JP2008112393A - Information processor, information processing method, information processing system, and program for executing information processing method (workflow editor) - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To edit the workflow of a suitable connection intelligibly even when different types of system processes coexist. <P>SOLUTION: This device can present the workflow as a visually understandable figure even when the different types of system processes coexist. A grouped subworkflow is exported and which is imported as a subworkflow in other systems. The connectivity of the imported subworkflow is checked for each group. At that time, the device presents the group structure in an inclusive relation of a multi-layered rectangular region and it can edit the structure while presenting it in a multi-layer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, an information processing system, and a program for executing an information processing method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are commercial printers that generate printed materials in response to requests from customers such as individual users and companies. These printers provide printing data (originals) from customers, create printed materials in response to instructions such as print format, number of copies, and delivery date, and deliver them to customers. These printers use a large-scale apparatus such as an offset plate-making printing machine that has been known for a long time.

  In recent years, with the increase in the speed and image quality of electrophotographic printing apparatuses and inkjet printing apparatuses, “copy service”, “printing service”, “print on demand” (POD) that can be output and delivered in a short time. There is also a commercial printing business category called ")".

  A request for printing to these printing businesses is sent from a user to a provider providing the above-mentioned service, and a document recorded on paper or an electronic medium (flexible disk (FD), MO, CD-ROM, etc.) and printing of the document This is done by mailing or directly bringing the printing instructions (order instructions) describing the number of copies, bookbinding method, delivery date, etc. to the printing company (submission).

  In addition, a system capable of placing an order / order for printing online via the Internet or an intranet has been put into practical use. For example, in “DotDoc.Web” sold by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., the user accesses the homepage provided by the supplier from his / her computer, and the orderer information (recipient, etc.), print format, By filling in necessary information such as the number of copies and sending it together with the document file, it is possible to place an order for printing the document. The printing company receives a request from the user, creates a printing instruction, and schedules printing processing. Then, according to the created schedule, printing and bookbinding operations are performed by a printer connected to the work computer, and the created printed matter is delivered to the customer to complete the work.

  In a printing company that executes such a printing process entrusted by a user, it is necessary to complete printing so as to be surely in time for a delivery date designated with stable quality. Further, in a large-scale printing center, it is necessary for a plurality of operators to process a large number of printing requests (orders) in parallel using a variety of printing apparatuses and work computers. Therefore, it is necessary to consider using resources such as people (operators) and devices as efficiently as possible.

  Indispensable for the efficient use of resources is to set a print processing workflow suitable for each printer. A workflow editor is often used to create a workflow customized for each printer. The workflow in the printing process corresponds to the printing bookbinding device, etc., so that the workflow editor for the printing process is automatically linked between devices according to the result of the workflow editing configuration, especially compared to the workflow editor for general business. It can be said that the feature is that it is performed.

  As a conventional example, there is one that allows a part of a workflow to be defined as a macro in GUI editing of the workflow (see Patent Document 1).

In addition, there is one that uses XML to convert to data of a heterogeneous workflow system (see Patent Document 2).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 08-287157 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-074253

  By the way, in the print processing workflow editor as described above, each processing unit that is a component of the workflow to be edited depends on the processing unit of the system provided by the vendor that provides the workflow editor. On the other hand, there are various types of apparatuses and systems in printing companies.

  If there is a device that does not support the workflow editor, the workflow editor needs to correspond to the new device. However, if the function of the newly associated device or system is similar to the function of the device already supported by the workflow editor, it will be confirmed as a completely different type of device on the workflow editor.

  For this reason, when mixing with systems of different vendors, customization using the workflow editor is not easy. The reason is that it is difficult to edit while visually confirming connectivity of processing units between different systems.

  The solution in Patent Document 1 replaces the defined macro with one symbol, so it is difficult to visually determine the transparency of the two processes. The purpose of the invention of Patent Document 1 is not to import sub-workflows from the outside, but to facilitate editing within the system (saving display area, clarifying breaks in business processes, etc.) Therefore, it is not suitable for mixing different types of systems such as POD systems.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem and enable easy editing while visually confirming connectivity of processing units by the workflow editor even if devices and systems of different vendors coexist, the workflow editor according to the present invention , Group the partial workflows in the workflow, export the grouped sub-workflows, import them as sub-workflows in other systems, process the group by group while displaying the group hierarchy of the imported sub-workflows, and import the sub-workflows Check connectivity in groups.

  In the print bookbinding workflow, since the types of processing are almost determined, it is not necessary to convert all the workflow data as in Patent Document 2. Rather, it is more effective to design the parts (data) to be reusable in the GUI editor of the workflow system.

  As described above, according to the present invention, workflows in the workflow editor are hierarchically grouped and displayed by a rectangular area, so that the workflow can be sub-grouped, and the sub-workflows are exported and imported. Since the imported sub-workflows can be checked in groups while displaying the group hierarchy of the sub-workflows, the connectivity of the imported sub-workflows can be checked in groups. Editing can be made while visually confirming connectivity.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a printing system according to the present invention. It should be noted that the environment of the entire printing system in the following description is for facilitating understanding of the description of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these environments.

  In FIG. 1, a client 151 indicates that a general user is provided with a notebook PC 102 connected to the Internet at home and a business PC 101 connected to an in-house intranet.

  The server 152 is a WEB server 103 that provides a user with a print request or a submitted content for submitting a manuscript, or stores the submitted print request as an order form (order form) or electronically submitted. A server provided with a DB server 104 for storing a document is shown. Here, the WEB server and the DB server can be mixed in one housing, but in the present invention, the description will be divided into two housings for convenience.

  A plurality of print centers 153 can exist with respect to the server 152, and are distributed by the server 152 based on information on printing apparatuses installed in the print center. The print center 153 periodically collects the order forms and manuscripts accumulated in the server 152 from the DB server 104 and uses the server 105 on which the printing system of the present invention operates and various services provided by the server 105. A work PC 106 that operates using an easy GUI, a monochrome printer 111 and a color printer 112 that are actual output destinations, and a bookbinding machine 141 that is used for offline bookbinding are provided. Of course, the configuration and environment of the printing center are not limited to the above.

  In the example of the present embodiment, the client and the server, and the server and the printing center are connected to each other via the Internet / Internet 131. Usually, the client and the server are often connected via the Internet, and the server and the printing center are often connected via the Internet using a dedicated line. However, the present invention is not limited to such an environment, and the server exists in the printing center. Even in such an environment, it is applicable.

  First, browsers for browsing the submitted content provided by the WEB server are installed in the notebook PC 102 and the PC 101 of the client. It is also possible to upload document data using the submitted content.

  The WEB server 103 is a WEB server that provides the submitted content. The submitted content includes print formats such as bookbinding, print settings such as the number of copies and paper size, delivery date, requester information, and delivery destination. Edit control to input etc., and file specification control to upload manuscript data are equipped. Here, fee calculation according to the input request contents, input item confirmation processing, and the like are realized by a service module operating on the WEB server 103, but are general logic and are not directly related to the present invention. I will omit it. Further, the WEB server 103 stores the confirmed print request in the order form (here, the contents of the print request and the file name of the original data are entered) and the original data file in the DB server 104.

  A general database is installed in the DB server 104, and a desired order form and manuscript data can be transmitted in response to a data acquisition request from the server 105 described later. The DB schema (not shown) mainly includes a print center master (information such as location and contact information, a device master and a bookbinding machine master as members), a device master (device configuration information such as color / monochrome, the number of prints, and options), The bookbinding machine master (information such as puncher and case binding machine) table is configured. By referring to this table, the server 105 in the printing center 153 can receive an order assigned to the center.

  The server 105 receives an order confirmation notification from the WEB server, collects an order form and a manuscript data file from the DB server, and in accordance with the collected order form, an order manager, a workflow manager, a job manager, and a device manager to be described later A printing system composed of a device scheduler operates.

  The work PC 106 takes out a console for controlling various services provided by the server 105 using an easy-to-use operation screen, and retrieves a manuscript data file stored in the server 105, starts a predetermined application, and prints it. This is a work computer that performs printing based on designated print settings.

  Although the monochrome printer 111 and the color printer 112 have different installation configurations depending on the printing center, they are generally configured by a combination of a high-speed monochrome printer and a high-quality color printer. These are all scheduled by the device scheduler of the server 105.

  The bookbinding machine 141 is an off-line bookbinding machine for bookbinding paper output from the printer, and may be a stapler, puncher, case binding machine, or ring bookbinding machine. Status status can be collected by connecting to the network. Similarly to the printer, the installation configuration differs depending on the printing center.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the WEB server 103, DB server 104, server 105, and work client 106.

  The CPU 200 executes an application program, a printer driver program, an OS, a network printer control program, and the like stored in an HD (hard disk) 205, and temporarily stores information, files, and the like necessary for executing the program in the RAM 202. I do. The ROM 201 stores various data such as a program such as a basic I / O program, font data used for document processing, and template data. A RAM 202 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 200. Reference numeral 203 denotes an external storage drive, which can load a program or the like stored in the medium 204 into the computer system. Reference numeral 204 denotes a medium which stores a program and related data described in this embodiment, and the configuration of the stored contents is shown in FIG. Reference numeral 205 denotes an HD, which stores application programs, printer driver programs, OS, control programs, related programs, and the like. A keyboard 206 is used by the user to instruct the client computer to input device control command instructions and the like. A display 207 displays a command input from the keyboard 206, a printer status, and the like. A system bus 208 controls the data flow in the client computer. Reference numeral 209 denotes a network interface (hereinafter referred to as I / F), which is a communication interface for connecting to a local area network (LAN) or the Internet.

  FIG. 3 shows a memory map in a state in which the program of the present invention is loaded into the RAM 202 and becomes executable.

  In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which a program and related data are directly loaded from the medium 204 to the RAM 202 and executed. However, every time the program of the present invention is operated from the medium 204, the program is loaded from the HD 205 to the RAM 202. You may do it. The medium for recording the program of the present invention may be an FD, a CD-ROM, a DVD, an IC memory card, or the like. Furthermore, it is possible to record the program of the present invention in the ROM 201, configure it as a part of the memory map, and execute it directly by the CPU 200. Reference numeral 301 denotes a basic I / O program, which has an IPL (Initial Program Rotating) function or the like that reads the OS from the HD 205 into the RAM 202 and starts the operation of the OS when the control device is turned on. This is the area that contains the program. 302 is an OS, 303 is a control program, 304 is associated data, and 305 is a work area where the CPU 200 executes this program.

  In FIG. 4, 400 is the data content of the media 204, 401 is volume information indicating data information, 402 is directory information, 403 is a program described in this embodiment, and 404 is its related data. The program 403 is a program code based on the flowchart of this program shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing the information flow of the present invention.

  When the order contents input from the client are confirmed, an order form is created by the WEB server 103 and stored in the DB server 104. Similarly, when the document data is uploaded, the document data is stored in the DB server 104. When the storage process is completed, an order receipt notification is sent from the WEB server 103 to the server 105 in the printing center. In response, the server 105 acquires an order form from the DB server 104. If the document data is uploaded, the document data file is acquired from the DB server 104 in the same manner. When the acquisition is completed, the WEB server 103 is notified of completion of order information acquisition. By this series of processing, the server and the printing center are synchronized, and at the same time, the server can receive orders, the printing center can perform printing processing and load distribution of the entire system.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the print system configuration of the present invention for each functional module.

  Reference numeral 601 denotes an order manager as software for managing the submitted orders, and has an operation screen as shown in FIG. Print information is extracted from the order sheet collected from the WEB server 103 or the DB server 104, and an order information file necessary for printing is created together with the path name of the document data file. FIG. 14 shows an example of contents stored in the order information file. The meaning of each value to be set is described on the list, so the explanation here is omitted.

  The operation screen of the order manager 601 is equipped with a list display screen that shows the general status of the order based on the order information, and a tag display screen that displays the detailed information of the order. You can check the progress of Furthermore, by uploading the same order information to the WEB server 103 at any time when the status changes, the same information can be provided to the user using HTML on the processing status content screen (not shown) provided by the WEB server 103. Can do. This order information is kept confidential until it is printed and delivered, but is erased after delivery.

  FIG. 7 is an operation screen of the order manager, and an upper list screen displays an ID for identifying an order, an outline of a person in charge, and a processing status. When one order is selected, the details of the order information are displayed using the tab screen at the bottom. The displayed contents include the print settings shown in FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the workflow editor of FIG.

  The operator creates a workflow according to the order information managed by the order manager 601. The workflow here refers to the flow of print processing for an order, and the creation corresponds to workflow information processed by the workflow manager 602 which is software for managing the print workflow. The icon parts (blocks) arranged in the upper part of FIG. 8 indicate processes and devices in print processing each having a function. These icon parts are adaptively displayed according to each printing center. By operating and assembling the blocks showing these steps on the UI, a workflow for realizing the order is generated.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the workflow manager 602 of FIG.

  The operator reads the workflow created by the workflow editor into the workflow manager 602, and manages the operation and progress of the workflow. On the workflow manager 602, the progress of the workflow is visually displayed. Based on the status information, the operator performs an operation determined for each process. The status of the completed process is changed by the operator himself. However, depending on the process, the status may be automatically changed. For example, in an online printing device, the status is changed by a print end notification from the job manager 603.

  Next, details of the workflow editing screen portion of the workflow editor shown in FIG. 8 will be described.

  FIG. 10 shows a specific example of the workflow display in the lower workflow editing area in FIG. In the editing of the workflow in this embodiment, the processing content and the processing target are separately edited.

  In FIG. 10, 700, 702, 703, 705, and 706 are processing targets, and 701 and 704 indicate processing contents. The processing content is defined as a print workflow by inputting some processing targets and outputting some processing targets. For example, in FIG. 10, reference numeral 707 denotes a state in which the imposition parameter 700 is input as the input of the imposition processing 701. Reference numeral 708 denotes a state in which page data 703 (after imposition) is output as an output of the imposition process 701. In addition, imposition processing 701 also takes page data 702 as input. The print processing 704 outputs the output page 705 with the page data 703 and the print parameters 706 as inputs.

  FIG. 10 shows a workflow edited for the purpose of defining the processing contents of “device A” in the present embodiment. Device A can perform imposition processing in addition to the print processing function. FIG. 10 shows an editing state immediately after describing a workflow including all the processes related to device A.

  FIG. 11 shows an editing state in which grouping processing is performed to define device A from the workflow of FIG. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 710 denotes an area indicating the range of the group indicating the device A, and reference numeral 711 denotes a mouse pointer during an editing operation to indicate the area 710. As shown in FIG. 11, a new processing unit is defined by grouping workflow portions into rectangular areas. The defined group can be named and saved outside the workflow editor. Here, the description will be made assuming that the device is stored with the name “device A”.

  FIG. 12 is an example showing a device definition different from the workflow shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. In FIG. 12, another “device B” is to be defined. Device B has a bookbinding function in addition to a print processing function. In FIG. 12, a print process 721 outputs page 722 with page data 720 and print parameters 726 as inputs. Further, the bookbinding process 723 outputs the bookbinding product 724 with the output page 722 and the bookbinding parameter 725 as inputs. Then, processing contents of device B are defined as indicated by 727. Similar to the device A, the group 727 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 13 shows an example of workflow editing using device A. In FIG. 13, the device A 710 receives the imposition parameter 730, page data 731, and print parameter 732 and outputs an output page 733 after imposition printing. Further, the output page 733 and the bookbinding parameter 734 are input, and the bookbinding device X 735 outputs the bookbinding product 736. Here, although the internal workflow constituting the device A can be seen on the editing screen, 710 cannot be further divided as a unit for editing the workflow. This indicates that processing performed by device A includes imposition processing and printing processing.

  Next, an example of a workflow using device B is also shown.

  FIG. 14 shows an example of workflow editing using the device B. In FIG. 14, the imposition system Y 742 receives the imposition parameter 740 and the page data 741 and outputs page data 743 after imposition. Further, the page data 743, the print parameter 744, and the bookbinding parameter 745 are input, and the device B 727 outputs the bookbinding product 746.

  The workflows including the grouped workflows shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 can be further grouped.

  FIG. 15 shows that the part of the workflow shown in FIG. 750 in FIG. 15 is a newly defined device C. On the other hand, FIG. 16 shows that the part of the workflow shown in FIG. 760 in FIG. 16 is a newly defined device D. Since the processing units shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 are both device C and device D, it is not possible to edit more detailed processing. However, the internal processing is the same as that shown in FIG. You can see that Accordingly, a printer having device A, device B, device X, and system Y can define a processing workflow as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 and select a combination of devices depending on the case to process the same workflow. It is possible.

  Next, a mechanism for checking connectivity when reusing an exported and imported sub-workflow will be described with reference to a data structure and a flowchart based on an abstracted example.

  FIG. 18 shows an example of a workflow drawn in editing. In the figure, the process P1 shows that R1 and R2 are input and R3 is output. Furthermore, the process P2 shows that R3 is input and R4 is output.

  FIG. 19 shows a data structure inside the workflow editor corresponding to FIG. In the workflow editor according to the present embodiment, edit objects are managed in units of processing and input / output resources. In the figure, reference numeral 800 denotes a data structure in units of processing, and represents P1 and P2. Further, the process P1 or P2 includes an input area and an output area as indicated by 801. The input area represents the input of each process, and the output area represents the output of each process. Each input / output data structure consists of the number of inputs / outputs and each input / output. Reference numeral 802 denotes the number of inputs of P1, which is two. Each input consists of a link to the type of input and the actual input data structure. Reference numeral 803 denotes the first input type of P1, which is R1. Reference numeral 804 denotes a link to the corresponding input data structure, which points to 816. In the editing, the connectivity check determines whether the type and the actual data structure are the same as in 803 and 816. Similarly, 805 indicates the second input type of P1, and is R2. Reference numeral 806 denotes a link to the corresponding input data structure, which indicates 817.

  The same applies to output and input / output of other processes.

  Reference numeral 807 denotes the number of outputs of P1, which is 1. 808 indicates the type, R3, and 809 indicates 818.

  Reference numeral 810 denotes the number of inputs of P2. 811 indicates the input type of P2, and 812 indicates the actual input data structure 818.

  Reference numeral 813 indicates the number of outputs of P2. Reference numeral 814 denotes the output type of P2, and 815 denotes the actual output data structure 819.

  It is assumed that the editing state as shown in FIG. 18 is represented by the data structure shown in FIG. Note that the details of the process indicated by the workflow are described as the details of the input / output data structure indicated by reference numerals 816 to 819 in FIG. Information specific to visual editing, for example, a drawing position is assumed to be held in the editor as editing information separately, but is omitted in the description of the present embodiment.

  FIG. 20 shows an example in which the sub-workflow of the workflow shown in FIG. 18 is selected. Consider defining and exporting a sub-workflow indicated by 830 in FIG. FIG. 21 is a data structure diagram corresponding to the sub-workflow exported at 830 in FIG. The data structure shown in FIG. 21 is assumed to be data that is referred to in export and import as it is. FIG. 21 corresponds to FIG. 19, and the difference in data structure in export will be described.

  In FIG. 21, reference numerals 840, 841, and 842 denote link portions indicating the input / output data structures of R1, R2, and R4 in FIG. 19, respectively. In 840, 841, and 842, these are rewritten to NULL pointers that are not referenced anywhere. However, the corresponding types of input / output data are R1, R2, and R4, and it can be determined that when the link is created, the data must be of the same type.

  FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing for checking connectivity of a sub-workflow imported based on the data structure shown in FIG.

  First, in step S900, when an input / output resource designated on the editor, for example, R1, R2, R3, R4, etc. as shown in FIG. 18, is connected to 830, for example, as shown in FIG. Start the connectivity check process. In step S901, a connection target process in the editing operation is selected. Here, a process to be pointed to by the mouse pointer is selected on the screen, and a process unit indicated by 800 in FIG. 19 is selected. In step S902, the connection direction is selected. This determines from the operation information of the editor whether the input to the process is to be connected or the output is to be connected on the editing screen. If the input is connected, the process proceeds to step S904. If the output is connected, the process proceeds to step S903. In step S903, an output data group is selected. This selects the output data structure 801 in FIG. Similarly, in step S904, the input data structure in 801 is selected. In step S905, each input / output data is selected. For example, in the case of the input of the process P1 in FIG. 19, the parts 803 and 804 are first selected. This portion is in a state where nothing is indicated as indicated by 840 in FIG. In the next step S906, it is determined whether nothing is indicated as indicated by 840 or whether any input / output data is already connected as indicated by 804. If it is not yet connected, the process proceeds to step S907. If it is already connected, the process proceeds to step S909. In step S907, it is determined whether the input / output data to be connected matches the type held in the data structure. For example, the data of R1 and the position 840 in FIG. 21 are coincident, and the data of R2 and the position 840 are not coincident. If they match, the process proceeds to step S908, where a predetermined portion of the data structure is updated, and the connection state is drawn on the editing screen. If not, the process proceeds to step S909. In step S909, it is checked whether connection candidates still exist. If so, the process returns to step S905 to repeat the determination. If there is no connection candidate, the process proceeds to step S910 and the check process is terminated.

  As described above, the data structure is a combination of each process and the type of input / output data, and the imported sub-workflow of the imported sub-workflow is determined by judging the connectivity check of the exported and imported sub-workflows based on the type of input / output data of each processing unit. Processing can be performed in groups while displaying the group hierarchy, and even when devices and systems from different vendors coexist, it is now possible to easily edit while visually checking the connectivity of the processing units using the workflow editor.

(Second embodiment)
Regarding the second embodiment, differences from the first embodiment will be described.

  In the first embodiment, as a result of the connectivity check, if the connection is not permitted, nothing is done and the process ends. In the second embodiment, a warning message indicating that the connection cannot be made is displayed. Accordingly, not only the fact that the connection cannot be made but also the reason why the connection cannot be made can be shown, so that the convenience for the user is further improved.

  For this purpose, if it is determined in step S909 in FIG. 22 that there is no next candidate (No.), a warning display process is performed before proceeding to step S910.

1 is a system configuration diagram of a printing system of the present embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the client computer in FIG. 5 is a memory map when a program is expanded from the FD shown in FIG. 4 to the RAM in FIG. 3 is a memory map representing data inside the FD in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a processing sequence diagram of the printing system in FIG. 1. It is a module block diagram of the printing system in FIG. It is the figure which showed the interface of the software which manages an order. It is the figure which showed the interface of the editor which produces | generates / edits the workflow shown in FIG. It is the figure which showed the software which manages the workflow shown in FIG. Example of workflow editing screen. Example of workflow editing screen. Example of workflow editing screen. Example of workflow editing screen. Example of workflow editing screen. Example of workflow editing screen. Example of workflow editing screen. Example of workflow editing screen. Example of workflow editing screen. The data structure example corresponding to FIG. Example of workflow editing screen. The data structure example corresponding to FIG. flowchart.

Explanation of symbols

101 PC
102 notebook PC
103 WEB server 104 DB server 105 server 106 Work PC
111 Monochrome printer 112 Color printer 121-123 LAN
131-132 Internet / Intranet 141 Bookbinding machine (Puncher)
142 Bookbinding machine (case binding)
151 Client 152 Server 601 Order Manager 602 Workflow Manager 603 Job Manager 604 Device Scheduler 605 Device Manager 606 Print Component

Claims (2)

In a workflow editor for editing and creating workflow data as input to a system that manages a workflow comprising a combination of one or more processing devices or manual processes,
Workflow display means for displaying input / output data, processing, and connection lines connecting input / output data and processing,
Workflow editing means for editing the input / output data, processing, and connection lines;
Partial workflow display means for selectively displaying one or more partial areas of the workflow displayed by the workflow display means;
Partial workflow editing means for editing the partial workflow;
Means for restricting the one or more partial workflows to have a partial order relationship based on the inclusion relationship of the selected regions;
Means for restricting a partial workflow newly defined in the partial workflow editing means so as not to be inside an existing partial workflow;
Partial workflow storage means for storing the newly defined partial workflow;
Partial workflow reading means for reading the partial workflow stored in the partial workflow storage means;
In the workflow editing means, the process holds the types of input / output data that can be connected in advance defined for each of the input and output, and the connection that each of the processes has when the connection line is edited in the workflow editing means. Means to limit the connection between input and output data and processing based on the type of input and output data;
A workflow editor characterized by comprising: In the workflow editor of claim 1,
In the means for restricting the connection between the input / output data and the processing, a warning display means for displaying a warning when the connection is impossible,
A workflow editor characterized by comprising:

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