JP2006079403A - Workflow server, method and program for controlling workflow and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To deliver an electronic document to be sent to a proxy requester in accordance with a business flow, i.e. an organization, and to prevent also a user entrusted as a proxy user from deputizing approval or settlement when the proxy user belongs to an organization which is not included in a delivery route. <P>SOLUTION: A workflow server 200 having a table in which one or more entrusted users can be set for each user and capable of controlling the delivery of an electronic document by referring to the entrusted users set in the table determines the user information of a user which may be a succeeding delivery destination of the electronic document on the basis of route information defined in the electronic document by roll information in accordance with an electronic document processing request sent from a workflow operating terminal 300, and when a plurality of entrusted users information data are set in the user information of the user which is the determined delivery destination, the server 200 determines the entrusted user information located on the upper layer of a creator of the electronic document as user information to be the succeeding delivery destination of the electronic document. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a workflow server, a workflow control method, a program, and a recording medium capable of performing proxy delegation control of circulation of electronic documents (business matters) in a workflow system including a client / server system.

  There is a workflow system as one of the infrastructures for improving the efficiency of electronic document (business case) approval work.

  The workflow system sets the distribution unit (distribution order) of the electronic document between the distributors in advance by registering the distribution unit (distribution order) of the electronic document between the distributors in advance by the organization, role, or user. Try to distribute documents.

  In the workflow system, a function is required to enable other users (agents) to process matters for the purpose of avoiding business stagnation when the user to whom the item is distributed is absent.

  For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-177603) is known as a conventional workflow system that enables a case processing by an agent.

This means that when an electronic document is sent to an absent user, the designated user is designated as a new destination user if a substitute is designated, and the same if no substitute is designated. Specify another user in a role that has a group of users with roles as a new distribution destination candidate, and refer to the user management table that records whether documents can be accepted (acceptance status) for each role. Is going to determine the person. That is, if the acceptance status of the destination candidate in the user management table indicates acceptance permission, the candidate is determined to be a substitute, and the designated delivery destination candidate acceptance status indicates acceptance prohibition Means that the first transmission of the case has failed, and the same procedure is repeated for the next user defined in the role.
JP-A-10-177603

  The above workflow system is effective in avoiding business stagnation because the user in the role is made a candidate sequentially when no substitute is set, but on the other hand, the role setter is the same. It is also inefficient in terms of operation and management because users with roles must be registered and accepted or rejected for each case while checking the business details.

  In addition, since an agent is selected from roles, there is a possibility that the agent may be distributed to agents who are not related to the matter depending on the role setting method (setting mistake). Originally, business cases are distributed according to the flow of work, that is, the organization, and it is unnatural for a user who is set up in a role to perform approval and approval work for an organization who is not in the delivery route. Yes, there are business problems.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a table on which a plurality of delegation destination users can be set for each user for a user on a workflow system. In a workflow server that controls delivery of an electronic document (business matter) with reference to the delegation destination of the table, in response to an electronic document processing request from a client, based on path information defined by role information for the electronic document And determining the user information as the next delivery destination of the electronic document and, if the delegation destination user information is set for the determined user information as the delivery destination, the delivery destination is designated as the delegation destination. In particular, when a plurality of delegation destination user information is set for the user information as the determined delivery destination, the plurality of delegation is determined. Among the user information, the delegation destination user information associated with the affiliation information in the upper layer of the affiliation information associated with the user information that becomes the drafter of the electronic document is used as the user information that is the next delivery destination of the electronic document. By deciding, the electronic document (business matter) sent to the absent person is delivered according to the business flow, that is, the organization. Construct a flexible workflow system that enables natural delegation processing according to the flow of work, such as delegating approval work (that is, authorizing and making approval work for organizations in the delivery route) A possible workflow server, workflow control method, program, and recording medium are provided.

  The present invention is a workflow server for controlling circulation of an electronic document in a workflow system constituted by a client / server system, wherein a plurality of user information to be registered, role information associated with each user information, User information associated with user information, hierarchical information indicating the hierarchical structure of each member information, route information in which a delivery route of an electronic document is defined by the role information, and each user information associated with each user information Storage means capable of storing one or a plurality of delegation destination user information set as a delegation destination, and path information defined by role information for the electronic document in response to an electronic document processing request from a client And determining user information to be the next delivery destination of the electronic document based on the user information to be delegated to the user information to be the delivery destination thus determined. If the information is set, a delivery destination determining means for changing the delivery destination to the delegation destination user information is included, and the delivery destination determination means includes the user information as the determined delivery destination. On the other hand, when a plurality of delegation destination user information is set, among the plurality of delegation destination user information, the affiliation information in the upper layer of the affiliation information associated with the user information as the drafter of the electronic document The associated delegation destination user information is determined as user information to be a next delivery destination of the electronic document.

  According to the present invention, in a workflow system constituted by a client / server system, a plurality of registered user information, role information associated with each user information, affiliation information associated with each user information, Hierarchical information indicating the hierarchical structure of each affiliation information, route information in which a delivery route of an electronic document is defined by the role information, and one or more set as a delegation destination of each user information in association with each user information And the next delivery of the electronic document based on the route information defined in the role information for the electronic document in response to the electronic document processing request from the client When the user information that is the destination is determined and a plurality of delegation destination user information is set for the user information that is the determined delivery destination, Since any one of the delegation-destination user information linked to the affiliation information of the hierarchical structure of the user information to be the planner is changed and determined as user information to be the next delivery destination of the electronic document, Deliver electronic documents (business cases) sent to the agency requester) according to the flow of work, that is, the organization, and even if the user is delegated, the approval / approval work must be done for the users who are not on the delivery route. It is possible to perform a natural proxy delegation process in accordance with the flow of operations such as delegation (permission of approval / approval operations for users of organizations in the delivery route).

  Therefore, it is possible to construct a flexible workflow system along the delivery route for each electronic document (business case).

  Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a workflow system to which this embodiment is applied.

  The workflow system according to this embodiment includes a workflow and slip design computer terminal (workflow and slip design terminal) 400, and a workflow operation computer terminal (workflow operation) provided corresponding to a processor (person in charge) who performs a task. Terminal 300), various tables for executing workflows, and a workflow server 200 for storing various programs.

  The workflow and slip design terminal 400, the workflow operation terminal 300, and the workflow server 200 are each connected to a network 500 and operated.

  The workflow and slip design terminal 400 includes a slip designer program 401 and a system management program 402, and creates a slip definition used in the workflow system and various definition information used in the workflow system. For example, the workflow and slip design terminal 400 can register an organization table, role table, user table, user role table, delivery definition information, various slip information, and the like in the workflow server 200. In order to perform these operations, the workflow and slip design terminal 400 can connect to the workflow server 200 by inputting its own identification information.

  The workflow operation terminal 300 uses the Web browser 301 executed on the workflow operation terminal 300 to transmit access information regarding the slip to the workflow server 200 by HTTP, and receives the result. At this time, the generated display / calculation processing is executed by using a Java (registered trademark) applet 302 or the like. The workflow operation terminal 300 is arranged for a person in charge (for example, a drafter, a section manager, a department manager, etc.) who performs a predetermined job specified in advance.

  The workflow server 200 is an RDBMS (Relational DataBase Management System) 205 that stores information related to the workflow system (organization table, role table, user table, user role table, delivery definition information, delivery information table, various slip information), and for workflow operations. An HTTP server 201 for accepting a request from a computer terminal and executing the request, a servlet engine 202, a workflow program 203, and an SMTP server 204 for realizing a workflow notification function.

  Hereinafter, a hardware configuration of a computer applicable to the workflow server 200, the workflow operation terminal 300, the workflow and the slip design terminal 400 illustrated in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a computer applicable to the workflow server 200, the workflow operation terminal 300, the workflow and slip design terminal 400 shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 101 denotes a CPU, which is stored in a ROM 103 or a hard disk (HD) 104 (any other storage device such as a flexible disk, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.) 104. The entire computer is controlled by loading the program onto the RAM 102 and executing it. The RAM 102 is used as a work area for the CPU 101.

  A communication interface 107 enables connection to the network 500. An input device 105 corresponds to a pointing device such as a keyboard or a mouse. Reference numeral 106 denotes a display device, which includes a CRT, LCD, or the like.

  Note that the RDBMS 205 of the workflow server 200 illustrated in FIG. 1 is built in the HD 104 of the workflow server 200. In addition, the HTTP server 201, the servlet engine 202, the workflow program 203, and the SMTP server 204 of the workflow server 200 are realized by the CPU 101 of the workflow server 200 loading and executing a program stored in the HD 104 on the RAM 102. The

  Further, the Web browser 301 of the workflow operation terminal 300 shown in FIG. 1 is realized by the CPU 101 of the workflow operation terminal 300 loading and executing a program stored in the HD 104 on the RAM 102.

  Further, the Java (registered trademark) applet 302 of the workflow operation terminal 300 shown in FIG. 1 is executed by the CPU 101 of the workflow operation terminal 300 executing the program downloaded from the workflow server 200 on the Web browser 301. Realized.

  The slip designer program 401 and the system management program 402 of the workflow and slip design terminal 400 shown in FIG. 1 are loaded into the RAM 102 by the CPU 101 of the workflow and slip design terminal 400 by loading a program stored in the HD 104. This is realized by executing.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of slips in the workflow system shown in FIG.

  In the workflow system according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, using the workflow operation terminal 300, the person in charge defined by an organization and a role called a node for issuing a slip and approving / rejecting the slip. Do. A business process is defined as a group of nodes to which a slip is delivered.

  FIG. 4 is an organization chart showing an example of the hierarchical structure of the organization used for explanation in the workflow system of this embodiment.

  The organization has a hierarchical structure. As shown in FIG. 4, a two-digit code is assigned to each department, and a code obtained by concatenating department codes from the highest hierarchy to an arbitrary department is an organization ID.

  For example, when it is desired to register the department “A company A business headquarters AA headquarters AAA section 1” shown in 6- (15), the organization IDs are 6- (10), 6- (11), 6- (12), 6- (13), 6- (14), the department codes “80”, “10”, “10”, “10”, “10” are concatenated to “8010101010”, which will be described later in FIG. It is registered in the organization table as shown in 3-A- (1). The organization table shown in FIG. 5 is obtained by registering the organization chart of FIG.

  The organization table, role table, user table, user role table, delivery definition information, and delivery information table stored in the RDBMS 205 of the workflow server 200 shown in FIG. 1 will be described below with reference to the organization chart of FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a data configuration diagram showing an example of the data structure of the organization table stored in the RDBMS 205 of the workflow server 200 shown in FIG. This organization table is for storing information related to the organization for realizing the workflow.

  In the organization table shown in FIG. 5, the organization ID represents an arbitrary organization name as a code, and always covers the upper organization ID. The organization name indicates the name on the display of the organization ID. Furthermore, the parent organization ID indicates a higher organization ID.

  FIG. 6 is a data configuration diagram showing an example of the data structure of the role table stored in the RDBMS 205 of the workflow server 200 shown in FIG. This role table is for storing information related to roles for realizing the workflow.

  In the role table shown in FIG. 6, the role ID is an arbitrary role name written as a code. The role name indicates a name on the display of the role ID.

  For example, the role corresponding to 3-B- (1) indicates that the role ID is “002” and the role name is “business manager”.

  FIG. 7 is a data configuration diagram showing an example of the data structure of the user table stored in the RDBMS 205 of the workflow server 200 shown in FIG. This user table is for storing user information for using the workflow.

  In the user table shown in FIG. 7, the user ID displays the user as an arbitrary code. The password is used for authentication together with the user ID when logging into the workflow system. Furthermore, the user name indicates the name on the display of the user ID. The e-mail indicates the notification destination of the workflow notification process performed by the SMTP server 204 shown in FIG.

  Further, the delegation destination ID is an item for registering the user ID of the person (request destination) who is requested to act on the behalf. The multiple delegation is an item for registering the presence / absence of multiple delegation settings of a subordinate organization described later.

  The “delegation destination ID” item and the “multiple delegation” item are for realizing the delegation control of the feature of the present invention, and are set and controlled by delegation setting from the proxy setting screen shown in FIG. .

  The proxy setting will be briefly described below.

  First, when delegated to one person, for example, the “section manager K1” of the user ID “U0012” shown in 3-C- (1) of FIG. 7 is changed to the user ID “U0007” shown in 3-C- (2). In the case of making an agency request to “Department B1”, the user ID “U0007” of “Department B1” is registered in “Delegation ID” of the record of the user ID “U0012” as shown in 3-C- (3) To do.

  Next, when delegating to a plurality of persons, “business manager J” of user ID “U0002” shown in 3-C- (4) is assigned user IDs “U0003” to “U0003” shown in 3-C- (5). When requesting an agency request from “Headquarters H1” to “Headquarters H4” of “U0006”, as shown in 3-C- (6), “Head of headquarters” in “Delegation ID” of the record of user ID “U0002” The user IDs “U0003”, “U0004”, “U0005”, “U0006” of “H1” to “Headquarters head H4” are registered, and as shown in 3-C- (7), “multiple delegation” is “1” ".

  FIG. 8 is a data configuration diagram showing an example of the data structure of the post table stored in the RDBMS 205 of the workflow server 200 shown in FIG. This post table is used to store post information for using the workflow.

  As shown in FIG. 8, each record in the post table includes “user ID” defined in the user table, “role ID” defined in the role table, and “organization” defined in the organization table. ID ”.

  For example, when “Business Headquarters J” is registered in “Business Headquarters” of “A Headquarters” shown in 6- (9) of FIG. 4, the user ID registered in the post table is the user table (FIG. 7). ) To “U0002” (3-C- (4)) with reference to the user ID of “Business Division Manager J”. Also, the role ID registered in the post table is “002” (3-B- (1)) with reference to the role ID of “business manager” from the role table (FIG. 6). Furthermore, the organization ID registered in the post table is “8010” with reference to the organization ID of “Company A Business Headquarters” from the organization table (FIG. 5).

  FIG. 9 is a data configuration diagram showing an example of the data structure of the delivery definition information stored in the RDBMS 205 of the workflow server 200 shown in FIG. The delivery definition information is for storing information defining a route through which the slip is delivered.

  Here, as an example, an example is shown in which the roles are delivered in the order of “employee” → “department manager” → “department manager” → “department manager” → “president”. When the delivery route of the slip is defined in this way, the delivery definition information of this delivery route is created as information of five records as shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, a method for creating the delivery definition information will be described.

  For example, when the slip name is “transportation expense”, the user first sets “transportation expense” as the slip name using the system management program from the workflow and slip design terminal 400, and then sets each node. To do. Taking node 1 as an example, by setting a code “U0007” indicating a department manager in node 1 and selecting a target organization (here, “A company” of organization ID “80” is selected), Role ID “004”, “Route organization ID” indicating “Voucher name” as “Transport expense”, “Organization ID” as “80”, “Node number” as “1”, “Route role ID” as “Director” Is set as an organization ID that plays a role. Here, “company A” with the organization ID “80” is selected as the target organization, and the delivery target person with the role ID “department manager” is not determined. Therefore, the route organization ID is “NULL” (indicated by a blank in the figure).

  FIG. 10 is a data configuration diagram showing an example of the data structure of the delivery information table stored in the RDBMS 205 of the workflow server 200 shown in FIG. This delivery information table is generated based on the delivery definition information shown in FIG. 9 during delivery processing in the workflow system shown in FIG. 11, which will be described later, and stores the route, status, etc. of the workflow. It is. The delivery information table corresponds to a case where a user with the user ID “U0012” has started. In this case, the slip is delivered as user IDs “U0012”, “U0007”, “U0003”, “U0002”, “U0001”.

  Hereinafter, the overall flow of the delivery processing procedure in the workflow system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a first control processing procedure in the workflow system of the present invention, and corresponds to the delivery processing by the workflow program 203 of the workflow server 200 shown in FIG. In the figure, (5000) to (5015) indicate each step.

  First, when the CPU of the workflow server 200 (hereinafter referred to as the CPU of the workflow server 200) that executes the workflow program 203 receives a slip processing request from the workflow operation terminal 300 (step (5000)), the delivery process is started.

  The CPU of the workflow server 200 switches the delivery process based on the “draft”, “approval”, and “denial”, which are request categories of the slip processing request received in step (5000) (step (5001)). .

  In step (5001), when the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines that the request category of the slip processing request received in step (5000) is “draft”, in step (5002), the workflow server 200 The CPU sets the node number “0” in the delivery information table as information at the time of drafting. In the “processing user”, the user ID of the user who issued the draft is set.

  For example, when a slip based on the delivery definition information shown in FIG. 9 is issued, as shown in FIG. 10, the record of node number “0” in the delivery information table, “transportation cost” as the slip name, slip The slip number issued at the time of drafting (here, “00001”), the node number “0”, the processing user user ID “U0012”, and the status “processed” are set.

  Next, in step (5003), the CPU of the workflow server 200 sets the current node number to “1” and uses the delivery definition information (FIG. 9) corresponding to the slip name of the slip processing request received in step (5000). The information (route role ID, route organization ID) of the node number “1” is obtained by reference, and the process proceeds to step (5009).

  For example, when a slip based on the delivery definition information shown in FIG. 9 is issued, the route role ID “004” and the route organization ID “NULL” are acquired.

  On the other hand, if the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (5001) that the request category of the slip processing request received in step (5000) is “approval” or “denial”, in step (5004). The CPU of the workflow server 200 acquires the current node number with reference to the delivery information table (FIG. 10).

  Next, in step (5005), the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines whether the request category of the slip processing request received in step (5000) is “approval” or “denied”. If it is determined that there is, in step (5008), after decrementing the current node number acquired in step (5004), refer to the delivery definition information (FIG. 9) having the decremented current node number, The current node number information (route role ID, route organization ID) is acquired, and the process proceeds to step (5009).

  On the other hand, if the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (5005) that the request category of the slip processing request received in step 5000 is “approval”, the CPU of the workflow server 200 in step (5006). Determines whether the slip processing request received in step (5000) is from the final approver.

  If the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (5006) that the slip processing request received in step (5000) is from the final approver, in step (5015), the delivery information table (FIG. The delivery information is deleted from 10), and the SMTP server 204 notifies the drafter that all the approvals have been approved, and the process ends.

  On the other hand, if the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (5006) that the slip processing request received in step (5000) is not from the final approver, in step (5007), step (5004) After incrementing the current node number obtained in step (b), the delivery definition information (FIG. 9) having the incremented current node number is referred to, and information on the current node number (route role ID, route organization ID) is obtained. The process proceeds to step (5009).

  In step (5009), the CPU of the workflow server 200 uses the route role ID and route organization ID acquired in step (5003), (5007), or (5008) to obtain user role information (shown in FIG. 8). The next delivery target user ID is determined with reference to the job title table (from the job title table (FIG. 8), the role ID is the route role ID and the organization ID is the user ID of the route organization ID). When the acquired organization route ID is “NULL” (in the case of blank in FIG. 9), the organization ID to which the user ID corresponding to the node number one smaller than the current node number belongs is set as “route organization ID”. The next delivery target user ID is determined. Furthermore, when the next delivery target user ID cannot be determined even in this case (in the case where there is no record in which the role ID is the route role ID and the organization ID is the route organization ID in the user post information (FIG. 8)). The next delivery target user ID is determined with the parent organization ID of the organization ID as the “route organization ID”, and this process is repeated until the next delivery target user ID is determined.

  For example, when a slip based on the delivery definition information shown in FIG. 9 is issued, the route role ID “004” and the route organization ID “NULL” of the node number “1” are acquired in step (5003). A user ID to be delivered is determined based on the acquired route role ID “004” and route organization ID “NULL”. Here, since the acquired route organization ID is “NULL”, the organization ID “8010101010” to which the user ID “U0012” corresponding to the node number “0” that is one smaller than the current node number “1” belongs is “route”. The next delivery target user ID is determined as the “organization ID”. At this time, since there is no record with the role ID “004” and the organization ID “8010101010” in the post table (FIG. 8), the parent organization ID “80101010” of the organization ID “8010101010” is set as the “route organization ID” next. The delivery target user ID is determined. Here, referring to the post table (FIG. 8), the role ID “004”, the user ID of the organization ID “8010101010” is “U0007”, and this user ID “U0007” is determined as the next user ID to be delivered. The (Node number 2 in FIG. 10).

  Next, in step (5010), the CPU of the workflow server 200 refers to the user table (FIG. 7) and determines whether or not a delegation destination ID corresponding to the determined next delivery target user ID is set. Determine.

  When the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (5010) that the delegation destination ID corresponding to the determined next delivery target user ID is set, in step (5011), the delegation request destination A determination process (a process of determining a delegation request destination to be the next delivery target user ID (details are shown in FIG. 17)) is performed, and the process returns to step (5010).

  On the other hand, if the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (5010) that the delegation destination ID corresponding to the determined next delivery target user ID is not set, the workflow in step (5012). When the CPU of the server 200 determines whether the request classification of the slip processing request received in step (5000) is “approval”, “draft”, or “denial”, and determines that it is “denied” In step (5014), the current node number is deleted from the delivery information table (FIG. 10), and a workflow notification that the delivery target person is denied is sent by the SMTP server 204, and the process ends.

  On the other hand, if the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (5012) that the request category of the slip processing request received in step (5000) is "approval" or "draft", step (5013) Then, the information of the next node number is set in the delivery information table (FIG. 10) (at this time, the “processing user” is set to the next delivery target user ID determined in step (5009)) and SMTP. The server 204 notifies the delivery target person of the workflow and ends the process.

  Hereinafter, the proxy setting of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  12 to 14 are schematic diagrams showing delivery routes for explaining the proxy setting of the present invention.

  First, normal substitution will be described with reference to FIGS.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 12, a case will be described in which the business manager J (7- (4)) makes a substitution request to the head manager H1 (7- (5)).

  First, a proxy request (delegation destination ID) is set in the user table (FIG. 7). As shown in FIG. 7, the user of “Headquarter H1” is added to the item “Delegation ID” of the record whose user ID “U0002” is “Business Headquarters J” in the user table. The ID “U0003” is registered. As a result, the “business manager J” makes a request (7- (6)) to the “business manager H1”.

  In this state, when “Director B1” issues a vote, the approver becomes “Headquarters H1” and the slip passes to “Headquarters H1” (7- (1)), and “Header H1” approves. Then, the next approver becomes “Business Headquarters Manager J”, but “Business Headquarters Manager J” has delegated (delegated) to “Headquarters Manager H1”, so the slip passes again to “Headquarters Manager H1” (7- (6)). Again, “Headquarters H1” approves. Then, the next approver becomes “President S”. Therefore, the delivery route of the slip is “director B1” → “header H1” → “header H1” → “president S”.

  As described above, there is no problem in the delivery route in the case of a voucher issued within the organization “AA headquarters” to which the user “substitute headquarters H1” requested as a substitute belongs.

  However, in the case of a voucher issued outside the organization, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, “Director B4” has issued, and it has been approved by Headquarters Director H4 (8- (1)). Then, the next approver will be “Business Headquarters Manager J” (8- (2)).

  Here, since the next approver “business head manager J” has requested the “head manager H1” for substitution (8- (4)), the slip passes to “head manager H1”. In this case, the voucher issued by “General Manager B4” is delivered to another “Head Manager H1” at the headquarters, which causes a problem as a business delivery route.

  Therefore, when delegating to a plurality of users in a subordinate organization, I would like to circulate a slip as follows. This multiple delegation will be described with reference to FIG.

  For example, when “Business Division Manager J” makes a substitution request to “Headquarters Manager H1” to “Headquarters Manager H4”, the slip issued by “Manager B4” passes only to “Headquarter Manager H4” (9- (5 )), Slips are not passed to “headquarters manager H1” to “headquarters manager H3” of another organization (9- (6)). That is, the workflow server 200 controls the delegation request destination determination process shown in step (5011) of FIG. 11 described above so that the agency request destination of another organization is not the next approver (next delivery person). This control is a feature of the present invention, and there is no conventional workflow system capable of determining a delivery route as shown in FIG. Details of the delegation request destination determination process are shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, the delegation method is named multi-delegation of the subordinate organization, and delegation setting for realizing multi-delegation of the subordinate organization (setting of “delegation destination ID” and “multiple delegation” to the user table shown in FIG. 7) Will be described.

  This delegation setting is based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 16 to be described later by the CPU of the workflow server 200 only by performing a simple operation in which the user sets delegation to a subordinate organization from the substitution setting screen shown in FIG. Executed.

  The proxy setting process of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a proxy setting screen in the workflow system of the present invention, and corresponds to a screen for performing proxy settings. This screen is returned from the workflow server 200 to the workflow operation terminal 300 in response to the proxy delegation setting instruction after the user authentication by the user ID and password from the workflow operation terminal 300 shown in FIG. It is displayed on the 300 web browsers 301.

  In FIG. 15, 10-(1) is an organization range selection column of the delegation destination, and “delegation to higher organization”, “delegation to lower organization”, based on the user who was authenticated before this substitution setting screen display, This is for setting one of the "delegation to the same organization".

  10- (2) is a sub-organization multiple delegation setting column for setting “Yes” or “None” of multi-delegation of sub-organizations. In the organization range selection column 10- (1) of the delegation destination It is assumed that the CPU of the workflow server 200 controls so that it can be set only when “proxy delegation to a subordinate organization” is set.

  10- (3) is a delegation post selection column for selecting the post of the user to be delegated. 10-(4) is a delegation user selection column for selecting a user to be delegated from the users of the post selected in the delegation post selection column 10-(3). This delegation user selection column 10- (4) can be selected only when the subordinate organization's multiple delegation setting column 10- (2) is set to “Yes” for subordinate multiple organization delegation. It is assumed that the CPU of the workflow server 200 controls.

  10- (5) is a delegation setting button. After selecting a user to be requested for delegation in the delegation user selection column 10- (4), delegation setting processing for the selected user is performed by pressing this delegation setting button. The CPU of the workflow server 200 controls to start. Reference numeral 10- (6) denotes a cancel button for canceling the selection state of the delegation user selection column 10- (4).

  10- (7) is a proxy delegation cancellation button for canceling the set proxy delegation, and is controlled to be in a non-selectable state when the proxy delegation is not set.

  In this proxy setting screen, the delegation destination organization range selection column 10- (1), the delegation post selection column 10- (3), the delegation setting button 10- (5), and the proxy delegation release button 10- (7) When any of them is instructed from the input device of the workflow operation terminal 300, a proxy setting processing request indicating that is transmitted from the workflow operation terminal 300 to the workflow server 200, and the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 16 is executed. .

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of a second control processing procedure in the workflow system of the present invention, and corresponds to the proxy setting screen processing by the servlet engine 202 of the workflow server 200 shown in FIG. In the figure, (12001) to (12011) indicate each step.

  First, on the proxy setting screen shown in FIG. 15, the organization range selection column 10- (1), the delegation post selection column 10- (3), the delegation setting button 10- (5), and the proxy delegation release button 10- When any of (7) is instructed from the input device of the workflow operation terminal 300 and a proxy setting processing request indicating that is transmitted from the workflow operation terminal 300 to the workflow server 200, the servlet engine 202 is executed. The CPU of the workflow server 200 (hereinafter referred to as the CPU of the workflow server 200) starts processing corresponding to the user who was authenticated before displaying the proxy setting screen in FIG. 15, and first, in step (12001), the workflow operation terminal 300 is started. The proxy setting process is received.

  Next, in step (12002), the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines the received processing request, and determines that it is a processing request for selecting an organization range in the organization range selection field 10- (1) of the delegation destination. In such a case, in step (12007), the CPU of the workflow server 200 acquires the role of the user existing in the selected organization range from the role table (FIG. 8) and returns it to the workflow operation terminal 300. Control is performed to display the information in the 15 delegation post selection column 10- (3).

  Next, in step (12008), the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines whether or not “subordinate organization” is selected in the delegation destination organization range selection field 10- (1), and “subordinate organization” is selected. If it is determined that the setting has been made, in step S (12009), the CPU of the workflow server 200 enables the multi-delegation setting 10- (2) of the subordinate organization and ends the process.

  On the other hand, if the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (12008) that “subordinate organization” is not selected in the organization range selection column 10- (1) of the delegation destination, the processing is ended as it is.

  If it is determined in step (12002) that the CPU of the workflow server 200 is a processing request for selecting a job title in the delegate job title selection column 10- (3), the workflow server in step (12003). The CPU of 200 acquires information on the users existing in the selected position from the role table (FIG. 8), role table (FIG. 6), and user table (FIG. 7), and returns the information to the workflow operation terminal 300, and the delegated user Control is performed to display in the selection column 10- (4), and the process ends. In the processing of step (12003), the CPU of the workflow server 200 delegates user selection field only when “Yes” is selected in the multi-delegation setting of the subordinate organization of the multi-delegation post selection field 10- (2). In 10- (4), control is performed so that a plurality of selections are possible.

  If it is determined in step (12002) that the CPU of the workflow server 200 is a delegation setting processing request for instructing the delegation setting button 10- (5), the workflow server 200 is determined in step (12004). The CPU of the delegation user selection column 10- (4) displays the user IDs of one or more users in the “delegation destination” of the record corresponding to the above-mentioned authenticated user in the user table shown in FIG. Set in the “ID” item. When a plurality of users are selected, the user ID is set by connecting with “;”.

  Next, in step (12005), the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines whether or not “Yes” is selected in the multi-delegation setting of the subordinate organization, and “Yes” is selected in the multi-delegation setting of the subordinate organization. In the case where it is determined that it is determined, in step S (12006), the CPU of the workflow server 200 sets “1” in the “multiple delegation” item of the user table shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, if the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (12005) that “subordinate organization” is not selected in the organization range selection column 10- (1) of the delegation destination, the processing is ended as it is.

  If it is determined in step (12002) that the CPU of the workflow server 200 is a proxy delegation release processing request for the proxy delegation release button 10- (7), the workflow in step (12010). The CPU of the server 200 deletes the user ID of the “delegation destination ID” item of the user table shown in FIG. 7, and sets NULL in the “multiple delegation” item of the user table shown in FIG. Then, the process ends.

  Hereinafter, the delegation request destination determination process (step (5011) of FIG. 16) for realizing the delegation delivery shown in FIG. 14 which is a characteristic configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of a third control processing procedure in the workflow system of the present invention. The delegation request destination determination processing (step (5011) in FIG. 16) by the servlet engine 202 of the workflow server 200 shown in FIG. ). In the figure, (11001) to (11011) indicate each step.

  First, in step (11001), the CPU of the workflow server 200 refers to the user table shown in FIG. 7, and “delegation” of the user corresponding to the next delivery target user ID determined in step S5009 in FIG. The values of the “first ID” item and the “multiple delegation” item are acquired.

  Next, in step (11002), the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines whether or not the multiple delegation value is “1”, and if it is determined that the multiple delegation value is not “1”, the step (11010) ), The delegation destination user specified in the “delegation ID” is determined to be the next delivery target user ID, and the process ends (returns to the process of the flowchart of FIG. 11).

  On the other hand, if the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (11002) that the multiple delegation value is “1”, whether or not there are multiple “delegation ID” values in step (11003). If it is determined that there are not a plurality, the process proceeds to step (11010), the delegation destination user specified in the “delegation ID” is determined as the next delivery target user ID, and the process ends. (Return to the process of the flowchart of FIG. 11).

  On the other hand, if the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (11003) that there are a plurality of “delegation ID” values, the CPU of the workflow server 200 in step (11004), as shown in FIG. The value of the “processing user” item in the record with the node number “0” in the delivery information table is acquired as the user ID of the drafter, and the position table shown in FIG. Search to obtain the organization ID of the drafter.

  Next, in step (11005), the CPU of the workflow server 200 extracts one delegation destination ID from the delegation destination ID acquired in step (11001), and in step (11006), the delegation destination extracted in step (11005). The position table shown in FIG. 8 is searched using the ID as a key, and the organization ID of the delegation destination ID is acquired as the organization ID of the proxy request destination.

  Next, the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines whether or not the organization of the drafter acquired in step (11004) is an organization under the requested organization acquired in step (11006). In this determination, when the drafter's organization ID includes (covers) the requested organization ID, it is determined that the drafter's organization is an organization under the requested organization, If the organization ID of the drafter does not include (is not covered by) the requested organization ID, it is determined that the drafter organization is not an organization under the requested organization.

  When the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (11007) that the drafter's organization is not an organization under the requested organization, the delegation destination acquired in step (11005) in step (11009) It is determined that the user with ID does not become the next approver, and the process proceeds to step S11011.

  Next, in step (11011), the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines whether or not an unprocessed delegation destination ID among the delegation destination IDs acquired in step (1101) remains, and determines that it still remains. If so, the process returns to step (1105) to perform processing for the next delegation destination ID.

  On the other hand, if the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (11011) that there is no unprocessed delegation destination ID among the delegation destination IDs acquired in step (1101), the delegation destination ID is not yet set. The process ends with the decision (returns to the process of the flowchart of FIG. 11). Returning to the process of the flowchart of FIG. 11, the process is transferred again to step (5010). If the delegation destination ID is not yet determined, it is determined in step (5010) that there is no delegation destination ID. It shall be determined.

  On the other hand, if the CPU of the workflow server 200 determines in step (11007) that the drafter's organization is an organization under the requested organization, it is acquired in step (11005) in step (11005). The user with the delegated ID is determined as the next approver, and the process ends (returns to the process of the flowchart of FIG. 11).

  By the above processing, the delegated delivery shown in FIG. 14 which is a characteristic configuration of the present invention can be realized.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, for a user on the workflow system, a user management table is provided in which a plurality of agents can be set for each user. It is determined whether or not to send the electronic document to the user by referring to the proxy setting information from the table specified as.

  Then, when the approval or decision maker sets a substitute for the manager of the subordinate organization, the substitute of the drafting organization is determined as a substitute request destination from the plurality of settings. As a result, the electronic document distributed to each manager is approved again by the manager of the higher organization of the drafter as a substitute for the next approver, and further distributed to the next approver.

  With the above configuration, when delegating to a plurality of users belonging to a subordinate organization and distributing an electronic document, the electronic document (business case) sent to the absent person (proxy requester) In other words, since it is determined and delivered according to the organization, even if the user is delegated, the user of the organization that is not on the delivery route is not allowed to perform authorization / approval work (that is, the user of the organization on the delivery route is authorized / approved) It is possible to perform a natural proxy delegation process in accordance with a business flow such as (substituting a business).

  Therefore, in the proxy setting, if the proxy delegation setting is made to multiple approvers of the subordinate organization, the delivery electronic document will be approved again by the delegate set on the already-distributed route as the proxy of the next approver. Further, it can be delivered to the next approver, and it is possible to construct a flexible workflow system along the delivery route for each electronic document (business case).

  In the present embodiment, the workflow operation terminal 300 displays an HTML file in a browser application, and an event is transmitted from the client to the workflow server 200, so that the workflow server side uses a servlet (CGI or the like is also possible). However, the configuration may be such that a client workflow program is installed in the workflow operation terminal 300 and is executed by the workflow operation terminal 300.

  Further, the configurations and contents of various data in FIGS. 5 to 10 are not limited to this, and it is needless to say that they are configured with various configurations and contents according to applications and purposes.

  Although one embodiment has been described above, the present invention can take an embodiment as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or recording medium, and specifically includes a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to a system including a single device.

  In addition, all the structures which combined each modification shown in this embodiment are also included in this invention.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the workflow system configured by the client / server system, the workflow server 200 is associated with a plurality of registered user information (user IDs) and each of the user information. Role information (role ID), affiliation information (organization ID) associated with each user information, hierarchical information (organization table) indicating a hierarchical structure of each affiliation information, and a delivery route of the electronic document by the role information. Storage means capable of storing defined route information (delivery definition information) and one or a plurality of delegation destination user information (delegation destination ID) associated with each user information and set as a delegation destination of each user information (RDBMS 205) and the CPU of the workflow server 200 that controls circulation of the electronic document are connected to the client (workflow operation terminal 3). 0) in response to an electronic document processing request from step 0) (step (5000) in FIG. 11), user information to be the next delivery destination of the electronic document is determined based on the path information defined in the role information for the electronic document. When determining (steps (5001) to (5009) in FIG. 11) and delegation destination user information is set for the determined user information, the delegation destination is designated as the delegation destination. The user information is determined to be changed (step (5010) in FIG. 11, FIG. 17), particularly when a plurality of delegation destination user information is set for the user information to be the determined delivery destination. Out of the plurality of delegation destination user information, the delegation destination user information associated with the affiliation information of the upper layer of the affiliation information associated with the user information that becomes the drafter of the electronic document, Next distribution Since control is performed so that the user information is determined as the previous user information (steps S1104 to S1108 in FIG. 17), by delegating to a plurality of users belonging to the subordinate organizations, the person in charge of the absence (substitute requester) The electronic document (business case) sent to (1) is delivered according to the business flow, that is, the organization, and even the user who is set as the delegated delegation does not allow the user of the organization not on the delivery route to perform the authorization / approval business ( That is, it is possible to perform a natural proxy delegation process in accordance with the flow of operations such as permitting a user of an organization on the delivery route to perform approval / approval operations.

  Therefore, it is possible to construct a flexible workflow system along the delivery route for each electronic document (business case).

  The configuration of the data processing program that can be read by the workflow server according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the memory map shown in FIG.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a recording medium (storage medium) that stores various data processing programs that can be read (read) by the workflow server according to the present invention.

  Although not specifically shown, information for managing a program group stored in the recording medium, for example, version information, creator, etc. is also stored, and information depending on the OS on the program reading side, for example, a program is identified and displayed. Icons may also be stored.

  Further, data depending on various programs is also managed in the directory. In addition, when a program or data to be installed is compressed, a program to be decompressed may be stored.

  The functions shown in FIGS. 11, 16, and 17 in this embodiment may be performed by a host computer by a program installed from the outside. In this case, the present invention is applied even when an information group including a program is supplied to the output device from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or an FD, or from an external recording medium via a network. Is.

  As described above, a recording medium recording software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stores the recording medium in the recording medium. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by reading and executing the programmed program code.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the recording medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD-ROM, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, EEPROM, A silicon disk or the like can be used.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) or the like running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.

  Furthermore, after the program code read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted in the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the case where the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or apparatus. In this case, by reading a recording medium storing a program represented by software for achieving the present invention into the system or apparatus, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention. .

  Furthermore, by downloading and reading out a program represented by software for achieving the present invention from a server, database, etc. on a network using a communication program, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention. It becomes.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the workflow system to which this embodiment is applied. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a computer applicable to the workflow server, the workflow operation terminal, the workflow, and the slip design terminal illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a schematic diagram which shows the flow of the slip in the workflow system shown in FIG. It is an organization chart which shows an example of the hierarchical structure of the organization used for explanation in the workflow system of this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a data configuration diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of an organization table stored in an RDBMS of the workflow server illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a data block diagram which shows an example of the data structure of the role table memorize | stored in RDBMS of the workflow server shown in FIG. It is a data block diagram which shows an example of the data structure of the user table memorize | stored in RDBMS of the workflow server shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a data configuration diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a post table stored in an RDBMS of the workflow server illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a data configuration diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of delivery definition information stored in an RDBMS of the workflow server illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a data configuration diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a delivery information table stored in an RDBMS of the workflow server illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 1st control processing procedure in the workflow system of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the delivery route for demonstrating the proxy setting of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the delivery route for demonstrating the proxy setting of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the delivery route for demonstrating the proxy setting of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the substitute setting screen in the workflow system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 2nd control processing procedure in the workflow system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 3rd control processing procedure in the workflow system of this invention. It is a figure explaining the memory map of the recording medium (storage medium) which stores the various data processing program which can be read (read) by the workflow server which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

200 Workflow server 300 Workflow operation terminal 400 Workflow and slip design terminal 500 Network

Claims (5)

A workflow server for controlling circulation of electronic documents in a workflow system composed of a client / server system,
A plurality of registered user information, role information associated with each user information, affiliation information associated with each user information, hierarchical information indicating a hierarchical structure of each affiliation information, a delivery route of an electronic document Storage means capable of storing path information defined by the role information and one or a plurality of delegation destination user information set as delegation destinations of the user information in association with the user information;
In response to an electronic document processing request from a client, user information to be a next delivery destination of the electronic document is determined based on path information defined by role information for the electronic document, and the determined delivery destination A delivery destination determining unit that determines to change the delivery destination to the delegated user information when the delegated user information is set for the user information to be
The delivery destination determining means, when a plurality of delegation destination user information is set for the user information as the determined delivery destination, out of the plurality of delegation destination user information, A workflow server that determines, as user information to be a next delivery destination of the electronic document, delegation destination user information to be associated with higher-level affiliation information associated with affiliation user information . In response to a request from a client, setting means for setting the delegation destination user information is provided,
The setting means uses one of the user information as delegation source user information, and delegates delegation setting to lower layer user information associated with lower layer affiliation information associated with the delegation source user information 2. The workflow server according to claim 1, wherein setting of a plurality of lower layer user information as the delegation destination user information is permitted only when the request is requested. In a workflow system configured by a client / server system, a plurality of registered user information, role information associated with each user information, affiliation information associated with each user information, and hierarchy of each affiliation information Hierarchical information indicating a structure, route information in which a delivery route of an electronic document is defined by the role information, and one or a plurality of delegation destination user information set as a delegation destination of the user information in association with the user information; A workflow control method in a workflow server for controlling circulation of an electronic document,
A first determination step of determining user information as a next delivery destination of the electronic document based on path information defined by role information for the electronic document in response to an electronic document processing request from the client;
A second determination step of determining to change the delivery destination to the delegation destination user information when the delegation destination user information is set for the user information as the decided delivery destination;
In the second determination step, when a plurality of delegation destination user information is set for the user information as the determined delivery destination, the electronic document of the electronic document is included in the plurality of delegation destination user information. Workflow control characterized by determining delegation destination user information associated with upper affiliation information associated with affiliation information associated with a user information as a drafter as user information as a next delivery destination of the electronic document Method.   A program for executing the workflow control method according to claim 3.   A recording medium storing a computer-readable program for executing the workflow control method according to claim 3.

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