JP2003296160A - Data file navigation method and data file management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the provision of information corresponding to the working phase of a user. <P>SOLUTION: This data file management system having a file management part 12 comprises a user specification part 17 for specifying a user; a user working state specification part 18 for specifying the working state of the user; a file information registration part 11 for registering file information; a file structure generating rule storage part 13 for storing a file structure generating rule in which file structures are associated with users and user working states; a file structure information generation part 19 for generating a file structure based on the file structure generating rule corresponding to the specified user and user working state; and a file information presentation part 100 for presenting the generated file information to the user, and it is possible to provide a user with a file corresponding to the working state of the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is a technique for providing file information on a single computer or remotely via a wired or wireless network, and provides information that is in the working state of a user. Regarding the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general file management systems, document management systems, PDM (Product Data Management) systems, etc., file classification structures (file management system "directory", "folder", etc.) are defined.
It is managed by storing a file for each layer. In the case of PDM, generally, a classification hierarchy based on component composition etc. called BOM (Bill Of Material) is constructed, and documents such as specifications and drawings, data files such as CAD data are stored in it.

On the other hand, in the case of a hypertext system in which links are provided between documents, a method of dynamically changing the link destination according to the referrer and the reference history has been proposed. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-6957 proposes a data search device such as a hypertext system that can dynamically describe a large amount of context even when the system is large-scale and complicated. Specifically, the hypertext is regarded as a node of the network, and the context is described based on the keyword assigned to each node. Along with this, we describe the appearance of the link based on this keyword, and change this context depending on the link selected by the reader.

Further, Japanese Patent Application No. 11-134194 proposes a method of dynamically changing the document structure of a hyper document according to the circumstances according to the intention of the document provider and providing it to the reader. Specifically, the selection criterion value (link condition information) of each link that is an element of the link set is evaluated,
Select the link to actually connect.

[0005]

In the case of work that has a flow from upstream to downstream, such as product development and manufacturing, the information necessary for the worker changes from moment to moment in the work phase. It is necessary to provide information in a timely manner that suits.

In the case of the conventional file management system, document management system, and PDM system, information stored for each preset classification hierarchy (“folder”) is referred to. Since this classification hierarchy is classified from one common viewpoint, the granularity of classification is too large for a plurality of workers from different positions to use in each work phase. Also, even if you make the classification finer,
From the common classification hierarchy, it is a complicated task for the worker to access a data file required at the time of work, depending on the number of classification hierarchies. Also, if a dedicated classification hierarchy is set for each worker, the accessibility to the data file will improve, but if the number of work phases is large, the number of classification hierarchy will increase accordingly and the necessary data files will be accessed. It is a complicated task to do.

On the other hand, in the case of the hypertext system,
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-6957 and Japanese Patent Application No. 11-134194, WWW (Wo
rld Wide Web) provides widely published documents to readers depending on the intention of the provider.
However, in order to dynamically determine the next linked document or document group based on the current document, it is necessary to identify the user and provide information according to the user's work phase. Can not do it.

In view of the above problems of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a data file navigation method and system capable of providing information according to a user's work phase.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the data file navigation method of the present invention manages a plurality of data files and provides a desired data file in response to a user's request. Therefore, the data file is managed together with a plurality of work status registration information for registering the work status of the user in advance, and when the work status of the user is designated, the corresponding work is compared with the work status registration information. A feature is that a data file corresponding to the state registration information is extracted.

Alternatively, the data file may include a plurality of work status registration information for registering a user's work status in advance, and a plurality of event information such as log information for file registration or date / time information for a file period. When the user's work status information is specified, it is compared with the work status registration information, corresponds to the corresponding work status registration information, and monitors the occurrence of defined events. When an event occurs, the data file corresponding to the corresponding event registration information is extracted.

When the user information of the user registered in advance is acquired and the current date and time information is acquired, the work management system is inquired on the condition of the user information to acquire the schedule information of the user, It is characterized in that work status information is acquired from the date and time information and the schedule information, and a data file according to the work status information is provided.

The data file management system of the present invention is
A user specifying means for specifying the user from the user information, and a user work status specifying means for specifying the work status of the user,
File information registration means for registering file information, file configuration generation rule storage means for storing file configuration generation rules associating file configuration, user, user work status, and specified user, user work status It is characterized by having a file configuration information generating means for generating a file configuration based on the file configuration generating rule corresponding to, and a file information presenting means for presenting the generated file configuration information to the user.

Further, a means for defining an event condition in which the file configuration rule is valid, a means for monitoring the occurrence of the defined event, and a file corresponding to a file configuration, a user, a user work state and event information. It is characterized by having a file configuration rule storage means for storing the configuration generation rule and a file configuration information generation means for generating a file configuration based on the file configuration generation rule corresponding to the specified user, user work state and event. And

Further, the means for identifying the work status of the user is to obtain the work status information from the work management system which inputs the current date and time information and manages the work of the user along the time axis. Characterize.

A system for providing a file providing service according to the present invention is a data file navigation system for registering a data file via a network and providing a data file desired by a file user. The file registrant and its work status are accepted from the user client, stored in association with the data file configuration, and data file configuration information is generated according to the file user and its work status from the file user client. It is characterized by being provided.

[0016]

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 of a data file management system according to the first embodiment. In this example, a file registrant registers file information and a file configuration is generated for each file user and each user's work status.

Here, "file" means document data created by a word processor, editor, etc., or HTML (Hype
r Text Markup Language), XML (eXtensible Markup L)
standard document data on the Internet such as anguage) and unit data of program data that describes software. In addition, CAD (Computer Aided Desig
n), unit data in shape data, analysis data, image data, moving image data, etc. used in CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) etc.

The "file structure" generally means a structure in which a plurality of files are grouped and represented by a tree structure of one or a plurality of layers.

At the time of file registration, the file information registration section 11
Stores the substance of the file whose file name is designated by the file registrant 10 as the file to be registered in the file management unit 12. Next, the file registrant 10 or the administrator of this system also uses the file information registration unit 11 to register the user registration information 14 of the system and the user work status registration information 15
Select a user or a group of users (roles of users such as A designer, B designer, etc.) and user work status (schematic design, detailed design, etc.) by referring to. Then, the corresponding file structure is defined, and user / user work status /
File configuration generation support information (file configuration generation rule)
Save as 13.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the data structure of the file structure generation rule. In Table 30, target users 32,
The target work 33 and the file structure 34 are associated as one line, and each line is labeled as a rule ID (31). This one line represents a general IF ... THEN ... rule. Taking rule ID = R1 as an example, it means IF {target user = “user group 1” and target work = “work A”} THEN {file configuration = “configuration 1”}.

As a method of expressing the file structure generation rule 30, besides the table format as shown in FIG. 3, the script format of IF ... THEN ... as described above may be used. The file configuration information generation unit 19 interprets this rule and validates the file configuration 1.

Here, as the file structure 1, in addition to the tree-type file structure in which parent-child relationships are defined in advance (explicit file structure), a file structure (implicit File structure). That is, as a method of defining the file structure, the file structure tree may be explicitly edited, or a search condition for specifying one or a plurality of files may be input.

On the other hand, when the file is used, the user identification unit 17
Determines whether the file user 16 is a user registered in the user registration information 14 and sends the specified user information to the file configuration information generation unit 19.

The user registration information 14 specifies whether the user himself / herself is specified, the organization to which the user belongs, the position / role of the user, etc. It may be one that specifies a terminal, a network device or the like to be used. As a method for specifying, there are a method in which the user inputs a user ID, a password and the like from a terminal, and a method in which a sensor is used to acquire a physical characteristic capable of specifying the user. Also,
There is a method to obtain the ID of the terminal or network device used by the user.

Next, the user work status specifying unit 18 specifies the work status of the file user 16 and sends the specified user work status information to the file configuration information generating unit 19.

FIG. 4 shows a method of identifying the user work state.
As shown in (a), the input of the user work status specifying unit 18 displays the work item 110 to be performed by the file user 16 on the screen from the user work status registration information 15, and the user is selected from the work items 110. There is a method to directly select. Further, as shown in (b), the work item 111 and the check box 112 are displayed on the screen, and the user inputs a check mark to the completed work item to work on the next unchecked work item. State. Alternatively, as shown in (c), for example, "XXX
Correspondences between created documents and work items such as "design specifications" and "XXX design" are registered in advance. Then, there is a method in which the created document list 113 is displayed on the screen and the user directly selects from the list 113 to bring the corresponding work item into the work state.

In addition to the method of directly or indirectly designating the work state by the user as described above, there is also a method of automatically specifying the work state of the user. FIG. 5 is a system configuration diagram when the data file management system and the work management system cooperate with each other. This system 120 cooperates with a work management system 121 such as a scheduler, which is an external system, to acquire schedule information 123 about the user in the user information 122, and identify the user's work status by comparison with the current date and time information. To do.

After that, the file configuration information generation unit 19 receives the specified user information and the specified user work status information as input, and the user / user work status / file structure generation correspondence information (file structure generation rule). ) See 13
Generate the corresponding file configuration information.

The file information presenting unit 100 is the file user 1
The generated file configuration information is presented to 6. The file configuration information generation unit 19 and the file information presentation unit 10
The processing between 0 may be executed via a network such as the Internet.

FIG. 6 shows the flow of processing at the time of file information registration in the first embodiment. In the file information registration section 11, set the file structure of the data file (4
0), select the target user from the user registration information 14 (4
1) The target work is selected from the user work status registration information 15 (42), and the selection items of the processes 40, 41 and 42 are stored in association with each other (43). If there is another file configuration rule item (44), the process returns to the process 40. The execution order of the processes 40, 41, 42 may be arbitrary.

FIG. 7 shows the flow of processing when the file information is used in the first embodiment. The user identification unit 17 identifies the user from the input information from the user 16 and the user registration information 14 (60), and the user work state identification unit 18 inputs the information from the user 16 and the user work. Status registration information
The user work status is specified from 15 (61). Next, the file configuration generation unit 19 generates a corresponding file configuration from the acquired user and user work status (62), and the file information presentation unit 100 presents the file configuration information to the user (63). .

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the work status information of the user and the data file are stored in association with each other as a file configuration rule, so that the user and the work status information are specified. For example, the file corresponding to the working state can be provided. According to this, it becomes possible to provide information according to the user's work phase.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment is an example in which a means for acquiring event information is added to the first embodiment and a file configuration is generated according to the event.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a data file management system according to the second embodiment. When registering a file, the file registrant 10 refers to the user registration information 14, the user work status registration information 15, and the event registration information 20 of this system by the file information registration unit 11. And the user,
Alternatively, select a group of users and an event condition for which the file structure corresponding to the user work status is valid, and set as event condition / user / user work status / file structure generation correspondence information (file structure generation rule) 21. save.

The data structure of the file structure generation rule 21 is the same as that of the table 30 of FIG. FIG. 3B shows the data structure of the rule 21 in the second embodiment.
As described above, in another table 35, the event ID 36 and the execution rule ID 37 are associated as one row. further,
As shown in FIG. 3C, in the table 38, the event ID 39 and the actual event content 300 are stored in association with each other. Thereby, for example, when “file X is registered” as an event, the file configuration information generation unit 24 acquires the corresponding event ID = E1 in the table 38 and acquires the corresponding execution rule ID = R3 in the table 35. Finally, the rule with rule ID = R3 in table 30 is validated.

Here, the "event" means a change in the system internal state or information based on the system clock that can be acquired by this system. The event includes log information such as "file X is newly registered in the file management unit 12", "user A refers to file X", and "200X
There is something related to time information such as "after January 1, year". One or more of these are combined to form an event condition.

The event information acquisition unit 22 determines the event condition /
The occurrence of an event 25 registered as an event condition in the user / user work status / file configuration generation correspondence information (file configuration generation rule) 21 is monitored. When the event 25 occurs, the event ID is stored as the event occurrence information 23. Event 25 is monitored by
File management part in case of event related to file registration
12. In the case of an event related to file reference, the file configuration information generation unit 24 is used. In the case of an event related to time information, the system clock is used.

After that, the file configuration information generating section 24 determines the specified user information, the specified user work status information,
The event information (event ID) that has occurred is input, and the event condition / user / user work status / file structure generation correspondence information (file structure generation rule) 21 is referenced to generate corresponding file structure information. The file information presentation unit 100 presents the file configuration information to the file user 16.

FIG. 8 shows the flow of processing when registering file information in the second embodiment. In the file information registration section 11, set the file structure of the data file (5
0), select the target user from the user registration information 14 (5
1) The target work is selected from the user work status registration information 15 (52), and the event condition is selected from the event registration information 20 (53). Then, the selection items of the processes 50, 51, 52 and 53 are stored in association with each other (54). If there is another file configuration rule item (55), the process returns to the process 50. Note that process 5
The execution order of 0, 51, 52, 53 may be arbitrary.

FIG. 9 shows the flow of processing when the file information is used in the second embodiment. In the event information acquisition unit 22, when the event condition to be monitored is acquired from the file configuration generation rule 21 (70) and the event 25 occurs,
The generated event information (event ID) is saved as event occurrence information 23 (72).

On the other hand, in the user identifying section 17, the user 16
The user is identified from the input information from the user and the user registration information 14 (73), and the user work status identification unit 18 identifies the user work status from the input information from the user 16 and the user work status registration information 15. Identify (74). Then, the file configuration information generation unit 24 acquires the event information 23 that has already occurred (75), generates a corresponding file configuration from the acquired user, user work status, and event information (76), and presents the file information. In the section 100, the file configuration information is presented to the user (77).

Next, an operation method for registering file information in this embodiment will be described. FIG. 10 shows an example of an operation screen when registering file information. The file information registration screen 90 has a rule ID display area 91 for designating and displaying the ID of the file configuration generation rule, a file configuration editing area 93, a target user designation area 94, and a target work designation area 95.

In the rule ID display area 91, already registered rule IDs are displayed, and a rule ID to be called is selected from among them. When creating a new rule, a new rule ID is generated by clicking the "Create new rule" button 97 with a pointing device such as a mouse and displayed at 91.

The file structure editing area 93 is in the file management section 12, and the target user designation area 95 is in the user registration information 14
In addition, the target work designation area 96 is the user work status registration information 15
To access each information. Here, each information has a hierarchy, and the desired information can be specified by freely tracing the hierarchy in each area. When the input information of all areas is decided and the rule is to be registered, the "Register" button 97 is clicked, and the deletion is clicked by the "Delete" button 98. Up to this point, the configuration is common to that of the first embodiment.

In order to correspond to the second embodiment, an event condition designation area 92 is provided. In the area 92, the event conditions for which the rules set in the areas 93, 94, and 95 are valid are specified. The following are examples of input information of event conditions. [Event type]: "File registration" / "File update" / "File deletion" / "File reference" / "Date of use", ... [Event condition parameter]: "File registration": Registered file name, File registrant name, "File update": Update file name, File updater name, "File delete": Deleted file name, File deleter name, "File reference": Reference file name, File reference Name of person, "Date of use": MM / DD / YYYY year YYYY / MM / DD DD / YYYY / MM / DD DD
Until the day).

When an event type and an event condition parameter are set for one event condition item and there are a plurality of event condition items, whether each is an independent condition,
Specify whether it is an AND condition.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to provide the user with the optimum information corresponding to the work status of the user and the event information.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. User work status specifying unit in the first and second embodiments
As one application example of 18, it is an example of linking with an external work management system such as a scheduling system.

FIG. 11 shows the flow of processing in the third embodiment. The user work status specifying unit 18 acquires the user information specified by the user specifying unit 17 (80), and acquires the current date and time information from the clock function of the system (81). External work management system based on the acquired user information
Contact 121 for schedule information about the user 123
Get (82). Then, the current date / time information is compared with the schedule information 123 to acquire the current work status information of the user (83), and the acquired user work status information is input to the file configuration information generation unit (19, 24). Yes (84). Thus, the file structure can be changed according to the work status registered in the scheduling system. When there is no work corresponding to the current date and time information, the work closest in time or the work close in time is presented to the user in order.

FIG. 12 shows schedule information 12 serving as an interface between the file management system and the work management system.
An example of the data file format (XML) of 3 is shown. This format was created with reference to the PSL-X specification, which is XML for production planning.

Next, a system in which the present invention is applied to an information providing service business will be described. FIG. 13 is a system configuration diagram of the information providing service. Information service provider 10
0 builds the data file management system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 on the information service server 102 and the database 103.

The information service server 102 provides the information service to the file user 16 and the file registrant 10 who are remote via the network 104 such as the Internet through the file user client 105 or the file registrant client 106. I will provide a. User 1
Since 0 and the registrant 16 may be the same user, the functions of the client 105 and the client 106 may be integrated.

The information service provider 100 manages user information, a base file structure, and a file structure generation rule through the management client 101. As for the charging method, it is collected on a user-by-user basis according to the number of times of use, the amount of used data files, and the like.

[0054]

According to the present invention, information can be provided according to the work status of the user. Also, since the optimum information according to the user's work status and event information can be provided to the user, accessibility to the data file is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a data file management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a data file management system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a data structure diagram of a file configuration generation rule.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an operation screen when there is an input by a user in the user work state specifying unit.

FIG. 5 is a system configuration diagram in the case where a user work status specifying unit cooperates with a work management system.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when file information is registered in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when file information is used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when file information is registered in the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when using file information in the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation screen when registering file information.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the case of linking with an external work management system in the third embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a structural diagram of a data file of schedule information serving as an interface between the data file management system and the work management system.

FIG. 13 is a system configuration diagram when the present invention is applied to an information service business.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... File registrant, 11 ... File information registration section, 12 ... File management section, 13 ... File configuration generation rule, 14 ... User registration information, 15 ... User work status registration information, 16 ... File user, 17 ... User identification section, 18 ... User work state identification section, 19 ... File configuration information generation section, 100 ... File information presentation section, 20 ... Event registration information, 21 ... File configuration generation rule, 22 ... Event information acquisition section, 23 … Event occurrence information, 24… File configuration information generator, 25… Events, 30…
Table, 31 ... Rule ID, 32 ... Target user, 33 ... Target work, 34 ... File structure, 35 ... Table, 36 ... Event I
D, 37 ... Execution rule ID, 38 ... Table, 39 ... Event I
D, 300 ... Event details, 90 ... File information registration screen, 91
… Rule ID display area, 92… Event condition specification area,
93 ... File structure editing area, 94 ... File search condition input area, 95 ... Target user specification area, 96 ... Target work specification area, 97 ... "Create new rule" button, 98 ... "Register" button, 99 ... "Delete" Button, 101 ... management client, 102 ... information service server, 103 ... database, 104 ... network, 105 ... file user client, 106 ... file registrant client, 110, 11
1 ... work item, 112 ... check column, 121 ... work management system, 122 ... user information, 123 ... schedule information.

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kotaro Iwahara             3-1-1 Sachimachi, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Stock Association             Hitachi, Ltd. Nuclear Business Division (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Yuchi             3-1-1 Sachimachi, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Stock Association             Hitachi, Ltd. Nuclear Business Division F term (reference) 5B075 KK32 NK01 PR10                 5B082 EA07

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A data file navigation method for managing a plurality of data files and providing a desired data file in response to a user's request, wherein the data file has a plurality of work states in which the work states of the user are registered in advance. A data file navigation method which is managed together with registration information, and when a work status of a user is designated, the data file corresponding to the work status registration information is extracted by comparing with the work status registration information. 2. The data file according to claim 1, wherein a file structure to be set, a target user selected from user registration information, and a target work selected from the work status registration information are stored in association with each other. A data file navigation method characterized by the above. 3. A data file navigation method for managing a plurality of data files and providing a desired data file in response to a user's request, wherein the data file registers a plurality of work states of the user in advance. It is managed together with registration information and a plurality of event registration information defining event information related to the data file, and when the work status information of the user is designated, the work status information and the work status registration information are compared and applicable. A data file navigation method characterized by monitoring the occurrence of a defined event corresponding to work status registration information and extracting a data file corresponding to the corresponding event registration information when an event occurs. 4. The data file according to claim 3, wherein the data file includes a file configuration to be set, a target user selected from user registration information, a target work selected from the work status registration information, and the event registration information. A data file navigation method characterized in that selected event information is linked and saved. 5. The schedule according to claim 1, wherein when the user information of the user registered in advance is acquired and the current date and time information is acquired, the work management system is inquired on the condition of the user information. A data file navigation method comprising: acquiring information, acquiring work status information from the date and time information and the schedule information, and providing a data file according to the work status information. 6. A data file management system for managing a plurality of data files, a user specifying unit for specifying a user, a user work status specifying unit for specifying a user work status, and a file for registering a file structure. An information registration unit, a file configuration generation rule storage unit that stores a file configuration generation rule that associates the file configuration, the user, and the user work state with each other, and corresponds to the identified user and user work state. A data file management system comprising: a file configuration information generation unit that generates a file configuration based on a file configuration generation rule; and a file information presentation unit that presents the generated file configuration information to a user. 7. The means for defining a character included in a name of the data file or a search condition expression for data included in the data file as the file structure information, and a data file structure by the search. And a means for generating a data file management system. 8. The device according to claim 6, wherein the file structure generation rule defines valid event information, a unit for monitoring occurrence of the defined event information, the file structure, the user, and the usage. A file configuration rule storage unit that stores a file configuration generation rule corresponding to the user work status and the event information, and a file configuration based on the specified user, the user work status and the file configuration generation rule corresponding to the event information. A data file management system comprising: a file configuration information generation unit for generating. 9. A data file management system for managing a plurality of data files, wherein a user identification part for identifying a user, a user work status identification part for identifying a work status of the user, and file information are registered. A file information registration unit, a file structure generation rule storage unit that stores a file structure generation rule that associates a file structure, a user, and a user work status with each other, and a file structure that corresponds to a specified user and user work status It has a file configuration information generation unit that generates a file configuration based on a generation rule, and a file information presentation unit that presents the generated file configuration information to the user, and the user work status identification unit is the current date and time. Data characterized by inputting information and acquiring work status information from a work management system that manages the work of the user along the time axis Airu management systems. 10. In a data file navigation system for registering a data file via a network and providing a data file desired by a file user, a file file registrant and a work state of the file registrant are displayed from a client for the data file registrant. A data file navigation system, which receives and saves the data file in association with the configuration of the data file, and generates and provides data file configuration information according to the file user and the work status thereof.