JP2006195833A - Workflow system and its program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a workflow process without requiring human intervention or causing problems even if there are changes to organizations or to route information. <P>SOLUTION: Organization information about not only the current generation but also old generations is left in organization information 13 that stores the organization information. When a new item is provided, a user is allowed to select the desired generation and the organization generation number thereof and the number of the item are stored in a workflow plan table 16 in association with each other. In that case, route master information corresponding to the kind of document of the new item is copied in a route master table 14, and item route information comprising this copy with the item number of the item is created. That is, corresponding route information is created for each item. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a workflow system.

  Conventionally, there has been a system (hereinafter referred to as a workflow system) that supports efficient processes such as approval within companies, approvals / estimates / various applications, and expense settlement. It has been.

With respect to such a workflow system, for example, known techniques described in Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3 are known.
The prior art described in Patent Document 1 relates to an approval system, and makes it possible to smoothly perform approval between a plurality of organizations. That is, the invention of Patent Document 1 includes a first database in which organization personnel and organization information and address information are stored in common for a plurality of organizations, and a second database in which approval rule information for each of the plurality of organizations is stored. Even if a decision is made across multiple organizations that have independent decision-making rights, the decision-making information is sent to the person in charge of each organization via the network according to the decision-making rules of each organization. Can be circulated.

  The invention of Patent Document 2 is an environmental document management system and an environmental document management method capable of obtaining ISO-14001 certification, and various applications relating to documents such as application for the latest document, application for revision, application for abolition of document, etc. Can be processed electronically. In addition, the latest version is always available for browsing, but an old version browsing function can also be provided to registered users (general users cannot browse the old version).

Further, in the conventional workflow, in the conventional workflow, the processing flow of each work department is defined by a pre-defined overall flow, and the forwarding destination of the slip is determined based on this, so the overall flow is changed. If you want to change all the voucher processes, change the flow, or temporarily stop the flow of the voucher, change the flow, and then change the in-process voucher to the queue corresponding to the changed flow. This solves the problem that the process of changing the connection becomes necessary. In order to solve this problem, Patent Document 3 assigns a serial number to data that is a processing result of a certain process and stores it in a data house, and automatically issues a work instruction sheet with reference to a worker list. Then, the worker can store the processing result of the data in the selected data house. In other words, even if the data house that stores the processing result when the work is completed is defined by default, it is possible for each worker to change the flow by selecting an arbitrary data house at the time of output and storing the data. .
JP 2003-114963 A JP 2001-101324 A JP 2000-148890 A

  Here, in the workflow system, every time an organizational change or approval route change occurs, the workflow operation administrator deletes the matter in progress in the flow, stops the operation, and performs the above operation within a limited operation stop time. I needed to do some work to make the change. As a result, there is a demand for not stopping operation even when there is an organizational change or / and an approval route change.

  With respect to this problem, the invention of the above-mentioned patent document 1 can distribute approval information in accordance with the approval rules of each organization even if approval occurs across a plurality of organizations. No mention is made of any changes made.

In Patent Document 2, it is the environmental document itself that is changed (revised), and no mention is made of the organizational change or the change of the approval route.
Patent Document 3 refers to the case of changing the entire flow for the time being, but the handling method is that each worker selects an arbitrary data house at the time of output and stores the data. It takes time for selection work and may cause human error.

Furthermore, even when there is an organizational change or a change in various workflow routes (approval route, decision rule, etc.), there is a demand for processing with the organization and route before the change.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to enable workflow processing without problems even when there is an organizational change or route information change without any manual labor. It is to provide a workflow system and program that can be executed or that can process a workflow using route information at the time of submission for each case.

  The workflow system of the present invention includes an organization information storage means for storing organization information of each generation, a route information storage means for storing route information corresponding to each document type, and a desired generation to select an arbitrary document. Create and submit a new matter based on the type, assign an identification number to the matter, store the identification code of the generation, the matter identification number, and the new matter data in association with each other, and the document type of the new matter Search for the route information corresponding to the route information storage means, and based on the obtained route information, matter route information creation means for creating and storing matter route information that is route information for the new matter; It is comprised so that it may have.

  In the workflow system, firstly, the information on each generation is stored as the organization information. In other words, not only the present but also the past organization information is kept. The user can select a desired generation, and the created new case is stored in association with the identification code of the selected generation. As a result, when the stored case is circulated later, a generation corresponding to the case to be processed is obtained by referring to the case route information creation means, and processed according to the organization information of the obtained generation. Can be executed.

  Also in the above workflow system, when route information, which is information indicating rules such as a case circulation route and approval, is updated, the old route information is deleted. However, in the workflow system, the route information at the time of item submission is copied and stored as route information for the item. As a result, when the stored matter is circulated later, even if the route information is updated, the processing is executed using the matter route information created for the subject matter to be processed. Can do. That is, the circulation process can be executed using the route information at the time of project submission.

  According to the workflow system of the present invention, its program, etc., even if there is an organizational change or a change in route information, the workflow process can be performed without any trouble, and is designated by the user. The workflow can be executed according to the organization information of the generation to be processed, or the workflow processing can be performed for each item using the route information at the time of submission.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration and functions of each server / client of the workflow system of this example.

  In FIG. 1, the workflow server 3 includes functional units such as a WF (workflow) item control processing unit (WF engine) 61 and a WF screen processing unit (input / output unit) 62. For example, a storage device (not shown) stores a predetermined application program for causing the function of each function unit to be executed by a computer. The CPU / MPU (not shown) This is realized by reading / executing an application program.

  The database (DB) server 5 includes a database 5a. In the database 5a, a WF item system table group 71, a WF control system table group 72, and a WF master system table group 73 are stored. Each functional unit included in the workflow server 3 refers to these table groups 71 to 73 and executes processing of the functional unit while updating the data. Specific examples of these table groups 71 to 73 will be described later only for those related to the features of the present invention, and the others are omitted. That is, the WF item table group 71 includes a workflow item table 16 described later. The WF control system table group 72 includes a workflow control table 15 described later. The WF master system table group 73 includes an organization information table 13 and a route master table 14 to be described later.

  The WF screen processing unit (input / output unit) 62 refers to the table stored in the database 5a, and displays the workflow draft screen 81, the workflow approval screen 82, and the workflow progress confirmation screen 83 on the Web browser of the user client 1. Etc. are displayed to allow the user to make a desired input. Further, the administrator client 2 displays various registration screens with the above-described tool, and allows the administrator to perform desired data registration work.

The above process will be described in more detail as (1) to (5) shown in FIG. That is,
(1) The administrator client 2 displays various registration screens such as the organization information registration screen 91, the format information registration screen 92, and the route information registration screen 93 by the above tools, and performs desired data registration work for the administrator. Make it. This data registration is for adding / updating data of each master in the WF master system table group 73. However, in this method, as will be described later, regarding the generation update of the organization information table 13, the organization information of the previous generation is also left. This registration work is performed regularly or at any time.
(2) Every time a user of an arbitrary user client 1 starts up a Web browser and accesses the workflow server 3, the WF screen processing unit 62 displays the workflow draft screen 81 in accordance with the user's instruction. And displayed on the display of the user client 1. The workflow drafting screen is processed by the function of the workflow submission application 11 described later among the various functions of the WF screen processing unit 62. The workflow information is referred to the format information in the WF master system table group 73, and the workflow is started. A draft screen 81 is displayed to allow the user to input arbitrary draft information. However, at this time, the organization information is referred to inform the user of the currently stored generation, and the user is allowed to select a desired generation. Then, the WF screen processing unit 62 stores the input draft information and the like in the WF control system table group 72, but also stores the selected generation.
(3) When the new draft information creation work by the WF screen processing section 62 is completed, the WF case control processing section 61 receives the draft information stored in the WF control system table group 72, and based on this, the WF case New WF project information is added to and stored in the system table group 71. In this method, at this time, the information of the selected generation is stored in association with the WF item information. Details will be described later. At that time, the WF item control processing unit 61 further generates item route information which is route information for the new draft information (new item). This will also be described later.

When submission / acceptance of a new case is completed by the processes (1) to (3) above, the circulation processes (4) and (5) described below are repeated at any time. The processes of (4) and (5) are not always executed immediately after the processes of (1) to (3), so the organization information and the route information may be updated during that time. As described above, generation information is associated with the WF project information, and the above-mentioned project route information is created. Therefore, the route information at the time of submitting the project using the organization information of the desired generation selected by the user. The circulation process is executed using. Except for this point, the processes (4) and (5) are the same as the conventional processes, and will not be described in detail, but will be briefly described below.
(4) The WF screen processing unit 62 refers to the organization information and route information, and for each submitted case, obtains a person who should approve the case, and the Web browser of the user client 1 of this person Then, the workflow approval screen 82 is displayed to allow the user to input approval approval / disapproval, and the input result is stored in the WF control system table group 72.
(5) The WF item control processing unit 61 receives the approval information stored in the WF control system table group 72 and rewrites the WF item information of the corresponding item in the WF item system table group 71 based on the approval information.

  The WF screen processing unit 62 refers to the WF item system table group 71 in response to a request from any user client 1 at any time, and obtains current progress status data for the requested item. This is displayed on the workflow progress confirmation screen 83.

The workflow system configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. These show the new case acceptance processing.
In addition, what is shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and is not limited to this example. For example, the WF item system table group 71, the WF control system table group 72, and the WF master system table group 73 are not stored in the DB server 5, but are stored in a storage device (not shown) of the workflow server 3. It may be configured.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the entire workflow system.
In FIG. 2, a user client 1 is a personal computer or the like used by each user (employee, etc .; general user), and although only one is shown in the figure, there are usually many. The administrator client 2 is a personal computer or the like used by a system administrator or the like who manages the workflow system, and a tool for making various system settings such as a department decision constant setting tool is installed. The workflow server 3 is a server that executes various business processes such as approval, approval, and various application processes, for example. The workflow server 3 can be provided with a plurality of servers 3 having the same function according to the user business scale. In addition, there are a mail server 4, a database (DB) server 5, and the like, all of which are connected to a network (LAN 6 or the like) and configured to be able to transmit / receive data to / from each other.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the new case acceptance process.
4 to 6 schematically show a flow of the processing of FIG. 3 and show an example of data stored in each table by the processing of FIG. 3, FIG. 4 is a normal time, and FIG. 5 is an organization change. FIG. 6 shows the route change.

3 will be described first with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a new case receiving process at a normal time.
The various tables shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 may be stored in a database (not shown) held by the workflow server group 3 or may be stored in the database server 5.

  In FIG. 3, when any user wants to create any new project document 20 (approval document, final approval document, various application documents such as transportation expense settlement, expense settlement, etc.), the user client 1 starts the workflow server. The corresponding server in the group 3 or a server for accepting new cases is accessed, and the workflow submission application 11 is activated. From this, the workflow submission application 11 first refers to the organization information table 13 to obtain the corresponding generation, displays the list on the display of the user client 1, and selects the desired generation number from the user. Input (step S11).

  Subsequently, the workflow submission application 11 causes the user to select and specify a desired document type, displays an input screen (such as a draft screen) according to the specified document type, and allows the user to input arbitrary data. Then, the input new case document data is stored in the workflow control table 15 together with the selected generation number. At that time, the specified document type identification number (document type number) and the corresponding route master information identification number (such as R100 shown in FIG. 4) are also stored in the workflow control table 15 (step S12).

  Here, a document type number is assigned in advance for each document type. This is not limited to the types of approval documents, approval documents, and various application documents. For example, approval documents may have different formats such as approval document A, approval document B, approval document C,. There are multiple types, and different document type numbers are assigned to each type. The route master information exists for each document type (and holds a document type number corresponding to the route master information. Alternatively, there is a separate correspondence table of document type number-root master information identification number. ). Here, for example, when the case is created in the format of the approval document A, processing is performed using the route master information R100, and when the case is created in the format of the approval document B, the route master information R101 is stored. It is assumed that processing is performed using

  The route information is, for example, information indicating to whom the approval document is circulated in which order, who is paying, etc. (circulation route), for example, through the manager of the department to which the user belongs → the section manager → the manager Finally, a route such as accounting manager is set. The route master information is a master of route information. In this method, since route information obtained by copying the route master information is used, it is distinguished in this way. The creation, change, and addition of route information in the route master table 14 is performed, for example, by access from the administrator client 2 with the authority. The same applies to creation / change / addition of organization information stored in the organization information table 13.

  Then, the workflow engine 12 takes over the processing. The workflow engine 12 creates and adds a new record to the workflow matter table 16 based on the data stored in the workflow control table 15, and the route information (case route) for the new matter document 20 in the route master table 14. Information).

  That is, the workflow engine 12 refers to the workflow control table 15 and first arbitrarily assigns the case number to the stored case data, and stores the case data in the workflow case table 16 in association with the case number. Further, the document type number and the generation code stored in the workflow control table 15 are also stored in the workflow case table 16 in association with the case data. In addition, based on the identification number of the route master information, the corresponding route master information is searched and obtained in the route master table 14, and on the basis of the copy, the matter route information corresponding to the new matter data is created on a one-to-one basis. And stored in the route master table 14. (Step S13).

  The organization information table 13, the route master table 14, the workflow control table 15, and the workflow matter table 16 are stored in a storage device (not shown) provided in the workflow server group 3 or a database provided in the database server 5. Further, programs such as the workflow submission application 11 and the workflow engine 12 are also stored in a storage device (not shown) provided in the workflow server group 3.

  When the circulation process of (4) and (5) of FIG. 1 is performed later by the new case reception process described above, the organization information of the generation specified by the user can be obtained by referring to the workflow case table 16. The circulation process is executed using the route information at the time of submitting a new case.

  Conventionally, new matter data is received and stored when a new matter is submitted, and when the circulation process is executed later, the route master information corresponding to the document type number of the matter is used, and an organization information table is further created. By referring to the circulation process, if there is an organization change or route information change, the user does not want / incorrect process. For example, if there is a change in route information between the submission of the project and the circulation process, the route process should be performed with the route information after the change. It is executed (the route information before the change is deleted).

  In contrast, in this method, as described above, when a new case is submitted, the user is allowed to specify a desired generation and stored in the workflow case table 16 to create case route information for the submitted case. This problem does not occur.

  For example, the route master information is searched for the route master information corresponding to the document type number of the new case in the route master table 14, the route master information is copied, and the identification number of the route master information included in the copy is found. Is replaced with the item number of the new item, and this is stored in the route master table 14 as the item route information. That is, dedicated route information is created for each case.

  When the circulation process is executed for each case stored in the table 16 by the processes (4) and (5) in FIG. 1, the route master is used by using the case number of the case. The item route information group stored in the table 14 is searched to obtain item route information having the same item number, and the circulation process is executed using the item route information. That is, the circulation process is executed using the route information created for the case. Therefore, even if the master information has been updated, the circulation process is executed using the route information before the update (when the matter is submitted). At that time, the organization information refers to the workflow matter table 16 to obtain the organization generation number corresponding to the matter number of the matter, and refers to the organization information of this organization generation in the organization information table 13. Although only the first generation organization information exists in FIG. 4, this makes sense after the organization change as shown in FIG.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, when the organizational change is made when moving from the first half of 2004 to the second half, and the second half of the organization information (second generation) is created and stored, the first half of the organization information (first 1 generation) should be deleted, but it remains in this method. It is assumed that the organization generation number of the second generation is 0002.

  Then, when creating a new case after the organization change (second half of 2004), the user normally selects the second generation. For example, if the case number is 10003, the workflow case table 16 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the organization generation number 0002 is associated. Therefore, when 10003 cases are subsequently processed by the processes (4) and (5) in FIG. 1, the process is executed using the second-generation organization information. On the other hand, regarding the case data created before the organization change (for example, around the end of the first half of 2004), the organization generation number 0001 is associated as shown in the workflow case table 16 of FIG. Thus, for example, even if the case number 10001 is processed after entering the second half of 2004, the process is executed using the first generation organization information. This is the case, for example, when a user who has been relocated from the sales department to the sales department 2 due to an organizational change has applied for the payment of transportation expenses immediately before the organizational change, but the liquidation process has been executed since the second half of 2004 However, it is processed as a transportation expense settlement for the sales part.

  However, there may be cases where the application for clearing the transportation fee itself is made after entering the second half of 2004 for some reason. For this reason, as described above, the user can select any organization generation. In the above example, if you want to apply for transportation expenses related to the sales part after entering the second half of 2004, The user may specify the first generation at the time of login.

  Further, as described above, the case route information is created for each case, so that the case where the route information is changed can be dealt with. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, when the route master information is changed, the data before the change is deleted. For this reason, conventionally, there is a problem that a place where the matter should be processed with the route information before the change is processed with the route information after the change. However, in this method, as described above, the project route information is created for each case, and the matter route information is created based on the route information before the change for the matter applied before the change. Such a problem does not occur. Of course, for a case newly applied for after change, case route information is created based on the changed route master information.

  Note that the matter route information exists for each case until the circulation process related to the matter is completed, that is, in the circulation flow, the approval is in progress. Then, it is deleted from the route master table at the time of final approval.

  7 to 9 show examples in which specific examples of the organization information table 13, the route master table 14, and the workflow matter table 16 are displayed on the display. That is, specific examples of these tables 13, 14, and 16 are shown. FIG. 7 also shows a login screen for performing the input in step S11.

First, the login screen 35 shown in FIG. 7 will be described.
However, in step S11, before the login screen 35 is displayed, a screen for inputting the user ID, password, and the like of the user is displayed, and the user is prompted to input his / her user ID, password, and the like. Further, for example, it is assumed that the organization information table 13 includes a table (not shown) in which a list of departments and job titles of the current and past (for example, three generations) of each user is stored. In other words, this table (not shown) stores the departments and positions of each user in each year (and first half / second half), that is, each generation organization. Thus, by searching the table (not shown) using the input user ID or the like, a login screen as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed.

  In the example shown in the figure, the user currently belongs to the system development department (12th period), but before that (11th period), belongs to the Nagoya office, and before that (10th period). Had belonged to Tokyo Sales Division 1 (the title is omitted).

  On the other hand, the organization information table 13 includes a department ID 31, a department name 32, and a generation code 33. Although not shown in the figure, a corresponding organization information file name (for the department) is also stored. That is, the organization information is held as information segmented for each department, not as information of the whole organization, and the organization information is stored for each “department ID 31 + generation code 33”. For example, taking Tokyo Sales Division 1 as an example, the figure shows only the organization information for the 10th period (assuming that the last two digits of the generation code 33 mean the generation). The organization information of the generations (11th period, 12th period, etc.) is also stored.

When the user selects, for example, the 10th period on the illustrated login screen 35, a new case is created and submitted from the position of Tokyo Sales Division 1.
FIG. 8 shows a specific example of the route master table 14 and also shows a specific example of “case route information corresponding to new case data on a one-to-one basis” created in step S13. As described above, a unique identifier is assigned to each route master information, and is shown as R100 or the like in FIGS. 4 to 6, but in FIG. 8, the route code 42 corresponds to this identifier. One route master information is composed of data of a plurality of rows shown in the figure. For example, there are six rows in which the last three digits of the illustrated route code 42 are “003”, and the data of these six rows is one route master information. When the matter route information is created in step S13, for example, the six-line record is copied, and the route code 42 in the copy is changed to the matter number of the new matter. Thus, in the example shown in the figure, item route information corresponding to a new item assigned with “018” as the item number (the last three digits) is created.

  Further, the example of the workflow item table 16 shown in FIG. 9 includes data items such as an organization generation number 51, a document type number 52, and an item number 53 as shown in FIG. However, although the features of the present invention are not directly related, the actual workflow matter table 16 is composed of more data items as shown in FIG. 10, for example. For example, the user ID of each case submitter, the department name / title of the presenter in the generation selected on the login screen 35, and the like are also stored. Therefore, these pieces of information are also stored in the workflow control table 15 and then stored in the table 16 by the workflow engine 12. The workflow matter table 16 is also a table for storing the current progress status when the circulation process is executed later. Thus, as shown in FIG. 10, data items related to correction and final approval are also provided.

  In addition, when the received matter is circulated later, as described above, the organization information of the generation specified by the user and the matter route information created for this matter are used. Since it is classified by department as described above, the organization information of this department is acquired from the organization information table 13 based on the department name (or department code) of the subject submitter stored in the table 16. . In the above example, the organization information of the Tokyo sales section 1 is acquired. Of course, as the organization information of Tokyo Sales Section 1, there is information of each generation, so in the above example, the information of the tenth period is acquired. In addition, the route information only includes the route such as “Approval of the section manager in the department of the project submitter → Approval of the section manager”, and it is not possible to know who the section manager or section manager is. By referring to the information, the manager name, manager name (or their employee code, etc.) of the Tokyo Sales Section 1 in the 10th term is obtained.

  And you may make it transmit the mail regarding a new case to the user client 1 of the department manager and section manager who calculated | required. That is, the circulation process may be executed by a method similar to that of Patent Document 1. When the route information is, for example, “approval by manager → approval by manager → approval by accounting section”, the organization information of the accounting section is also referred to in addition to the above. Of course, all the information of the 10th term is referred to.

  As described above, according to the workflow system of this example, even when there is an organizational change or a change in route information, the circulation process can be executed without any troubles manually, especially the generation specified by the user. The routing process can be executed according to the organization information of the item, or the routing process can be executed for each case using the route information at the time of submission.

It is a structure and functional block diagram of the workflow system of this example. It is a schematic block diagram of the whole workflow system of this example. It is a processing flowchart figure at the time of new case submission. It is a figure which shows schematically the flow of the process of FIG. 3 at the normal time. It is a figure which shows roughly the flow of the process of FIG. 3 at the time of an organization change. It is a figure which shows roughly the flow of the process of FIG. 3 at the time of a route change. It is a specific example of an organization information table. It is a specific example of a route master table. It is a specific example of a workflow matter table. It is a detailed specific example of a workflow matter table.

Explanation of symbols

1 User client 2 Administrator client 3 Workflow server group 4 Mail server 5 Database server 5a Database 6 Network (LAN etc.)
11 Workflow Submission Application 12 Workflow Engine 13 Organization Information Table 14 Route Master Table 15 Workflow Control Table 16 Workflow Case Table 20 New Case Document 31 Department ID
32 Department name 33 Generation code 35 Login screen 41 Generation code 42 Route code 51 Organizational generation number 52 Document type number 53 Case number 61 WF (workflow) matter control processing part (WF engine)
62 WF screen processing unit (input / output unit)
71 WF item system table group 72 WF control system table group 73 WF master system table group 81 Workflow draft screen 82 Workflow approval screen 83 Workflow progress confirmation screen 91 Organization information registration screen 92 Format information registration screen 93 Route information registration screen

Claims (4)

Organization information storage means for storing organization information of each generation;
Route information storage means for storing each route information corresponding to each document type;
A matter that selects a desired generation, creates and submits a new matter based on an arbitrary document type, assigns an identification number to the matter, and stores the identification code of the generation, the matter identification number, and new matter data in association with each other Submission means,
The route information corresponding to the document type of the new matter is obtained by searching the route information storage means, and the matter route information that is route information for the new matter is created and stored based on the obtained route information. Matter route information creation means,
A workflow system characterized by comprising:   When circulating the stored matter, the generation corresponding to the matter to be processed is obtained with reference to the matter route information creating means, and the processing is executed according to the organization information of the obtained generation. The workflow system according to claim 1, wherein:   3. The workflow system according to claim 1, wherein when the stored case is distributed, the processing is executed using the case route information created for the case to be processed. On the computer,
The ability to store organization information for each generation;
A function to store each route information corresponding to each document type,
A function to select a desired generation, create and submit a new case based on any document type, assign an identification number to the case, and store the generation identification code, the case identification number, and the new case data in association with each other When,
A function for searching and obtaining the route information corresponding to the document type of the new matter, and creating and storing matter route information which is route information for the new matter based on the obtained route information;
A program to realize