JP2005100190A - Document management apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic bulletin board technique that has functions fit as a business tool. <P>SOLUTION: A document management apparatus 100 uses electronic bulletin boards to provide a user with document contents under management. The document management apparatus 100 manages correlations between a plurality of electronic bulletin boards. When providing the electronic bulletin boards for a client device 14, the document management apparatus 100 provides the electronic bulletin boards as visualizing the correlations. The user can thus understand the correlations of each electronic bulletin board and can, for example, manage the bulletin boards by projects to understand necessary electronic bulletin boards easily. This solves the disadvantage that an electronic bulletin board is functionally inefficient as a business tool. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a document management technique, and more particularly to an apparatus that electronically manages a document and has an electronic bulletin board function that enables browsing from a plurality of users.

As network technology such as infrastructure for network communication, various communication software, and security technology has been developed and reliability has been increased, network technology has been actively used in business scenes. Various documents in the business are handled as digital data, and are transmitted as an attachment to an e-mail or circulated electronically, for example. As a document providing method using such a network, there is an electronic bulletin board (hereinafter simply referred to as “electronic bulletin board”). An electronic bulletin board is a system that enables one-to-many information transmission instead of one-to-one information transmission like an e-mail, and allows a plurality of users to view or write a message written by a certain user. I can do it. Some of such electronic bulletin boards have a function of counting written information (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2000-49848 A

  Electronic bulletin boards are widely used as communication means on the Internet. Some sites that provide electronic bulletin boards allow users to create new bulletin boards for each category prepared in advance. However, any of the electronic bulletin boards has been developed as a place for exchanging opinions regarding daily contents between users, and is insufficient in function to be used as a business tool.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object thereof is to provide an electronic bulletin board technology having a function that can be endured as a business tool.

  An embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus that provides content to be managed to a client apparatus through an electronic bulletin board. This apparatus includes a means for receiving content, a means for storing identification information for specifying a bulletin board and a received content in association with each other, and a correlation state between the first bulletin board and the second bulletin board, and the identification information for those bulletin boards. Managing means for managing in association with each other, means for generating screen information for visualizing the correlation state based on the identification information associated with each other, and means for transmitting the screen information to the client device. Thereby, the user can grasp intuitively the correlation state of a bulletin board.

  The apparatus may further include means for setting processing authority for the content associated with the identification information in the identification information. Thereby, only the correlation state of the bulletin board having the processing authority can be visualized according to the processing authority of the user.

  The management means manages the correlation state in a hierarchical manner, and this apparatus assigns the processing authority set in the first identification information to the second identification information belonging to the lower hierarchy of the first identification information in which the processing authority is set. You may further provide the means to inherit. Thereby, the processing authority setting operation can be simplified.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while managing the correlation state of several electronic bulletin boards, the correlation state can be visualized. Thereby, a highly convenient document management apparatus can be provided.

  FIG. 1A is a configuration diagram of a document management system 10 according to the embodiment. The document management apparatus 100 is connected to a first client apparatus 14 a and a second client apparatus 14 b (hereinafter simply referred to as “client apparatus 14”) via the network 12. The document management apparatus 100 stores the content and provides the content to the client device 14 using the electronic bulletin board function. The “content” is information that can be recognized by the user visually, auditorily, or tactilely by processing with a predetermined application such as image data, video data, audio data, and document data. Further, the content may be composed of a single file or a combination of a plurality of files and data. In short, the content is information necessary for executing a predetermined process by a predetermined application.

  FIG. 1B is a diagram showing an example of a bulletin board display screen 50 displayed on the client device 14 of FIG. The bulletin board display screen 50 includes a hierarchical display area 52 for displaying the hierarchical structure of the electronic bulletin board, and a list display area 54 for displaying a list of contents included in the selected electronic bulletin board. The bulletin board display screen 50 is displayed by a browser installed in the client device 14. The browser may be a general HTML browser that performs display processing based on a file formed based on a document description language such as HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), or data from the document management apparatus 100. A dedicated browser that acquires and displays the bulletin board display screen 50 may be used.

  The hierarchy display area 52 displays the hierarchical structure of the electronic bulletin board managed by the document management apparatus 100. This hierarchical structure includes a new arrival box 66 and a bulletin board box 68. The details of the bulletin board box 68 can be added by the user as will be described later. Each bulletin board box 68 represents one electronic bulletin board. In this figure, the hierarchical structure of the electronic bulletin board is visualized in a branch shape. However, in other examples, the present invention is not limited to this, and the electronic bulletin board may be visualized so that the correlation state for each electronic bulletin board can be visually grasped. As described above, by visualizing the correlation state of the electronic bulletin board, the user can intuitively grasp the correlation state of each electronic bulletin board, and can find and browse necessary information in a short time.

  When browsing the electronic bulletin board, the user selects a desired bulletin board box 68. The selected icon 64 indicates a selected state. In this figure, the electronic bulletin board “2003/10/15” is selected. When an electronic bulletin board is selected, a list of contents registered in the selected electronic bulletin board is displayed in the list display area 54. Each content is associated with a comment file that can be freely written by a plurality of users. That is, the electronic bulletin board according to the present embodiment can register a plurality of combinations of content and comment files associated with the content. By selecting the document icon 56 or the comment icon 58 associated with the desired content or comment, the corresponding document 60 or comment 62 is displayed. The document 60 or the comment 62 may be displayed in the list display area 54 or may be displayed in another display area.

  By selecting the new arrival box 66, a list of newly registered contents can be displayed in the list display area 54. Although details will be described later, when a new content is registered, the document management apparatus 100 in FIG. 1A stores the content in association with one of the electronic bulletin boards. Then, the document management apparatus 100 associates the link information to the newly stored content with the new arrival box 66. Thus, by selecting the new arrival box 66, a new content list can be displayed, and the user can be prevented from forgetting to see the new content.

  The registration button 55 is a button for starting processing for newly registering content on the electronic bulletin board. By pressing the registration button 55, an operation screen for registering content is displayed. According to the screen, for example, content selection, electronic bulletin board selection, browsing authority setting, and the like are performed. With such an electronic bulletin board, various contents can be classified and managed for each category desired by the user, and the correlation state between categories can be intuitively grasped by hierarchically visualizing those categories. Moreover, since the correlation state between categories can be set arbitrarily, for example, by setting the correlation state for each planning project or in time series, it can be utilized in accordance with the business scene.

  FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the document management apparatus 100 of FIG. In terms of hardware components, each component of the document management apparatus 100 is a CPU, a memory of any computer, a program that realizes the components of this figure loaded in the memory, and a storage unit such as a hard disk that stores the program. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that there are various modifications in the implementation method and apparatus. Each figure to be described below shows functional unit blocks, not hardware unit configurations.

  Based on an instruction from the client device 14, the setting unit 112 sets various information related to the electronic bulletin board, such as creation of an electronic bulletin board, authority setting such as browsing and deletion, and change of a correlation state with another electronic bulletin board. Do. The setting unit 112 stores various information regarding the electronic bulletin board in the hierarchical information storage unit 118 and stores information regarding authority in the authority information storage unit 120.

  The hierarchy information storage unit 118 holds information for specifying a correlation state with another electronic bulletin board for each electronic bulletin board. For example, identification information (hereinafter simply referred to as “bulletin board ID”) is assigned to each electronic bulletin board, and the document management apparatus 100 manages each electronic bulletin board and contents and comment files included therein based on the bulletin board ID. The bulletin board ID is associated with the electronic bulletin board so that the upper and lower electronic bulletin boards can be identified for each electronic bulletin board. For example, the hierarchical information storage unit 118 uses XML (eXtensible Markup Language) to describe a tag indicating a lower electronic bulletin board belonging to the electronic bulletin board between a start tag indicating an upper electronic bulletin board and an end tag. Thus, the hierarchical structure may be held, or the bulletin board IDs of the upper and lower electronic bulletin boards may be held for each electronic bulletin board. The data structure of the hierarchy information storage unit 118 is arbitrary. In short, it is only necessary to hold data so that the correlation state of each electronic bulletin board can be specified.

  The authority information storage unit 120 holds, for each electronic bulletin board, authority to execute various processes for content and comment files associated with the electronic bulletin board such as browsing authority, deletion authority, printing authority, and changing authority. Such authority can be set for each user and each group. The authority information storage unit 120 further holds information about a group and users belonging to the group so that the authority can be set for each group. For example, the authority information storage unit 120 stores identification information of users or groups having authority for various processes in association with the bulletin board ID of each electronic bulletin board. Thus, by setting authority for each electronic bulletin board, for example, an electronic bulletin board that can be browsed only by members of a predetermined project can be created.

  The authority automatic setting unit 114 automatically sets authority for various processes for the electronic bulletin board. For example, when an electronic bulletin board is newly registered, the authority automatic setting unit 114 automatically sets the electronic bulletin board by inheriting the authority of the upper electronic bulletin board based on the correlation state of the electronic bulletin board. In another example, the authority automatic setting unit 114 sets the authority set in the upper electronic bulletin board as a default value, and then presents the authority set as the default value to the user and prompts the user to change the authority. Also good. Thereby, the authority setting operation for the electronic bulletin board can be simplified. Further, when there is no other electronic bulletin board at the top of the newly registered electronic bulletin board, that is, when the highest electronic bulletin board is newly registered, the authority automatic setting unit 114 may prompt the user to set authority. Alternatively, the viewing authority may be set only for the user who created the electronic bulletin board and set as a default value. The authority automatic setting unit 114 refers to the hierarchical information storage unit 118 in order to recognize the correlation state of the electronic bulletin board.

  The registration unit 102 receives content to be newly registered on the electronic bulletin board from the client device 14 and stores it in the document information storage unit 104 in association with the designated electronic bulletin board. The registration unit 102 assigns identification information (hereinafter simply referred to as “content ID”) to each received content, and stores the content ID and the bulletin board ID in association with each other in the document information storage unit 104. That is, the document information storage unit 104 stores a content body, and holds a table in which a path for specifying the storage location of the content body, a name of the content, a content ID, and a bulletin board ID are associated with each other. Thereby, content can be managed for each electronic bulletin board.

  The providing unit 106 dynamically generates screen information for forming the bulletin board display screen 50 of FIG. 1B according to the user who operates the client device 14 and provides the client device 14 with the screen information. Prior to the generation of the screen information, the providing unit 106 identifies a user who operates the client device 14 and requests the hierarchical structure visualization unit 122 for a hierarchical structure of the electronic bulletin board corresponding to the user. The providing unit 106 may specify the user by performing authentication, or may specify the user based on, for example, the IP address or the MAC address of the client device 14.

  The hierarchical structure visualization unit 122 refers to the hierarchical information storage unit 118 and the authority information storage unit 120 to identify electronic bulletin boards that can be browsed by the user supplied from the providing unit 106 and displays the identified electronic bulletin boards in a hierarchical manner. To generate hierarchical display information. In the present embodiment, the hierarchical structure visualization unit 122 forms hierarchical display information based on the data held in the hierarchical information storage unit 118 so as to visualize the correlation state of each electronic bulletin board in a branch shape according to the hierarchy. To do. The hierarchical display information may be generated based on a document description language such as HTML, for example, or may be generated according to another language or data format.

  For example, when the browsing authority is not set for the upper electronic bulletin board and the user's browsing authority is set for the lower electronic bulletin board, the hierarchical structure visualization unit 122 does not set the browsing authority. The electronic bulletin board is also visualized, but the hierarchical display information is formed so that the contents and comment files associated with the electronic bulletin board cannot be browsed. Specifically, when hierarchical display information is described using HTML, information for displaying a list in the list display area 54 is displayed in the bulletin board box 68 in FIG. Do not add the link. On the other hand, the hierarchical structure visualization unit 122 does not visualize electronic bulletin boards that have no viewing authority from the upper level to the lower level. That is, no code for visualizing the electronic bulletin board is described in the hierarchical display information. Thereby, the hierarchy structure visualization part 122 can visualize the some electronic bulletin board relevant to a user so that those correlation states may be grasped | ascertained easily. The hierarchical structure visualization unit 122 generates hierarchical display information for displaying in the hierarchical display area 52 of FIG. The hierarchical structure visualization unit 122 supplies the generated hierarchical display information to the providing unit 106.

  The new arrival list generation unit 108 uses the content information newly stored in the document information storage unit 104 and the browsing history stored in the browsing history storage unit 110 to display content or electronic content that the user has not browsed yet. A bulletin board is specified and a new arrival list is generated. A link to a file for forming the specified content or electronic bulletin board is added to the new arrival list. Then, the new arrival list generation unit 108 supplies the generated new arrival list to the provision unit 106.

  The providing unit 106 associates the new arrival list with the new arrival box 66 in FIG. 1B, and generates screen information for forming the bulletin board display screen 50 in FIG. 1B based on the hierarchical display information. Then, the providing unit 106 provides the screen information to the client device 14. Based on the screen information, the electronic bulletin board list, contents, comments, etc. requested from the client device 14 are read from the document information storage unit 104 and provided. When a new writing is performed on a comment provided to the client device 14, the providing unit 106 receives the new writing from the client device 14 and updates the comment file stored in the document information storage unit 104. Further, the providing unit 106 associates the content ID of the provided content with the user ID, and stores them in the browsing history storage unit 110.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a bulletin board setting screen 80 used for operations such as creation and change of an electronic bulletin board in the setting unit 112 of FIG. This bulletin board setting screen 80 is displayed on the client device 14. The hierarchy display area 52 is an area for visualizing and displaying the correlation state of each electronic bulletin board at the set time in a hierarchical manner. The setting item input area 82 is an area for performing various settings for the electronic bulletin board. This figure is an example of a display for creating a lower electronic bulletin board for the selected electronic bulletin board. When the user presses the setting button 84, the item input in the setting item input area 82 is transmitted from the client device 14 to the setting unit 112, and the setting unit 112 starts registration processing. Further, when the user presses a cancel button 86, the setting process is stopped.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of the respective constituent elements and processing processes, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. is there.

FIG. 1A is a configuration diagram of the document management system according to the embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating an example of a bulletin board display screen displayed on the client device of FIG. . It is an internal block diagram of the document management apparatus of Fig.1 (a). It is a figure which shows an example of the bulletin board setting screen utilized for operation, such as creation and a change of an electronic bulletin board in the setting part of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  10 document management system, 12 network, 50 bulletin board display screen, 52 hierarchy display area, 54 list display area, 60 documents, 62 comments, 66 new arrival box, 68 bulletin board box, 80 bulletin board setting screen, 82 setting item input area, 100 document Management device, 102 registration unit, 104 document information storage unit, 106 providing unit, 108 new arrival list generation unit, 110 browsing history storage unit, 112 setting unit, 114 authority automatic setting unit, 118 hierarchy information storage unit, 120 authority information storage unit 122 Hierarchical structure visualization unit, 14 client device, 14a first client device, 14b second client device.

Claims (3)

A device that provides content to be managed to a client device through an electronic bulletin board,
Means for receiving the content;
Means for storing the identification information for identifying the bulletin board in association with the received content;
Management means for managing the correlation between the first bulletin board and the second bulletin board in association with the identification information of those bulletin boards;
Means for generating screen information for visualizing the correlation state based on mutually associated identification information;
Means for transmitting the screen information to the client device;
A document management apparatus comprising:   The document management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for setting processing authority for the content associated with the identification information in the identification information. The management means manages the correlation state in a hierarchical manner,
The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means for inheriting the processing authority set in the first identification information to the second identification information belonging to a lower hierarchy of the first identification information in which the processing authority is set. The document management apparatus described.

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