information DB 45d are used to perform license allocation / holding / discarding processing. The processing in the second embodiment is step S2 of the flowchart showing the processing in the first embodiment shown in FIG.
6 is different.

The group information DB 45b is information having an ID determined for a group and an ID of a user who belongs to the group in order to perform license management for the group which is a set of users. As shown in FIG. 26, it is a DB in which group IDs and user IDs belonging to the group are arranged. The group ID and the user ID are determined so that they do not overlap each other.

The priority information DB 45d is information for defining a priority of a user or a group who uses the license with respect to a certain license. As shown in FIG. 27, a login ID, a package name, and It is information having a version, a license number, a restriction order, and a priority order of users or groups who can use the license. Among these, the restriction order is a candidate order when setting a priority right to a license, and a candidate order when allocating a license.

As described above, the priority information DB 45d can define users corresponding to a plurality of levels of priority (first priority, second priority, ...) For each license, and the group ID and user of the group. User IDs of are managed so that there is no duplication.

A license to which a priority is given to a specific group or user can be used by a user who does not have priority (or has low priority), but has a priority (or has high priority). When the user uses it, the license is forcibly returned. Also, a warning screen is displayed when a user without priority acquires a license. Further, when the license is forcibly returned, the license management server 10 searches for a vacant license and reallocates it, and continues processing as much as possible. This function is realized by registering the license number of the priority-added license and the user ID or group ID of the user who is given the priority in advance in the priority table.

Next, the flowchart of FIG. 15 will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the process of step S26 of the process of FIG. 14, which is realized by one function and returns the return value to the higher-level process. First, in step S420, the license request receiving unit 41 searches the group information for all groups to which the user who issued the issuance request belongs. Next, each group information and the user of the user
The priority table is searched for each ID, and all license numbers for which the group or user is registered are acquired and stored for work. As a result, if the license exists, the process proceeds from step S421 to step S422,
The license request receiving unit 41 searches the operating status information with the stored license number to determine whether it is in use. If it is not being used, the process proceeds to step S425, and if it is being used, the process proceeds to step S423, and priority determination is performed from the setting information for the license of the priority information. This determination compares the highest priority of the user who is using the license with the highest priority of the user who issued the issuance request, and the priority of the user who is using is high or In the case of the same, the process returns to step S421, and the process is performed again for another license for which the user who issued the issuance request has priority.

If the priority of the user in use is low in step S423, the operating status record of the user in use is deleted in step S424. This allows the license to be collected and assigned to the user who issued the issuance request. Next, in step S425, it is confirmed in the priority table whether or not any of the groups to which the user requesting issuance belongs is the first priority group of the allocatable license. A warning message "There is a user with a higher priority exists" is added and the license number is used as the return value. Otherwise, only the license number is used as the return value. The same applies when the license having the priority is not in use in step S422.

Returning to the processing of step S421, if the user requesting issuance does not have a license having a priority, or if a user having a higher priority is in use, a license not currently used is Step S42
Search with 6. This can be done, for example, by checking the license number registered in the operating status and comparing it with the number of licenses in the license information file (license number range information) to determine an unused license number. If there is an unused license number as a result of the search, steps S427 to S428.
If the license has a priority of another user, the process proceeds to step S429 in which the warning information is added to the permission answer and the license number is set as the return value. Also, step S4
If there is no empty license in 26, "no license" is returned.

In the search of the priority table in the process of step S420, only the records having the same login ID and package are selected from all the records in the priority table, and the selected records are sorted by "constraint order". It is judged whether or not it is being used one after another. By performing the processing in this way, a license with a higher restriction order, that is, a license with a stricter condition for prioritization is checked, and if there is a vacant license, the license is assigned, so that effective use of the license as a whole is realized.

Next, a third embodiment will be described. Third
In the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 16, instead of the reservation information 45c of FIG. 11, group information 45b and user limitation information 45e are newly used to allocate licenses.
This is a form of holding / discarding. User limited information D
B45e is a login ID, as shown in FIG.
Package name, version, license number, permission priority or rejection priority, + group ID 1, -group ID
2, -has a user ID 3 and the like, and this user limited information D
Whether to grant the license is determined according to a rule defined in advance in B45e. Further, the limitation of users can be designated by an individual user or a group. still,
+ Group ID1 means that permission is registered for the group identified by the group ID1,
-Group ID2 indicates that the group identified by the group ID2 has been registered for rejection. That is, the + sign indicates “permission” and the − sign indicates “rejection”.

This user-limited information DB 45e can register users and groups who "permit" or "reject" the use of a certain license. Furthermore, for each license, it is specified which of "permit" registration and "reject" registration has priority. As a result, when a specific user is included in both the “permitted” group and the “denied” group for one license, which one is to be adopted is determined. Note that licenses that are not limited to users are those in which registration of "reject" is designated with priority and no users or groups are registered. In this case, all users have the right to obtain licenses. is there.

Such user limitation is managed by the license administrator of each user. For example, the management screen is displayed from the Web server on the screen of the license administrator client. An example of the management screen is shown in FIG. In the figure, first, radio buttons 120 and 121 are used to select whether to set a target for permitting use or a target for rejecting, and then a target group or user ID is selected by the radio button 12.
Select with 2 or 123. And pull-down menu 1
Decide the setting target with 24 and 125, and click the new registration button 1
Press 26 to set. The cancel button 127 is
It is used to cancel the settings made. When the new registration button 126 is pressed, the management screen on the client is displayed as shown in FIG. Further, on the same screen, the priority right item 128 is set and input so that “permission” is prioritized for the registered license. The setting information described above is passed to the license management server 10 via a Web server or the like and registered in the user information limited DB 45e. In the user information limited DB 45e, the information specified in the priority item 128 of the management screen of FIG. 18 is set in the item “permission priority / rejection priority” following the item “license number”, and the management screen of FIG. If the group ID or user ID specified in step 2 is a permission registration, it is combined with a + (plus) sign, and if it is a rejection registration, it is combined with a-(minus) sign. Note that the license number of the user information limited file also serves as the “constraint order”, and in FIG. 19, displaying the list of license limitation statuses in order of license number also means displaying in the order of constraint order. Therefore, if the license administrator sets the licenses to the users in the order of the list, the licenses can be managed according to the restriction order.

Next, the flowchart of FIG. 19 will be described. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the process of step S26 of the process of FIG. First, step S440
Then, the user who issued the issuance request searches for a license that the user is permitted to use. This process searches for and acquires all groups to which the user belongs from the group information DB 45b,
Next, the user limited information DB 45e is searched to find the group ID.
Or, obtain the user limited information record including the user ID. For each acquired record, determine "whether or not there is usage permission registration" and "whether or not there is usage refusal registration". If both are registered, refer to the "permission priority / rejection priority" item to determine whether there is usage permission. To do. If the license is granted, the corresponding license number is stored.

As a result of the processing in step S440, if the license number exists, the process proceeds from step S441 to step S442. In step S442, the operating status information DB 48 is searched with the license number to determine whether or not it is in use. If the license is being used by another user, the process advances from step S442 to step S443 to check the use permission of the user who is using the license. In the check, the group to which the user in use belongs is acquired from the group information DB 45b, and the presence / absence of use permission registration of the license in use is determined by the user limitation information DB 45e. Then, if the group to which the user belongs or the user is registered for use permission, steps S443 to S4.
The process returns to 41 and the process is performed again for the next license number.

If it is determined in step S443 that the usage permission is not registered, the operation status record of the user in use is deleted in step S444. As a result, the license is collected and can be assigned to the user who issued the issuance request. When a usable license is found in this way, the license number is returned.

Returning to the processing of step S440, if the user requesting issuance does not have a license for which the user has a license, or if another user who has a license for use is in use, steps S441 to S445. Go to. Then, in step S445, a license not currently used is searched for. This is, for example, operating status information DB4
This is possible by checking the license number registered in No. 8 and comparing it with the number of licenses in the license information file (license number range information) to obtain an unused license number. If there is a license number that is not currently used as a result of this processing, step S
Proceeding to 447, the user limited information DB 45e is searched for each number. Then, if there is a record, it is checked in step S447 whether the use refusal is registered in neither the group to which the user belongs nor the user himself / herself. As a result, if the usage refusal is not registered, the process proceeds from step S448 to step S449, and a warning message "There is a user with high priority exists" is added and the license number is set as a return value. If the use refusal is registered, the process returns from step S448 to step S446, and the process is performed again for the next unused license number.

In step S447, if the license number which is not currently used is not registered in the user limitation information DB 45a, the license number is set as the return value.

If no empty license is found in step S446, "no license" is returned to the calling source as a return value.

The user limited information D in step S440.
Login ID of all records in B45e search
Selects only the records that match the package and processes the selected records in the order of "constraint order". By performing the processing in this way, a license with a higher restriction order, that is, a license with a stricter condition for the user is checked, and if there is a vacant license, the license is assigned, so that effective use of the license as a whole is realized.

The first to third embodiments have been described above, but by operating these forms in combination, it is possible to more flexibly manage the license according to the use form of the user. Become.

[0105]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Licenses can be issued flexibly according to the usage pattern of application users.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of license management.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a license management system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a computer system that realizes a license management server of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a computer system that realizes a client of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a license management server.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the contents of various databases.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a client.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a reservation screen.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a reservation display screen.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a reservation operation.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an example of processing of the license management server according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a license allocation / holding / discarding process.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a license allocation process.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an example of processing of the license management server according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a license allocation / holding / discarding process.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of an example of processing of the license management server according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a management screen for setting users.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a management screen of limited package users.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a license allocation / holding / discarding process.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a log DB.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a header part (1).

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a header part (2).

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a result notification unit (No. 1).

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a result notification unit (2).

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a result notification unit (3).

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a group information DB.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a priority information DB.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a user limited information DB.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 License management system 10 License management server 11, 11a-11n clients 12 networks 21,31 Input device 22,32 display device 23, 33 Drive device 24,34 recording medium 25,35 Auxiliary storage device 26,36 memory device 27,37 Arithmetic processing unit 28,38 Interface device 29 Database (DB) 40,52 Communication unit 41 License Request Reception Unit 42 Software Operation Management Department 43 License information storage unit 44 Operation status storage section 45 Various DB 45a, 55 User information DB 45b Group information DB 45c Reservation information DB 45d Priority information DB 45e User limited information DB 47 License information DB 48 Operation status DB 49 Log DB 50 Authentication information DB 53 Operation monitoring section 54 applications 56 Terminal information 100 reservation screen 101 Reservation target input field 102 user input field 103 contact input field 104 Date and time input field 105 User ID input field 106 Business name input field 107 Comment input field 108 Register button 109 Delete button 110 Cancel button 111 Reservation display screen 112 reservation button 113 previous week button 114 next week button 120, 121, 122, 123 radio buttons 124, 125 pull-down menu 126 New registration button 127 Cancel button 128 priority items B bus

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A license management method in a license management server for issuing a license of software for which usage authority is provided and limiting the number of issued licenses to a predetermined number or less, wherein the software is used. In response to a license acquisition request from the client, a determination step of determining whether to issue the license to the client based on a predetermined authority of the client, and the client based on the determination result of the determination step And a license issuing step of issuing a license to the license management method. 2. The determining step determines to issue the license if there is a license acquisition request from the client within a period reserved for the client to use the software. The license management method according to claim 1. 3. The determining step determines that the license is issued if the authority of the client who has issued the license acquisition request is a priority issuing authority that issues a license preferentially to other clients. The license management method according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The license management method according to claim 1, wherein in the determining step, the issuance of the license is determined according to an order indicated by constraint order information given in advance to the license. 5. A license management server for issuing a license for software for which usage authority is provided and limiting the number of issued licenses to a predetermined number or less, from a client using the software. In response to a license acquisition request, a determination unit that determines whether to issue the license to the client based on a predetermined authority of the client, and issues a license to the client based on the determination result of the determination unit A license management server comprising: 6. A license acquisition client, which starts execution of the software after receiving the issuance of the license from a license server that manages a license that permits execution of software for which the usage right has been provided, wherein the license management A means for notifying the license management server of a license acquisition request for causing the server to issue a license; and means for acquiring a license from the license management server based on a predetermined authority to use the software. Characteristic license acquisition client. 7. A determination procedure for determining, in a computer, whether to issue the license to the client in response to a license acquisition request from the client using software, based on a predetermined authority of the client, A license management program for executing a license issuing procedure for issuing a license to the client based on the determination result of the determination procedure. 8. A determination procedure for determining whether to issue the license to the client based on a predetermined authority of the client, in response to a license acquisition request from the client using the software. A computer-readable recording medium recording a license management program for executing a license issuing procedure for issuing a license to the client based on the determination result of the determination procedure. 9. The license management server based on a procedure of notifying the license management server of a license acquisition request for causing a computer to issue a license to the license management server, and a predetermined authority to use the software. A license management program that allows you to obtain and license licenses from.