JP2007323441A - Document management device and method of controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To duplicate a document including relation between documents as well. <P>SOLUTION: When the document of a duplication origin is selected, a duplication origin document group to which the selected document belongs and an inheritance document group prepared on the basis of the duplication origin document group are compared. Then, a difference on the structure of the document groups between the duplication origin document group and the inheritance document group, in addition to an image indicating the structure of the duplication origin document group, are displayed by symbols 2102. A user can duplicate the document group including the relation between the documents by selecting a desired document from the displayed documents and pressing a registration button 2101. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a document management apparatus that manages a document having a structure such as an electronic catalog, and a control method thereof, and particularly, a document for duplicating an existing document group to create a new sentence group book. The present invention relates to a management apparatus and a control method thereof.

Usually, for example, electronic catalogs manage products or products belonging to the same category as one document. The hierarchical structure of the catalog is managed in order to manage these documents for each product and to show the user as a view for each product (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-024235 A

  On the other hand, an ISO document, a CMM (capability facility model) document, and the like are configured by associating a plurality of documents in place of the internal structure of the document. Such a document group is prepared for each creator or management body such as a department. In that case, the content of each document differs depending on the creator or manager. However, the structure of a document group, that is, the association between documents is often similar regardless of the creator or the management body. However, a user who wants to create a new document creates a document group from scratch without knowing it even if there are many similar document groups, or searches for a document group that serves as a reference. It took a lot of work.

  In addition, a newly created document group does not always have a structure as a template. For this reason, even if a document group to be referenced is found and copied, it may be necessary to make a judgment or work such as creating a new document and associating the documents, or deleting unnecessary documents. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and can refer to a template document group including associations between documents, and also refer to a document group having a different structure derived from the template document group. It is an object of the present invention to provide a document management apparatus and a control method therefor that contribute to productivity improvement by reducing user labor.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is, document storage means for storing document data corresponding to a document in association with the template document when the document is created based on the template document;
Related data storage means for storing related data indicating a relationship between a plurality of documents;
When a user specifies a document as a template, a first document group including the specified document and the document directly and indirectly associated with the document by related data, and the specified document as a template document Candidate display means for displaying, as a template candidate, a document created as a second document group including the document directly and indirectly associated with the document and related data;
A template selection unit is provided for allowing a user to select a document group from among the template candidates displayed by the candidate display unit.

  The present invention makes it possible to manage a document group in association with each other and efficiently create a document group using the associated document group as a model.

<System configuration>
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a document management apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to the present invention. The client PCs 101 and 102 are terminals for system administrators to register new data files and perform system maintenance processing such as user management information correction. Alternatively, it is also used by the user to give instructions such as product search and product information output.

  Clients 101 and 102 connected to a local area network (LAN) 103 exchange data with other devices via the LAN 103. A client PC 104 is directly connected to the Internet 105 together with the LANs 103 and 109. The client 104 has a connection form different from that of the clients 101 and 102, but is used for the same purpose.

  The HTTP server 106 receives and responds to a request that can be HTTP protocol from the client PC 101 or the like via the network. The server 107 is a web application server. Several Web application servers are registered in the HTTP server 106, and the HTTP server 106 allocates processing to an appropriate Web application server in accordance with the request content from the client PC. In addition, the Web application server 107 that has received the request executes processing and returns the processing result to the client via the HTTP server. The database 108 stores content data information such as catalog data and image data, text information such as product information, and system information such as user / group information and registration data file processing information. An electronic document group of the present embodiment described later is also stored in the database 108.

  As described above, the WEB database system functions organically in combination with the HTTP server 106, the WEB application server 107, and the database 108.

<Computer configuration>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a computer such as an application server according to the present invention.

  The system bus 1 is connected to the constituent blocks described below. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2 controls the entire computer and executes update and search of a database, which will be described later, and processing shown in a flowchart. In the program memory (referred to as PMEM) 3, a program for this processing is appropriately selected / read from the hard disk 10 and executed by the CPU 2. Data input from the keyboard 12 is stored as code information in the PMEM 3 which is also a text memory. The communication control unit 4 controls input / output data at the communication port 5. The signal output from the communication port 5 is transmitted to the communication port of another device on the network via the communication line 6. In the present embodiment, a network such as a LAN is described. Needless to say, the present invention is applicable even if the communication port and communication line connected to the communication control unit are general public lines.

  The external storage device control unit 8 controls the disks 9 and 10. The data file disk 9 is, for example, a flexible disk (referred to as FD), and the disk 10 is a hard disk (referred to as HD).

  An input device 13 such as a keyboard 12 and a mouse is connected to the input control unit 11. The operator operates the keyboard 12 to issue a system operation command or the like.

  The input device 13 is a pointing device (referred to as PD) for instructing processing of image information on the CRT 16 and uses a mouse in this embodiment. As a result, the cursor displayed on the CRT 16 can be arbitrarily moved in the X and Y directions to select a command / icon on the command menu to give an instruction for processing, an instruction for editing, an instruction for a drawing position, and the like. A video image memory (referred to as VRAM) 14 stores image data to be displayed. The display output control unit 15 controls display on the CRT 16. Data displayed on the CRT 16 is expanded as bitmap data in the VRAM 11.

  Note that the program stored in the ROM in this embodiment may be stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk (HD) or a flexible disk (FD) directly connected to the apparatus. Furthermore, it may be stored on another device connected via a network. The program of the present invention can be supplied to a system or apparatus via a storage medium such as FD or HD or a network.

<Software module of application server>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the module configuration of the electronic document system according to the present invention. Each module is realized by a program in this embodiment.

  The client PC 301 is one of the client PCs in FIG. 1, and has an information registration module 302 for registering data files such as catalog information and image data in the server. However, these modules are automatically distributed from the server PC and installed in the plug-in format of the WEB browser installed in the client 301 as necessary.

  A network 303 is a network for exchanging data. The HTTP server 304 corresponds to the HTTP server 106 in FIG.

  Further, the Web application server 305 corresponds to the Web application server 107 in FIG. The Web application server 305 is provided with a module group 306 for processing a request received from the HTTP server 304 from the client PC 301. Supported functions include user authentication, search processing, batch registration of various data, product information output, and data maintenance functions. These modules are loaded on the memory in response to a request from the client and execute processing.

  In addition to these module groups, there is an association search module 307 for searching associated document groups (referred to as related document groups). Furthermore, there is a database common library 308 and various utility libraries 309 for exchanging data with the database 310. As the database common library 308, the utility library 309, and the database 310, for example, a commercially available database system can be used.

<Structure of document file>
FIG. 4 shows an example of a database defining document files in this system. The data table 404 manages information associated with (associated with) a document. The recorded information includes a data ID uniquely determined for each document, a document registration date, an update date, a disclosure flag for controlling whether this information is disclosed on the WEB, and deleted information. There is a deletion flag that controls whether or not there is. In addition, there are an XML ID that links a document and an XML management table that manages association between documents, and an inheritance ID that stores a data ID of a copy source that has become a template document when an associated document group is copied. The data table 404 and the XML management table 408 are linked by the XML ID. The XML management table 408 manages the XML path (pointer to the XML file 409) to the XML file 409 describing the parent-child relationship between documents. Further, the data table 404 and the category management table 407 are linked by category ID. The category management table 407 manages to which category the data belongs. The category management table 407 has a category ID and a category name.

  The content table 402 manages information such as catalog data files. The recorded information includes a content ID uniquely determined for each document, and a file path indicating the location of a content file for storing a document body such as a document or an image, as in the data table 404. The file path indicates the location of the content file 410. In addition, there are a registration date, a disclosure flag for controlling whether or not this information is disclosed on the WEB, a deletion flag for controlling whether or not the information is deleted, and the like. A multi-page content file is associated with a content-related table 401 that manages information for each page. The content related table 401 stores attribute information of each page of content. The registered attribute information includes a content ID for each page, a page number, and a parent content ID indicating a content ID in which an original multi-page before page division is stored. In the case of a document in which one page is originally composed of one content file, the parent content ID is not registered.

  The data / content management table 403 is a table that associates the file path (pointer to the content file) managed in the content table 402 with the text information managed in the data table 404. Since the data file can be associated with each content ID, it can be associated with each page. In addition, a content type representing a content association type is also managed.

  The data definition item table 406 manages the name of the data item associated with the data item ID. For example, item names of product information such as product names and prices are managed in the data item names. In the data item value table 405, a data ID, a data item ID, and a data item value are stored in association with each other.

<Document registration procedure>
FIG. 5 shows an example of a flowchart showing the catalog data registration process of the present invention. First, in step S101, the system administrator executes login processing from the client PC 101 with an account and a password. At this time, there is no problem with the authentication method other than the account and password. In response to this request, in step S102, the server 107 inquires of the database 108 whether or not the input account and password are permitted to perform catalog data registration processing, and performs authentication processing. Here, if execution of the process is not permitted, an error screen is transmitted to the client PC. If so, proceed to the next step.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a catalog registration function list screen of the present invention. A button 602 is a catalog registration button. The user can press this button to select catalog data to be registered in the server 107 and execute the registration process. A button 603 is a product master registration button. The user can press this button to register the master data of each product in the server. A button 604 is a button for associating catalog information with a product master. Each catalog data registered in the server 107 can be associated with each product master. Immediately before step S103, a merchandise master registration instruction is given on the screen of FIG. 7, and immediately before step S107, a catalog registration instruction is given on a screen almost similar to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is an example of a screen for registering a product master displayed when the button 603 is pressed on the screen of FIG. A screen 701 is a screen for setting product master file information. Boxes 702 to 704 are input fields for inputting setting items of the product master file. In this screen, a box 702 is a file name, a box 703 is a creator, and a box 704 is a category input field. Button 705 is a clear button. When this button 705 is selected, all input information is cleared. A button 706 is a registration button. When this button 706 is selected, the input product master information is registered in the database. Note that the merchandise master is not shown in FIG. The product master and the catalog can be associated with, for example, the content ID of the catalog (document data) and the product ID of the product master (not shown).

  In step S103, the product master is registered. The server receives the request from the client PC 101 and registers the product master in the database in step S104. This process completes registration of the product master in the database. Next, register the catalog data.

  If the button 602 in FIG. 6 is pressed here, the process proceeds to step S105. In step S105, the client 101 instructs the server 107 to prepare for catalog data registration. The server 107 transmits a file registration module to the client PC 101 in step S106. At this time, if the file registration module is already on the client PC 101, the file registration module is not transmitted.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of a screen for selecting catalog data. The screen in FIG. 8 is displayed after the registration of the catalog is instructed and after the preparation for registration is completed (that is, immediately after step S106). This screen 801 displays the file registration module transmitted from the server 107 to the browser of the client PC 101. A screen 801 is a catalog registration screen. A display column 802 displays a list of files registered in the server. A button 803 is a button for displaying a file reference screen for selecting a file to be registered. When this button 803 is selected, a file reference screen is displayed. When the user selects a file from the screen and presses the execute button, all the selected files are displayed in the display field 802. A button 804 is a folder reference button. When this button is selected, a folder reference screen is displayed. When the user selects a folder and presses the execute button, all files included in the selected folder are displayed in the file list in the display field 802. A button 805 is a delete button. When the user selects a file to be deleted from the file list in the display field 802 and selects this button, the file can be deleted from the file list to be registered. A button 806 is an upload button. When this button is pressed, all files displayed in the display field 802 are registered in the server 107. However, when this button 806 is selected, a registration confirmation screen is displayed, and registration is performed after confirmation.

  FIG. 9 is an example of a screen for confirming a data file registered in the server 107. A screen 901 is a confirmation screen. A list 902 is a file list to be registered. Even the files displayed in the list 902 can be removed from the files registered in the server by deselecting the check box at the top of the file line. In the example of FIG. 9, the catalog data 3 is not registered in the server. A button 903 is a cancel button. When this button 903 is selected, the registration process to the server 107 is stopped. A button 904 is a registration button. When this button 904 is selected, the selected file is registered in the server. 8 and 9 are displayed before step S107, and the user can select a file to be registered. Although the file to be registered is registered in the server 107, it may be created by a client and transmitted to the server 107 together with a registration instruction.

  In step S107, a catalog data registration instruction selected from the screen of FIG. In step S108, the server 107 that has received the registration request performs preprocessing for catalog registration. Here, the catalog data file designated for registration is divided into pages, and a file for each page (that is, a content file) is created. A thumbnail image is generated for each of the catalog data and the created file.

  In step S <b> 110, the server 107 performs a process for registering the preprocessed catalog data in the database 108. At this time, the page-divided content file is registered in the database 108. In addition to the registration of the content file, data is registered in each table shown in FIG. The values to be registered in the table are prepared in advance in the server 107 together with the catalog file. Of course, the values input by the client 101 can be transmitted to the server 107 and registered. A unique content ID is given to the registered content file, and a unique data ID is given to the document before being divided into content files. These IDs are registered at corresponding locations in the table of FIG. It is assumed that category names, data item values, and the like are defined in advance. In addition, the location of each registered content file is registered as the file path. A corresponding thumbnail image file is also registered in the database 108. When the preparation for registration in the database 108 is normally completed, the server 107 transmits a normally completed screen to the client PC 101. Registration of the catalog data in the database is completed by the above processing.

<Example of document structure after registration>
10A and 10B are diagrams showing examples of the contents of the database when document information registration and catalog registration are completed. A table 1001 is a content management table that manages registered catalogs. The registered catalog is managed with a sequential content ID. A table 1002 is a content-related table that manages catalog pages. It has information on the page number of the catalog. A table 1003 is a data / content management table. A table 1004 is a data table for managing document information. Each document information data is managed with a sequential data ID. In addition, the ID of the category to which the document belongs and the XML ID that associates the relationship with the XML that defines the association of the document are associated. A table 1007 is a category management table for managing categories. Categories are managed with sequential IDs. A table 1005 is a data item management table for managing actual values of document information, and stores data item values. Further, it is associated with the document information by the corresponding data ID, and further, is associated with the data definition item table 1006 by the data item ID. A table 1006 is a data definition item table for managing the names of data items. Data item names are managed with sequential IDs. A table 1007 is a category management table, and a table 1008 is an XML management table. Since the catalog (ie, document) data just created is not associated with other documents, nothing is registered in the XML management table 1008.

<Association between documents>
Subsequently, a process for associating document information with catalog data is performed. Returning to FIG. 5, the catalog data subjected to the registration process in step S113 is read. In step S114, the server 107 that has received the request reads the specified catalog data or the catalog data that is not yet associated with the document information from the database 108 and returns it to the client PC 101. The client PC 101 selects catalog data to be associated from the returned catalog data. In step S117, association between documents is registered. For example, the user interface may be provided with an “associate between documents” button on the screen of FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a screen for registering associations between documents. An object 1101 is a document selected by the user and is a symbol of a document to be registered as a parent of a document group to be associated. In this example, the data item value (that is, the document name) corresponding to the data item ID = 1 is displayed in the document. FIG. 11 shows a screen for associating a child document with the parent document.

  A display area 1102 displays child document candidate symbols to be associated with the parent document 1101. Hereinafter, the symbol of the document on the display is simply called a document. There are various ways of selecting candidate child documents such as a document registered in the catalog at the same time as the parent document, a document having the same category as the document information, and a document having the same creator. By selecting a document from the display area 1102 and dragging and dropping it in the area 1103, the documents can be associated with each other. That is, when an operation to move to the same area as the parent document 1101 is performed on the selected candidate child document, the data ID of the child document is described in the XML file 409 of the parent document associated with the symbol of the document. Is done. The path of the XML file is registered in the XML management table 408 together with the XML ID. That is, the contents of the XML file are related data that defines the association between documents. The XML ID is registered as the XML ID of the data table 404 of the parent document. If there are a plurality of child documents, the data ID of the child document is additionally registered in the XML file 409.

  FIG. 12 shows an example of a screen when the catalog data 2 (1204) is dragged and dropped as a child document. When catalog data 2 (1204) is added, frames 1201 and 1202 are displayed to indicate that other documents can be registered as children of catalog data 1 (1203) and catalog data 1204. .

  FIG. 13 shows an example in which catalog data 3 (1205) and catalog data 6 (1206) are additionally registered in frames 1201 and 1202, respectively.

  FIG. 14 shows an example of the data table 1004 when registration of association between documents is completed in the state of FIG. If there is a relationship between documents, the XML ID of the XML file that manages the relationship is registered in the XML ID of the data table 1004. The XML ID and the XML file are managed by an XML management table 1008. The association information of catalog data 1, catalog data 2, and catalog data 3 is registered in an XML file “Parent-child1” whose path is registered in the XML management table 1008. The association information between the catalog data 3 and the catalog data 4 is registered in the XML file “Parent-child 2” in which the POS is registered in the XML management table 1008.

  FIG. 15 shows an example 1501 of an XML file “Parent-child1” and an example 1502 of “Parent-child2” in which associations between documents are defined. The XML file associates the parent-child relationship between documents. That is, the child document data ID (2, 3 in Parent-child 1) is registered in the child tag and the Master tag. Thus, if a parent document is specified, it can be determined whether or not XMLID is registered in the data table of the document (if not registered, a value not used as XMLID is registered). If the XML ID is registered, the corresponding path can be specified from the XML management table. In the XML file specified by the path, the data ID of the child document associated with the parent document is registered. Thereby, the parent-child relationship between documents can be specified. Conversely, the parent can be specified from the child document. For example, the XML file having the child document data ID is searched for the XML file specified by the XML path of all the document data. If found, the XML ID having the path of the XML file is searched from the data table of all documents. If there is a hit, the document managed by the data table is the parent document.

  FIG. 23 shows an example of association registration processing in the server 107. This process is executed after the documents associated with each other (referred to as parent document and child document) are designated on the UI screen of FIG. 13 and the related information of the parent document and child document is passed from the client 101 to the server 107. . That is, it is executed after step S117 of FIG. In the configuration of FIG. 3, this is executed by the association registration processing unit 311. In FIG. 13, the association is indicated by a line connecting the symbols of the document, and the left of the line is the parent document and the right is the child document. For the XML file, template data as shown in FIG. 15 is prepared in the server 107 in advance.

  First, an XML file template is read, and a unique file name is written in the file name tag 1501a (S2301). Then, the data ID of the child document is written in the data ID tag 1501b of the XML file (S2302). When a plurality of child documents are associated with one parent document, the data ID tag is copied by the number of child documents and the associated data ID is written (for example, tag 1501c). The created XML file is registered in the database 108 with the file name recorded in the file name tag. Further, the XML file is given a unique XML ID and registered in the XML management table of the parent document in association with the file path to the XML file. Further, the XML ID registered in the XML management table is registered in the XML ID column of the data table of the parent document.

  This processing can also be executed by record addition / update processing using a database system.

<Search for registered documents>
FIG. 16 shows an example of a screen for searching for registered documents. An example is shown in which a search can be performed based on the document name 1601, the creator 1602, the category 1603, and the period 1064. A button 1605 is a button for clearing all input values, and a button 1606 is a button for executing a search according to the input conditions. A corresponding document (catalog) is searched according to the input conditions. In the database search, a condition and an item to be output are generally specified. In this example, the output item is the same item as the condition shown in FIG. 16 and a related document flag indicating whether XMLID is registered. . The search is executed by the database system.

  FIG. 17 shows an example of a result when a search is performed by specifying “ISO” as a category. Each catalog is managed as a document in the data table 1004. A related document flag 1701 (check box) is set for a document having an XML ID in the data table. When the user selects the quality management document 1702 in which the related document flag 1701 is set and presses the View button 1703, a thumbnail of the related document is displayed as Tree as shown in a screen 1801 in FIG.

  FIG. 24 shows an example of a procedure for displaying the document selected on the screen of FIG. 17 including the related document for the screen of FIG. The processing in FIG. 24 is executed by the client 101, but the information registered in the database is acquired by requesting the server 107.

  First, a document selected on the UI is set as a document of interest (S2401). Specifically, the data ID of the selected document is stored in the area for storing the document name of interest. The identification information and XML ID of the document of interest are acquired from the database 108 (S2402). The acquisition is performed by requesting the server 107. The identification information is preferably, for example, a data item value (that is, a document name) with a data item ID = 1. Using the acquired identification information, a symbol 1811 of the document of interest is displayed on the UI (S2403). In the example of FIG. 18, the document name “quality management document” is displayed in the symbol 1811. Next, it is determined whether there is an unprocessed related document (S2404). This determination is made when there is no unprocessed related document if the value of the XMLID acquired in step S2402 is null. Alternatively, even if the XML ID is not null, if all data IDs recorded in the XML file having the acquired XML ID have been processed, it is determined that there is no unprocessed related document.

  If it is determined that there is an unprocessed related document, an object (for example, a line segment) 1815 indicating the relationship is displayed (S2405). Information relating to the current document of interest is once saved in the stack (S2406). The information related to the current document of interest includes at least the data ID of the document of interest and the data ID of the related document that has been “processed”.

  Next, attention is focused on one of the related documents (child documents) of the current document of interest (S2407). Then, the process returns to step S2402, and the process is repeated. However, the position of the symbol displayed in step S2403 is shifted to the right as the chain of related documents becomes deeper. In addition, child documents at the same depth are displayed while being shifted up and down.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2404 that there is no related document, the process branches to step S2407. Here, the current document of interest is first set to “processed”, and information relating to the document that may be stored in step S2406 is read from the stack. For example, by recording the data ID of a processed document in a specific area, the document can be designated as “processed”. Note that the information of the document of interest is overwritten with the information read from the stack. However, regarding the processed document, the document information processed in step S2407 is saved in addition to the document information extracted from the stack.

  In step S2408, it is determined whether there is information on the stack. If not, the process ends. If there is, the target document extracted from the stack is set as the current target document (S2409), and the process is repeated from step S2402.

  With the procedure exemplified above, the structure between documents having the selected document as a parent document can be shown to the user. When a child document is designated, a document including the data ID of the selected document as the data ID of the XML file is first searched. If there is, a document including the data ID of the document as the data ID of the XML file is searched. In this way, if a document corresponding to a data ID that is not included in the data ID of the XML file is found, it is the parent document. If the parent document is regarded as the selected document and the processing of FIG. 24 is executed, the structure between the documents can be displayed even when the child document is selected.

<Replication of documents>
Next, processing will be described when the associated document group is duplicated. When a 1803 copy button is pressed on the screen of FIG. 18, the document group displayed in FIG. 18 is copied. The processing flow at that time will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing processing in the associated document search module 307 when a document group associated with a user is copied.

  When the user inputs an instruction to copy an associated document group that is displayed by searching or directly specified by pressing the copy button 1803 from the client 101, the instruction is passed to the server 107 and FIG. 19 is executed. . The procedure in FIG. 19 will be described using the data table 2001 and the XML management table 2002 in FIGS. 20A and 20B in which the association document is registered as an example.

  In step S1902, the replication source data ID is searched from the inheritance ID of the data table 2001. Since the inheritance ID is the data ID of the copy source document, the document in which the data ID of the document specified as the copy source is registered as the inheritance ID is a document created by copying the specified copy source document. It is.

  In step S1903, if there is a document in which the same ID as the copy source data ID is registered (inherited document) in the inheritance ID of the data table, the process proceeds to step S1904. If the same data ID is not registered, the process proceeds to step S1906. move on. In step S1904, based on the XML ID of the inherited document, the XML file of the inherited document is compared with the XML file of the document designated as the copy source. If no XMLID is registered, there is no difference. If there is a difference, the difference is displayed. However, the difference in the XML file name may not be displayed. The difference to be displayed is the value of the data ID registered as a child document and the number of registrations. The part other than the difference, that is, the copy source document itself is displayed later in step S1906. Regarding the difference, for example, an object indicating the relationship is displayed so as to be distinguishable from the relationship of the copy source document, such as a dotted line. The symbol and identification information of the associated document are displayed so as to be distinguished from the copy source document.

  In step S1905, attention is paid to the child document with the data ID specified in each XML file compared with each other in step S1904. In step S1910, it is determined whether the XML ID is registered in the child document record of the inheritance document. If registered, the process advances to step S1904 to compare the XML file of the child document of the copy source document with the XML file of the child document of the inheritance document, and display the difference. This process is repeated as long as there are child documents, and the difference is displayed. In other words, not only the child document directly associated with the copy source document by the XML file but also the document indirectly associated with the intervening document interposed therebetween is clarified and displayed.

  On the other hand, if the XML ID is not registered in the child document of the inherited document, the process branches to step S1911. In step S1911, paying attention to the inherited document (parent), the data ID is searched from the inherited ID of the data table 2001. That is, the copied document is further searched for a document that has been copied. The result is determined in step S1912, and if found, the process proceeds to step S1904 and the difference is displayed. However, at this time, attention is paid to the inherited document, not the copy source document.

  If not found in step S 1912, the process advances to step S 1902 to search the data ID of the copy source document from the inherited ID field of the data table 2001. However, here, the search is performed from the record next to the record in which the data ID of the copy source document is found last, not from the beginning.

  On the other hand, if the data ID of the copy source document designated from the data table is not found in step S1903, the process branches to step S1906. In step S1906, the document designated as the copy source and the related document are displayed as symbols. This procedure is as shown in FIG. In step S1907, the process branches according to a user instruction. The user can select only the documents displayed in steps S1904 and S1906 for reference in creating his / her own document, and press a registration button 2101 (see FIG. 21, described later). In that case, in step S1908, an XML file in which the data ID of the document selected as the child document is registered is created. In step S1909, the selected document group is registered in the database. For example, a record of a specified copy source document is copied and added to the data table. Of course, a unique value is registered in the data ID. Further, the data ID of the copy source is entered in the inheritance ID. In the XML ID, the data ID of the XML file created in step S1908 is registered. The path of the XML file and the XML ID are registered in the XML management table 2002. The content file is the same as the copy source, but of course the content can be edited after this.

  FIG. 20A is a specific example of the similar structure search flow (flow for searching for inheritance ID) of the document shown in FIG. FIG. 20B is a diagram for explaining the steps S1901, S1902, S1903, S1904, S1905, and S1910 to S1912 of the flowchart of FIG. 19 based on a specific example.

  The data table 2001 is a table for managing document information. In this example, a document group of documents 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 is managed. The XML management table 2002 manages the file path and ID of an XML file for defining the structure (tree structure) between documents. In this example, eight XML file paths are managed. FIG. 20A shows a document group in which the document group 2012 is designated as a copy source, and the document groups 2013, 2014, and 2015 are search targets. An image 2003 is an image obtained by restoring the document group 2012 based on the association defined in the XML data. In an area 2004, images corresponding to the document groups 2013, 2014, and 2015 are shown in order from the left.

  When the user tries to duplicate the document group 2012, the documents to be duplicated are the documents with the data IDs 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the data table. In step S1902, the data IDs 1, 2, 3, and 4 are searched from the inherited ID. As a result, the record 2016 is hit first. The record 2016, that is, the record with the data ID 5 in the data table 2001 has 1 as the XML ID. Therefore, it is compared with the data comparison source (XMLID = 1 of the record of data ID1). As a result of comparison, since the XMLIDs are the same, there is no difference regarding the child document. Therefore, in this case, nothing happens in steps S1904 and S1905.

  Since step S1910 is No, in step S1911, the parent data ID of the inheritance document (in this case, 5) is searched from the inheritance ID of the data table. Since this value is not registered in FIG. 20A, the process returns to step S1902 and a subsequent search is performed.

  The record 2017 hits in this search. In the record 2017, that is, the record of the data ID 8 in the data table 2001, 3 is registered as the XML ID. The contents of the XML file are as shown in FIG. As shown in an image 2018 in FIG. 20B, the structure above the record 2017 is the same as the copy source document. However, XMLID = 3 represents Parent-child 3, and this lower part may be different. Therefore, it is checked in steps S1905 and S1910 whether there is a difference between the child documents. This corresponds to the document (5) indicated by the symbols in the frame 2007 in FIG. 20B.

  In the example of FIG. 20A, the document with data ID 5 defines 10 and 11 as the data ID of the child document as shown in FIG. Therefore, the documents with the data IDs 10 and 11 are compared with the child documents of the document with the data ID 1 (each document with the data IDs 2 and 3). The comparison is performed between documents having the same order registered in the XML file. That is, it is determined whether the XML ID of the child document of the inherited document is registered (S1910). If registered, the XML file is compared for each child document of the inherited document of the copy source document, and the difference is displayed. Since no XML ID is registered for the child document (document (6) in FIG. 20B), the different part (6) is displayed as a symbol associated with the document shown in the frame 2008.

  The same applies to the document tool 2015. In the document group having the document (3) in FIG. 20B as a parent, the document (4) and the following are not differences but the document group 2012 including the document (7) shown in the frame 2009 is displayed as the difference.

  As described above, the symbols 2011 and 2012 of the document group are displayed as differences in FIGS. 20A and 20B.

  FIG. 21 is an example of a screen displaying the difference found by the search to the user. This screen corresponds to the screen displayed in steps S1904 and S1906. The user is displaying as a difference. In step S1907, when the user selects only the reference documents to be used as reference for creating his / her document and presses the registration button 2101, a new copy copied from the copy source document group in the procedure described with reference to FIG. A document group is registered in the database 108.

  As described above, document data corresponding to a document can be stored in the document storage unit in association with the template document when the document is created based on the template document. In addition, when related data indicating a relationship between a plurality of documents is stored and a document is specified as a template by the user, the first document group and the second document group are displayed as candidates for the template. Can be displayed on the means. The first document group is a copy source document group, and includes a designated document and a document that is directly and indirectly associated with the document by related data. The second document group is an inherited document group, and includes a document created by using a designated document as a template document and a document that is directly and indirectly associated with the document by related data. Furthermore, the user can select a desired document group from among the template candidates displayed by the template selection means. Further, the selected document group can be registered as a new document group.

  Note that the present invention can be applied to a system (for example, a copier, a facsimile machine, etc.) consisting of a single device even if it is applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (eg, a host computer, interface device, reader, printer, etc.). You may apply. Another object of the present invention is to supply a recording medium recording a program code for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and the system or apparatus computer reads out and executes the program code stored in the storage medium. Is also achieved. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code itself and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention.

  In addition, according to the present invention, an operating system (OS) operating on a computer performs part or all of actual processing based on an instruction of a program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. This is also included. Furthermore, the present invention is also applied to the case where the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. In that case, the CPU of the function expansion card or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the written program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. .

1 is a system configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram explaining the apparatus structure of one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram explaining the module structure of one Example of this invention. It is a figure of an example of the database table of this invention. It is a figure of an example of the flowchart which shows the catalog data registration process of this invention. It is a figure of an example of the function list screen of this invention. It is a figure of an example of the goods master registration function screen of this invention. It is a figure of an example of the screen which confirms the data file registered into the server of this invention. It is a figure of an example of the screen which confirms the data file registered into the server. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of the database when document information registration and catalog registration are complete | finished. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of the database when document information registration and catalog registration are complete | finished. It is a figure of the screen which registers the association between documents. It is a figure of the example when a 1104 catalog data 2 is dragged and dropped. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example in which 1205 catalog data 3 and 1206 catalog data 6 are added to 1201 and 1202 and registration is completed. It is a figure which shows the database table changed when the correlation between documents is completed and registered. It is a figure of the example of the XML file which has defined the association between documents. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen for searching a registration document. It is a figure of an example when it searches by making a category into ISO. It is an example of the screen which duplicates a document group to the difference which pushed the duplication button. It is a flowchart which shows the process in an associated document search module. It is a figure of a specific example of a similar structure search flow (searching for a derivative ID attribute). It is a figure of a specific example of a similar structure search flow (searching for a derivative ID attribute). FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying a difference hit by the search to the user. It is a figure of an example of an XML file. It is a flowchart of the association registration between documents. It is a flowchart of the process which displays the structure of the selected document group graphically.

Claims (6)

Document storage means for storing document data corresponding to a document in association with the template document when the document is created based on the template document;
Related data storage means for storing related data indicating a relationship between a plurality of documents;
When a user specifies a document as a template, a first document group including the specified document and the document directly and indirectly associated with the document by related data, and the specified document as a template document Candidate display means for displaying, as a template candidate, a document created as a second document group including the document directly and indirectly associated with the document and related data;
A document management apparatus comprising: a template selection unit for a user to select a document group from among the template candidates displayed by the candidate display unit.   2. The document according to claim 1, wherein the candidate display unit displays the first document group and a difference between the first document group and the second document group as a template candidate. Management device. A method for controlling a document management apparatus comprising a document storage unit, a related data storage unit, a candidate display unit, and a template selection unit,
A document storage step in which the document storage means stores document data corresponding to the document in association with the template document when the document is created based on the template document;
A related data storage step in which the related data storage means stores related data indicating a relationship between a plurality of documents;
When a user specifies a document as a template, a first document group including the specified document and the document directly and indirectly associated with the document by related data, and the specified document as a template document A candidate display step in which the candidate display means displays the document created as and the second document group including the document directly and indirectly associated with the document by the related data;
A control method for a document management apparatus, wherein the template selection means includes a template selection step for a user to select a document group from among template candidates displayed in the candidate display step.   4. The document according to claim 3, wherein, in the candidate display step, the first document group and a difference between the first document group and the second document group are displayed as template candidates. Management device control method. Document storage means for storing document data corresponding to a document in association with the template document when the document is created based on the template document;
Related data storage means for storing related data indicating a relationship between a plurality of documents;
When a user specifies a document as a template, a first document group including the specified document and the document directly and indirectly associated with the document by related data, and the specified document as a template document Candidate display means for displaying, as a template candidate, a document created as a second document group including the document and the document directly and indirectly associated with the document.
A program that causes a computer to function as a template selection unit for a user to select a document group from among template candidates displayed by the candidate display unit.   6. The program according to claim 5, wherein the candidate display unit displays the first document group and a difference between the first document group and the second document group as a template candidate. .

Images