JP2007048011A - Electronic conference program, electronic conference terminal equipment and electronic conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve convenience when discriminately dealing with individual editing and joint editing. <P>SOLUTION: A document management part 20 of a conference execution control part 12 associates compilation management information including edit time information and edit participation device information when acquiring a document to be used for electronic conference. Then, when a document is edited, edit time information is updated with the current time, and edit participation device information is updated with the terminal ID of a self-conference terminal and the other conference terminals connected through a line to the self-conference terminal at the editing. The conference execution control part 12 compares the edit management information of the other conference terminals transmitted in response to a line connection request transmitted to the other conference terminals with the edit management information of a document displayed by the self-conference terminal to determine whether or not the document being displayed is individually edited, and when determining that the document being displayed is individually edited, the conference execution control part 12 stores a document being displayed as another name, and acquires a document from the other conference terminals. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic conference system, and more particularly, to use of a data file used as a material in an electronic conference.

  In an electronic conference, the same document is displayed on the screen on an electronic conference terminal device (hereinafter simply referred to as “conference terminal”) installed at each site, and the conference proceeds while the displayed document is appropriately edited at each site. There are things to follow. The electronic documents displayed at each site so as to be editable usually have the same content, but the entity exists in each site individually. For this reason, when editing is performed at any of the sites, the edited content is distributed to the conference terminal installed at the other site. The conference terminal that receives the edited content edits the locally held document based on the edited content. In this way, the identity of the documents displayed at each site is maintained. In this way, the content of the document to be displayed should be the same even if it exists in the system as a substantially different electronic document, even if it is edited when used in an electronic conference such as a resume or a proposal. The documents are called “same documents”.

  The electronic conference will proceed using the same document, that is, an electronic document that maintains the same identity as described above. However, with regard to the use of the electronic document, I would like to reflect the editing at my site to other sites. There may be no such cases. A conference that is held in the local site using the conference terminal of the electronic conference system is referred to as “single conference”, and an electronic conference that is normally performed by connecting to the conference terminal at any location is referred to as “remote conference”. In this case, there is a case where a document shared in the remote conference is edited in a single conference, and the edited contents are kept secret without notifying other sites. For example, it is considered that writing of a memo level to a document such as a review plan, a next proposal content, a description content correction, etc. that are pointed out at an electronic conference corresponds to content that is not desired to be disclosed to other bases. In this way, editing in a single meeting, that is, editing performed on the inner ring that you want to keep in your own site without notifying other sites is “individual editing”, and as usual in a remote conference, you collaborate on electronic documents at each site. If the editing performed in this way is referred to as “joint editing”, it is convenient if individual editing and joint editing for the same document can be handled separately. For example, Patent Document 1 has been proposed as a technique capable of distinguishing and handling individual editing and joint editing.

Japanese Patent No. 3144344 JP 2004-326176 A

  However, in the past, it is possible to distinguish between individual editing and collaborative editing performed on the same document by building a directory tree based on the remote destination and the editing start time and performing file management. When using distinct documents, the documents to be used must be switched each time while being conscious of separately between the single conference and the remote conference.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic conference program, an electronic conference terminal device, and an electronic conference for the purpose of distinguishing between individual editing and joint editing. To provide a system.

  In order to achieve the above object, an electronic conference system according to the present invention includes an electronic conference terminal device installed at each site, and is an electronic device implemented between the electronic conference terminal devices connected in a line. In the electronic conference system used for a conference, each of the electronic conference terminal devices includes an acquisition unit that acquires a data file to be displayed on a screen during the electronic conference, a data file displayed on the screen, and an electronic conference terminal installed at another base Conference execution control means for executing an electronic conference while maintaining the sameness as the data file displayed on the screen of the apparatus, and editing time information for specifying when the data file acquired by the acquisition means is edited And editing management information including editing participation device information for identifying all electronic conference terminal devices participating in the electronic conference using the data file Editing participation sent from an electronic conference terminal device installed at another site when a line is connected to the file management means for managing the data file and an electronic conference terminal device installed at another site for participation in the electronic conference By comparing the device information with the edit management information associated with the data file acquired by the acquisition unit, the data file opened in the own electronic conference terminal device is performed in the own electronic conference terminal device. Whether editing is not reflected in the data file opened on the electronic conference terminal installed at another site, or is in a state of collaborative editing where individual editing is not performed, And discriminating means for discriminating between the two.

  The electronic conference terminal device according to the present invention, in the electronic conference terminal device installed at each site used when conducting an electronic conference over a network, an acquisition means for acquiring a data file to be displayed on the screen at the time of the electronic conference; The meeting execution control means for executing the electronic conference while maintaining the sameness between the data file displayed on the screen and the data file displayed on the screen of the electronic conference terminal device installed at another base, and acquired by the acquisition means Associate editing management information including editing time information for specifying when data files are edited and editing participation device information for specifying all electronic conference terminal devices participating in the electronic conference using the data file Connect the line to the file management means for managing the data file and the electronic conference terminal device installed at another site for participation in the electronic conference. By comparing the editing participation device information sent from the electronic conference terminal device installed at the other site with the editing management information associated with the data file acquired by the acquisition means. The data file opened on the terminal device is in a state where individual editing has been carried out in which the editing performed on its own electronic conference terminal device is not reflected in the data file opened on the electronic conference terminal device installed at another site And a discriminating means for discriminating whether there is a collaborative editing state in which individual editing is not performed.

  In addition, when the acquisition unit acquires a data file, the file management unit associates editing management information including editing time information and editing participating device information with the acquired data file, and the associated editing time information and editing The initialization unit that initializes the participation device information, and when the acquired data file is edited, the time when the editing was performed and the device identification information of all the electronic conference terminal devices connected to the line are acquired. An update unit that updates the editing time information and the editing participation device information associated with the data file with the acquired editing time and device identification information, respectively, and the conference execution control means performs individual editing by the determination means When it was determined that the status was implemented, the individually edited data file was saved and the line was connected Data files used in electronic conference from the electronic conference terminal device based installation, characterized in that for the obtaining unit to obtain.

  Further, the file management means, when the participation notification information for the electronic conference using the data file is sent from the electronic conference terminal device installed at another base, the device identification information included in the participation notification information And an adding unit for adding to the editing participation apparatus information associated with the data file.

  An electronic conference program according to the present invention includes an acquisition unit for acquiring a data file to be displayed on the screen of each electronic conference terminal device installed at each site used when conducting an electronic conference via a network. Conference execution control means for executing an electronic conference while maintaining the sameness between the displayed data file and the data file displayed on the screen of the electronic conference terminal device installed at another base, the data file acquired by the acquisition means In association with editing management information including editing time information for specifying when editing is performed and editing participation device information for specifying all electronic conference terminal devices participating in the electronic conference using the data file, File management means for managing the data file, connecting the line to the electronic conference terminal device installed at another site for participation in the electronic conference By comparing the editing participation device information sent from the electronic conference terminal device installed at the other site with the editing management information associated with the data file acquired by the acquisition means. The data file opened on the terminal device is in a state where individual editing has been carried out in which the editing performed on its own electronic conference terminal device is not reflected in the data file opened on the electronic conference terminal device installed at another site It is made to function as a discriminating means for discriminating whether there is a collaborative editing state in which individual editing is not performed.

  According to the present invention, in each electronic conference terminal device, editing management information including editing time information and editing participating device information is associated with and held in the data file, so that data files individually edited or jointly edited are stored. Individual editing and collaborative editing can be performed on the data file without making the user aware of the other.

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

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic conference system according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows each electronic conference terminal device (hereinafter referred to as “conference terminal”) 4 and a shared file server 6 installed at each base so as to be able to exchange information with each other via the public network 2. The electronic conference system referred to in the present embodiment can be realized by a general apparatus configuration having a video camera, a monitor, etc., but the conference materials and the like are digitized in each conference terminal 4 instead of as video data. The data is distributed as a data file (hereinafter referred to as “electronic document”), and the conference terminal 4 at each site allows the user to perform operations such as editing and page turning on the electronic document held and managed locally, It assumes a system that can maintain identity. In the present embodiment, the contents individually operated at each base are distributed to other bases, and the operation contents sent from other bases at each base are reflected in the electronic document that is locally held and managed. The identity of electronic documents having the same contents scattered between conference terminals is maintained.

  Since the conference terminal 4 in the present embodiment may basically have the same configuration for both hardware and software, the configuration of each conference terminal 4 on behalf of one conference terminal A as shown in FIG. explain. The conference terminal 4 in the present embodiment includes a communication processing unit 10, a conference execution control unit 12, a user interface (UI) processing unit 14, and a display processing unit 16. The communication processing unit 10 exchanges information with the conference terminal 4 and the shared file server 6 installed at other bases via the public network 2. The conference execution control unit 12 is a means for performing execution control of the entire electronic conference, and has a document acquisition unit 18 and a document management unit 20 in the present embodiment. Among these, the document acquisition unit 18 acquires the electronic document to be collaboratively edited used in the electronic conference from another conference terminal 4 participating in the electronic conference. Alternatively, an electronic document to be used inside is acquired from the shared file server 6. The document management unit 20 manages an electronic document used by its own conference terminal 4. The user interface (UI) processing unit 14 is an interface unit with the user of the conference terminal 4, and editing (annotation or the like) input by the mouse operation, keyboard operation, writing using the electronic pen, touching the screen, or the like by the user. ) Or an operation content such as a display control instruction such as page turning. Although the display processing unit 16 is also considered to constitute part of the user interface, the display processing unit 16 displays the electronic document on the display of the conference terminal 4. Further, the document storage unit 22 is a means for storing an electronic document used locally by the conference terminal 4, but as will be described in detail later, in the present embodiment, each electronic document is associated with editing management information. Since the editing state is managed, the document storage unit 22 stores editing management information together with the electronic document.

  The processing functions of the constituent elements 10 to 20 included in the conference terminal 4 described above are realized by a cooperative operation of a program that exhibits the processing functions and hardware resources that configure the conference terminal 4. The document storage unit 22 is assumed to be realized by an external storage device such as a hard disk drive, but may be a storage unit such as a memory.

  The shared file server 6 can be realized by a general-purpose server computer. FIG. 1 shows a communication processing unit 61, a document management unit 62, and a document database (DB) 63. An electronic document used in the electronic conference system is stored in a document database (DB) 63 so that the electronic document can be shared. The communication processing unit 10 receives the electronic document via the public network 2 in response to a request from the conference terminal 4. Send. In addition, the received electronic document is received. The document management unit 62 performs batch management of electronic documents stored in a document database (DB) 63. The processing functions of the constituent elements 61 and 62 included in the shared file server 6 are realized by a cooperative operation of a program that exhibits the processing functions and hardware resources that configure the conference terminal 4. The document database (DB) 63 is assumed to be realized by an external storage device such as a hard disk drive device.

  As described above, there is a case where it is desired to make a meeting or the like using the electronic document at its own site while maintaining the identity of the electronic document locally held and managed at each site. What is characteristic in this embodiment is that the user does not have to be aware of the editing performed within the local site (individual editing) and the editing performed jointly with other sites during the electronic conference (joint editing). This is what can be done separately. In other words, while editing contents in individual editing are not notified to other bases, in the case of collaborative editing, the editing contents are reflected in all bases in all conference terminals 4 participating in the electronic conference. Can do.

  Note that an electronic document used in an electronic conference is subjected to either individual editing or collaborative editing. Therefore, the electronic document can be interpreted as belonging to any editing state. Strictly speaking, however, it can exist when no editing has yet been performed. In this case, since the electronic document is basically edited jointly at a remote conference, in this embodiment, when the individual editing is not performed, the collaborative editing is broadly interpreted as belonging to the joint editing. I will do it.

  FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating editing, operations on an electronic document, and the like when an electronic conference is performed in the present embodiment. FIG. 2 shows an example in which an electronic conference is performed between three conference terminals T1, T2, and T3. FIG. 3 to FIG. 6 are flowcharts showing processing performed by the conference terminal 4 in the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the operation in the present embodiment will be described with reference to each drawing, particularly along the sequence shown in FIG. Here, for the sake of convenience, only one document (document A in this example) is used as materials for the electronic conference.

  First, the conference terminal 4 takes out a document from the shared file server 6, and this process follows the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, each document acquisition unit 18 in the conference terminals T1 and T3 acquires the document A scheduled to be used in the electronic conference by downloading from the shared file server 6 (step 101). Then, the document management unit 20 associates the acquired document A with the edit management information including the edit time information (E) and the edit participation device information (T), and initializes the edit time information and the edit participation device information ( Step 102). Here, the editing time information is time information indicating when editing has been performed on a document, and in this embodiment, the current time at the time of editing is set. By setting the editing time information, it can be seen that the document has not been edited after the time set in the editing time information. On the other hand, the device identification information (hereinafter, “terminal ID”) of the conference terminal 4 used by the users participating in the electronic conference using the document is set in the editing participation device information. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the conference terminal 4 connected to the line among the conference terminals 4 constituting the electronic conference system is participating in the electronic conference. That is, it is determined whether or not each conference terminal 4 is participating in the electronic conference depending on whether or not the line is connected. The terminal ID may be unique identification information that can identify each conference terminal 4 from other conference terminals 4, such as a terminal number assigned in the system or an IP address. In this embodiment, T1, T2, and T3 are terminal IDs.

  The editing time information and the editing participation device information are as described above, but the editing time information (E) and the editing participation device information (T) initialization processing in step 102 are not yet used for the electronic conference. Since it is in the state, each information is set to a blank (“None” in the figure) meaning no setting. Thereafter, the display processing unit 16 displays the acquired document on the screen in accordance with the instruction from the conference execution control unit 12 (step 103). In FIG. 2, a broken line 30 indicates a state in which the document is opened and displayed on the screen.

  Subsequently, in the conference terminals T1 and T3, the displayed document A is edited. This document editing process follows the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when the conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T1 operates in cooperation with the user interface processing unit 14 to detect editing performed by the user (step 111), the conference execution control unit 12 sets the current time in the editing time information (E) of the document A. The terminal ID of the conference terminal 4 that is currently displaying the document A on the screen is set in the editing participation apparatus information (T) (step 112). Here, whether or not the document A is currently displayed on the screen is determined based on the presence or absence of the line connection as described above. As is apparent from FIG. 2, the conference terminal T1 is not connected to the other conference terminals 4 at this time. Accordingly, “12:10” is set in the editing time information (E) associated with the document A in the conference terminal T1, and “T1” is set in the editing participation device information (T).

  It should be noted that the end of editing a document cannot normally be grasped unless the document is saved, so that the editing time information (E) is sequentially updated each time the document A is edited. The same applies to the editing participation apparatus information (T). In FIG. 2, the document A in the conference terminal T1 is illustrated as having been last edited at 12:10, but this is edited between 12:10 and 12:15 when the line connection request is received. As a result, the last edited time can be grasped as “12:10”.

  Upon receiving the edited content made by the user from the meeting execution control unit 12, the display processing unit 16 updates the displayed document according to the edited content (step 113).

  Also in the conference terminal T3, as in the conference terminal T1, the conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T3 detects the editing performed by the user (step 111), and the current time is displayed in the editing time information (E) of the document A. And the terminal ID of the conference terminal 4 that is currently displaying the document A on the editing participation apparatus information (T) is set (step 112). Since the conference terminal T3 is not connected to the other conference terminals 4 at this time, the editing time information (E) associated with the document A is “12:10” and the editing participation device information (T) is “ T3 ″ is set for each. Then, the display processing unit 16 updates the displayed document according to the edited content made by the user (step 113).

  Next, an operation when an electronic conference is started between remote locations in response to a line connection request will be described. This process follows the flowcharts shown in FIGS. First, processing when a line connection request is issued from the conference terminal T2 illustrated in FIG. 2 to the conference terminal T1 will be described.

  The conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T2 transmits a line connection request to the conference terminal T1 to perform an electronic conference (step 131).

  Upon receiving the line connection request from the conference terminal T2 (step 151), the conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T1 receives the document name and edit management information (E as information related to the document A currently displayed in response to the request. ', T') is transmitted (step 152). Here, the symbols E ′ and T ′ indicating the editing time information and the editing participating device information are E ′ and T ′, respectively, in order to distinguish them from editing management information (E, T) on the conference terminal T 2 side. In this example, as shown in FIG. 2, the document displayed on the conference terminal T1 is “document A”, and the editing time information and editing participation apparatus information are “12:10” and “T1”, respectively. is there.

  The conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T2 checks whether or not the document name included in the information transmitted from the conference terminal T1 is the same as the currently displayed document name (step 133). In this example, since the conference terminal T2 is not displaying a document, the document acquisition unit 18 transmits and acquires a request for acquiring the document A from the conference terminal T1 that is the connection request destination (step 138). Here, the document A acquired by the conference terminal T2 is the document A in which the editing time information and the editing participation apparatus information are set to “12:10” and “T1”, respectively, by editing at the conference terminal T1. is there.

  When receiving the acquisition request from the conference terminal T2 (step 153), the conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T1 transmits the latest document A displayed in response to the request (step 154). In FIG. 2, the editing at the conference terminal T3 with respect to the downloaded document A is illustrated as “individual editing”, whereas the editing at the conference terminal T1 is simply illustrated as “editing”. Although it may have been individual editing at that time, it is because the document A becomes a target of collaborative editing by transmitting the document A in response to the acquisition request from the conference terminal T2 as described here. In the present embodiment, as processing on the side of receiving the line connection request, the document A being displayed is unconditionally transmitted in response to the document acquisition request as shown in FIG. However, the conference terminal T1 can maintain the individual editing for the document A by refusing without responding to the acquisition request from the conference terminal T2. However, since the electronic conference cannot be started if it is rejected, it is not rejected in this embodiment. If it is desired to hold an electronic conference while maintaining individual editing, both or one of the conference terminals T1 and T2 may handle the document A from the shared file server 6 again.

  Subsequently, the conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T1 sets the terminal ID of the conference terminal 4 that currently displays the document A in the editing participation apparatus information (T) (step 155). In this example, since document A is shared by the conference terminals T1 and T2, “T = T1, T2” is set. By this process, “T2” is newly added to the editing participation apparatus information (T). This “T2” may be acquired from the information specified in the line connection request or may be connected to the line. You may make it search for the conference terminal 4 which exists. However, since the processing in step 155 is the same as the processing in step 112 described above, it is preferable to adopt the latter if the processing contents are made common.

  Since document A has not been edited at this time, the data set in the editing time information (E) is not changed. In this example, E ′ received from the conference terminal T1, that is, “12:10” is set in the editing time information (E).

  When the conference terminal T2 acquires the document A in step 138, the display processing unit 16 displays the acquired document A on the screen according to the instruction from the conference execution control unit 12 (step 139). Then, the conference execution control unit 12 sets the terminal ID of the conference terminal 4 that currently displays the document A on the editing participation apparatus information (T) (step 140). In this example, since document A is shared by the conference terminals T1 and T2, “T = T1, T2” is set. Since document A has not been edited at this time, the data set in the editing time information (E) is not changed. In this example, E ′ received from the conference terminal T1, that is, “12:10” is set in the editing time information (E). The document A is actually a local document held and managed by each of the conference terminals T1 and T2. However, since the document A is a document shared in an electronic conference in which identity is substantially maintained, the document itself Not only the editing management information is the same.

  Thereafter, it is assumed that a teleconference is performed at the conference terminals T1 and T2 and joint editing is performed at the conference. The document editing process follows the flowchart of FIG. 4 described above, but the editing management information of the document A shared by this collaborative editing is updated (step 112).

  Next, a process when the conference terminal T3 joins the remote conference held at the conference terminals T1 and T2 will be described. This process follows the flowcharts shown in FIGS. Note that the processing already described in FIGS. 6 and 7 will be omitted as appropriate.

  The conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T3 transmits a line connection request to the conference terminal T2 (step 131). The conference terminal T3 may transmit a line connection request to the conference terminal T1.

  Upon receiving the line connection request from the conference terminal T3 (step 151), the conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T2 receives the document name and edit management information (E as information related to the document A currently displayed in response to the request. ', T') is transmitted (step 152). In this example, as shown in FIG. 2, the document displayed by the conference terminal T2 is “Document A”, and the editing time information and editing participation device information are “12:30”, “T1, T2”, respectively. is there.

  The conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T3 checks whether or not the document name included in the information sent from the conference terminal T2 is the same as the currently displayed document name (step 133). In this example, the conference terminal T3 displays a document, and the document name is the same as “Document A”. At this time, the conference execution control unit 12 checks whether or not its own terminal ID “T3” is included in the editing participation device information (T ′) acquired from the conference terminal T2 (step 134). Here, since “T ′ = T1, T2” and “T3” is not included, the conference execution control unit 12 changes the document name of the document A having the same document name that has been individually edited. The document is stored in the document storage unit 22 (step 137). More specifically, when the editing participation apparatus information (T ′) does not include its own terminal ID “T3”, the conference execution control unit 12 inputs the document name when saving it on the display. Is displayed on the screen, and the user inputs the document name. Of course, the meeting execution control unit 12 may automatically set the document name according to a predetermined rule. Thereby, the individually edited content is held only by the conference terminal T3 and is not known to the other conference terminals T1 and T2.

  The subsequent processing is as described above, and the conference terminal T3 acquires the document A shared from the conference terminal T2 (step 138) and displays it on the screen (step 139). Then, the conference execution control unit 12 sets the terminal ID of the conference terminal 4 that currently displays the document A on the editing participation apparatus information (T) (step 140). In this example, since the document A is shared by the conference terminals T1, T2, and T3, “T = T1, T2, T3” is set. Since document A has not been edited at this time, the data set in the editing time information (E) is not changed. In this example, E 'received from the conference terminal T2, that is, "12:30" is set in the editing time information (E).

  On the other hand, the conference terminal T2 transmits the document A in response to the acquisition request from the conference terminal T3 as described above (steps 153 and 154), and the document A is currently displayed on the editing participation apparatus information (T). The terminal ID of the conference terminal 4 is set (step 155). In this example, since the document A is shared by the conference terminals T1, T2, and T3, “T = T1, T2, T3” is set. Further, since the document A is not edited at this time, “12:30” is set in the editing time information (E).

  Here, when a remote conference is performed at three or more conference terminals 4, the conference terminals T1 other than the conference terminal T2 that has received the line connection request from the conference terminal T3 know that the conference terminal T3 has participated in the electronic conference. Absent. Therefore, when the conference terminal T3 announces participation in the electronic conference by transmitting a document acquisition request to the conference terminal T2, the conference terminal T3 that has received the acquisition request newly participates in the conference terminal T3. Distributing the conference terminal addition notification indicating that it has been made to the conference terminal T1 installed at the other site prompts the conference terminal T1 installed at the other site to update the editing participation device information (T) included in the edit management information. The processing performed at the conference terminal T1 at this time follows the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, when the conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T1 obtains the conference terminal addition notification from the conference terminal T2 (step 121), the conference execution control unit 12 of the conference terminal 4 that currently displays the document A in the edit participation device information (T). A terminal ID is set (step 122). In this example, the document A is shared by the conference terminals T1, T2, and T3, so that “T = T1, T2, T3” is updated. Note that “12:30” is still set in the editing time information (E).

  According to the present embodiment, when the document A is downloaded from the shared file server 6 and edited, as in the conference terminals T1 and T3, the editing end time is the same, that is, accidentally editing time information ( Even when E) becomes the same value (“12:10” in this example), since the editing participation apparatus information (T) is also held and managed as editing management information, the conference terminals T1 and T3 respectively Even if the documents to be held have the same name, they are not determined to be the same document. In addition, since the content individually edited at the conference terminal T3 is saved as a separate document at the timing of participating in the remote conference, the conference terminal T3 informs the other conference terminals T1 and T2 of the edited content that has been made in secret. You can join a remote conference without being asked.

  Thereafter, a remote conference is performed between the conference terminals T1 to T3, and when joint editing is performed at that time, each conference terminal T1 to T3 performs processing according to the flowchart of FIG. The edit management information of the document A at each conference terminal T1 to T3 is updated. In the example shown in FIG. 2, “E = 13: 00” is updated. Thereafter, according to FIG. 2, the conference terminal T1 disconnects from the electronic conference by disconnecting the line. The conference terminal T1 stores the displayed document A. At this time, the conference terminal T1 stores the edit management information in the document storage unit 22 in association with the document A. Since the conference terminal T1 does not perform editing locally after collaborative editing, the saved editing management information is the state at the end of the collaborative editing, that is, “E = 13: 00”, “T = T1, T2, T3. ".

  According to FIG. 2, even after the conference terminal T1 is removed from the members of the electronic conference, the remote conference is continuously performed between the conference terminal T2 and the conference terminal T3, and the joint editing is performed during the remote conference. ing. In each conference terminal T2, T3, the processing according to the flowchart of FIG. 4 is performed, so that the editing management information of the document A in each conference terminal T2, T3 is updated. At this time, when the conference execution control unit 12 in each of the conference terminals T2 and T3 detects editing (step 111), it updates the editing management information (step 112). Of these, the editing time information (E) is updated. Is set to “13:30” where editing is detected. On the other hand, at this time, since the conference terminal T3 is not connected to the line, the editing participation apparatus information (T) is updated to “T2, T3”. Thereafter, the display processing unit 16 in each of the conference terminals T2 and T3 updates the displayed document according to the edited content made by the user (step 113).

  After that, when the line between the conference terminals T2 and T3 is connected and the remote conference is finished, the document A is stored in each conference terminal T2 and T3. As shown in FIG. , T3, the document A is not edited. Therefore, the editing management information of the document A stored in each conference terminal T2, T3 is the state at the end of the joint editing, that is, “E = 13: 30”, “ T = T2, T3 ″.

  According to the present embodiment, the remote conference is performed as described above. When the conference terminal T3 participates in the remote conference even when the individual edit is performed, the content of the individual edit is stored in the local document. Therefore, it is possible to shift to a remote conference without being known to other conference terminals 4.

  As described above, the operation in the present embodiment has been described based on the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 2, but here, for example, it is assumed that the remote conference is started again between the conference terminal T2 and the conference terminal T3. For example, the case where a line connection request is transmitted from the conference terminal T2 to the conference terminal T3, as opposed to the above, will be described as an example. In FIG. 6, the conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T3 receives the edit acquired from the conference terminal T2. Since “T ′ = T2, T3” is set in the editing participation apparatus information (T) included in the management information, it knows that its own terminal ID is included (step 134). Subsequently, the conference execution control unit 12 is set to “E ′ = 13: 30” in the editing time information (E ′) included in the acquired editing management information, and is not in an initialization state ( Step 135) Subsequently, when the self editing time information (E) and the received editing time information (E ′) are compared, both are “13:30”. That is, since the editing participation apparatus information (T) and the editing time information (E) are the same, it can be seen that the document A held by the conference terminal T2 and the conference terminal T3 is the same document. For this reason, the meeting execution control unit 12 does not need to acquire the document A from the other. If the document A is not displayed on the screen, the conference execution control unit 12 displays the screen and then updates the editing participation apparatus information (T) (steps 141, 139, 140). The editing participation apparatus information (T) is immediately updated (steps 141 and 140).

  Thus, when it is confirmed that the same document A is held, the remote conference can be resumed without transmitting / receiving the document A between the conference terminal T2 and the conference terminal T3. As is clear from the description of the above processing, the user can resume the electronic conference only by connecting to the line, and does not need to be aware of any preparation such as individual editing or collaborative editing.

  On the other hand, it is assumed that the remote conference is started again between the conference terminal T1 and the conference terminal T2. For example, a case where a line connection request is transmitted from the conference terminal T1 to the conference terminal T2 in the opposite manner will be described as an example. In FIG. 6, the conference execution control unit 12 in the conference terminal T2 edits acquired from the conference terminal T1. Since “T ′ = T1, T2, T3” is set in the editing participation apparatus information (T) included in the management information, it is known that its own terminal ID is included (step 134). Subsequently, the conference execution control unit 12 is set to “E ′ = 13: 00” in the editing time information (E ′) included in the acquired editing management information, and is not in an initialization state ( Step 135) Subsequently, the self editing time information (E) is compared with the received editing time information (E '). At this time, although the self editing time information “E = 13: 30”, the received editing time information “E ′ = 13: 00” does not coincide with the self editing time. The document A is acquired from the requesting conference terminal T1, and the remote conference is started using the acquired document A (steps 136 and 138). Note that the document A held by the conference terminal T2 is renamed as a document A that has been individually edited and stored separately (step 137). Since the conference terminal T1 did not participate in the joint editing performed at the conference terminals T2 and T3, in the relationship between the conference terminal T1 and the conference terminal T2, the document A held by the conference terminal T2 is Therefore, it will be understood as a document that has been individually edited.

  In this way, even if it can be confirmed that the same document A is held, if the editing time information (E) does not match, the conference terminal T1 and the conference terminal T2 hold the document A having different contents. In this example, the remote conference is resumed using the document A of the conference terminal T1 that is the source of the line connection request. At this time, since the conference terminal T2 can recognize the difference between the individual edit or the joint edit with reference to the editing time information (E), the user of the conference terminal T2 can recognize the difference between the individual edit of the document A and the joint edit. Document A can be used without awareness.

It is the block diagram which showed one Embodiment of the electronic conference system which concerns on this invention. It is a sequence diagram when an electronic conference is implemented in this Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the document acquisition process in this Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the document edit process in this Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the terminal addition process in this Embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing line connection processing on the connection request side in the present embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the process at the time of the line connection in the connection request reception side in this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  2 public network, 4 electronic conference terminal device (conference terminal) each conference terminal, 6 shared file server, 10 communication processing unit, 12 conference execution control unit, 14 user interface processing unit, 16 display processing unit, 18 document acquisition unit, 20 Document management unit, 22 Document storage unit, 61 Communication processing unit, 62 Document management unit, 63 Document database (DB).

Claims (5)

In an electronic conference system used for an electronic conference conducted between the electronic conference terminal devices connected to the line, having an electronic conference terminal device installed at each site,
Each of the electronic conference terminal devices
An acquisition means for acquiring a data file to be displayed on the screen during an electronic conference;
A meeting execution control means for executing the electronic conference while maintaining the sameness between the data file displayed on the screen and the data file displayed on the screen of the electronic conference terminal device installed at another site;
Editing time information for specifying when editing is performed on the data file acquired by the acquisition means and editing participation apparatus information for specifying all electronic conference terminal devices participating in the electronic conference using the data file. File management means for associating edit management information including the file and managing the data file;
Editing participation device information sent from the electronic conference terminal device installed at the other site when the line was connected to the electronic conference terminal device installed at the other site for participation in the electronic conference, and acquired by the acquisition means By comparing the editing management information associated with the data file, the data file opened in its own electronic conference terminal device is edited by the electronic conference terminal device, and the electronic conference terminal device installed in another site Discriminating means for discriminating whether individual editing that has not been reflected in the data file opened in is performed or collaborative editing in which individual editing has not been performed,
An electronic conferencing system comprising: In the electronic conference terminal device installed at each site used when conducting an electronic conference via the network,
An acquisition means for acquiring a data file to be displayed on the screen during an electronic conference;
A meeting execution control means for executing the electronic conference while maintaining the sameness between the data file displayed on the screen and the data file displayed on the screen of the electronic conference terminal device installed at another site;
Editing time information for specifying when editing is performed on the data file acquired by the acquisition means and editing participation apparatus information for specifying all electronic conference terminal devices participating in the electronic conference using the data file. File management means for associating the edit management information including the file and managing the data file;
Editing participation device information sent from the electronic conference terminal device installed at another base when the line was connected to the electronic conference terminal device installed at another base for participation in the electronic conference, and acquired by the acquisition means By comparing the editing management information associated with the data file, the data file opened in its own electronic conference terminal device is edited by the electronic conference terminal device, and the electronic conference terminal device installed in another site Discriminating means for discriminating whether individual editing that has not been reflected in the data file opened in is performed or collaborative editing in which individual editing has not been performed,
An electronic conference terminal device comprising: The electronic conference terminal device according to claim 2,
The file management means includes
When the acquisition means acquires a data file, the management unit associates editing management information including editing time information and editing participating device information with the acquired data file, and initializes the associated editing time information and editing participating device information. And
When editing is performed on the acquired data file, the editing time and device identification information of all electronic conference terminal devices connected to the line are acquired, and the data is obtained with the acquired editing time and device identification information. An update unit for updating the editing time information and editing participating device information associated with the file, and
Have
The conference execution control means stores the individually edited data file when it is determined that the individual editing has been performed by the determination means, and the electronic conference terminal apparatus installed at another site connected to the line An electronic conference terminal device that causes the acquisition means to acquire a data file to be used in an electronic conference. The electronic conference terminal device according to claim 2,
The file management means, when notification information for participation in an electronic conference using a data file is sent from an electronic conference terminal device installed at another site, the device identification information included in the participation notification information An electronic conference terminal device comprising an adding unit for adding to editing participation device information associated with a data file. Each electronic conference terminal device installed at each site used when conducting an electronic conference via the network,
An acquisition means for acquiring a data file to be displayed on the screen during an electronic conference,
Conference execution control means for executing an electronic conference while maintaining the sameness between the data file displayed on the screen and the data file displayed on the screen of the electronic conference terminal device installed at another site,
Editing time information for specifying when editing is performed on the data file acquired by the acquisition means and editing participation apparatus information for specifying all electronic conference terminal devices participating in the electronic conference using the data file. File management means for managing the data file by associating the edit management information including
Edit participation device information sent from the electronic conference terminal device installed at the other site when the line was connected to the electronic conference terminal device installed at the other site for participation in the electronic conference, and acquired by the acquisition means By comparing the editing management information associated with the data file, the data file opened in its own electronic conference terminal device is edited by the electronic conference terminal device, and the electronic conference terminal device installed in another base Discriminating means for discriminating whether individual editing that has not been reflected in the data file opened in is performed or collaborative editing in which individual editing has not been performed,
Electronic conference program to function as

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