JP2010020613A - Document management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a document management system that improves convenience and prevents mixing of old and new versions of documents. <P>SOLUTION: The document management system includes an image forming apparatus 2, a document management server 1 and a user terminal 3. The image forming apparatus 2 has means for outputting a document, means for outputting information identifying the document in a bar code or the like on a paper document, means for reading in the paper document, means for analyzing the information such as a bar code, and means for destroying the paper document, and creates and sends to the document management server 1 a destruction history when destroying the paper document. The document management server 1 has means for saving document data, means for saving user information, means for receiving data from the image forming apparatus 2, means for saving printing, destruction and revision histories of the document, and means for determining whether to permit printing, viewing and revision of the document. When the saved document is revised, a printing person is permitted to view the new version if the printing and destruction histories have been saved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a document management system having a print history management function.

  In recent years, a document is created by a computer or the like, and is electronically stored. A system for storing a document created on a user terminal using a management server connected via a network has been developed, but there are problems such as document leakage and management efficiency. In order to solve this problem, for example, a technique for controlling browsing authority by a document management server is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). In addition to the document, a technique for managing a document that has been revised by editing the document with a clear version series is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 3).

  However, the above-described technology only restricts browsing and version management of only the data in the computerized server, and does not consider printed documents. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, an ID (IDentification) is assigned to an electronic document, and the printer that prints the ID-assigned document and the shredder to be discarded are limited to a predetermined one, and the printed document Has been disclosed (for example, Patent Document 4).

  Also disclosed is a technique for printing a document on a sheet with an identification ID and managing the history of the document and the number of printed sheets with a server (for example, Patent Document 5). Further, a technique is disclosed in which an identification mark is created from an ID assigned to an electronic document, and the identification mark is combined with a printed document and output (for example, Patent Document 6). With this technique, when discarding a printed matter, it is possible to extract the document ID from the identification mark, count the number of copies of the printed document for each document ID, and notify the user.

In addition, in order to prevent the document from being accidentally discarded, a technique is disclosed in which an ID is assigned to the document in advance, the storage period is extracted from the ID of the document to be discarded, and only documents that have passed the storage period are allowed to be discarded. (For example, Patent Document 7). As a result, the user can save the trouble of checking the document to be discarded every time it is discarded.
JP 2001-31495 A JP 2002-269076 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-110682 JP 2006-099348 A JP 2005-190365 A JP 2006-093921 A JP 2007-135174 A

  However, the above-described technique has a problem in that, for example, when a document is revised after printing the document, it is impossible to view even the old version of the document until the old version of the document is discarded.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a document management system in which mixing of old and new versions of documents is prevented and convenience is improved.

  The document management system of the present invention is a document management system having an image forming apparatus, a document management server, and a user terminal, and the image forming apparatus includes an output unit that outputs the document as a paper document on paper. An output means for outputting a paper document, an information output means for outputting information including a document ID for identifying the document, contact information, and printer information to the paper document; a paper document reading means for reading the paper document; An analysis unit that analyzes the information output by the information output unit that is output to the paper document read by the paper document reading unit, and a discard unit that discards the paper document, and discards the paper document by the discard unit. In this case, the information output by the information output means is analyzed by the analysis means, a discard history is created based on the analyzed information, and the discard history is transmitted to the document management server. , Document information storage means for storing document data, user information storage means for storing user information, linkage means for receiving data from the image forming apparatus, history for storing document print history, discard history, and revision history An information storage means and a control means for determining whether to permit printing, browsing and revision of the document. The control means is a case where the document stored by the document information storage means is revised. When the print history and the discard history are stored by the history information storing unit, the printer is permitted to view a new version.

  The document management system of the present invention is characterized in that the control means permits browsing of a document of the same version as the paper document when the document is revised and the old version of the paper document is not discarded by the discarding means. And

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent mixing of old and new versions of documents by controlling the viewing authority.

  Hereinafter, examples of embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a document management system according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the document management system according to this embodiment has a document management server 1, a multi-function printer (MFP) 2, and a user terminal 3, which are connected via a network or the like. Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, an MFP will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus.

  The document management server 1 includes a user information storage unit 10, a document information storage unit 11, a history information storage unit 12, a browsing and revision control unit 13, an MFP joint unit 14, an operation interpretation unit 15, a printing and browsing data forming unit 16, Have The MFP 2 includes an output unit 20 and a paper document reading unit 21. The user terminal 3 includes an MFP operation unit 30 and a document management system operation unit 31.

  The user information storage unit 10 included in the document management server 1 stores the user and its viewing authority. The document information storage unit 11 stores a document and its attribute information. The history information storage unit 12 stores a history of document printing, discarding, and revision. The browsing / revision control unit 13 determines whether to permit printing, browsing, and revision of the document by determining the viewing authority of the operator. The MFP joint unit 14 receives history information and the like from the MFP 2. The operation interpretation unit 15 receives various operations from the user terminal 3. The printing / browsing data forming unit 16 converts the document data into data for printing or browsing.

  The output unit 20 of the MFP 2 receives the print command and document data transmitted from the user terminal 3 and prints the document data. The paper document reading unit 21 reads a paper document and transmits discard data to the document management server. Although not shown, the MFP 2 also includes a shredder that is means for discarding a paper document.

  The MFP operation unit 30 included in the user terminal 3 transmits document data and a print command to the MFP 2. The document management system operation unit 31 has a function of communicating with the document management server 1.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of printing a document in the document management system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 shows an example of browsing after document destruction in the document management system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 shows an example in which a document is revised in the document management system according to the present embodiment. An example of processing of the document management system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

(printing)
As shown in FIG. 2, when printing a document stored in the document management server 1, first, an operation for printing is performed from the document management system operation unit 31 of the user terminal 3, and the operation content is the document management server 1. Are interpreted by the operation interpretation unit 15. Then, the operation content interpreted by the operation interpretation unit 15 is transmitted to the browsing and revision control unit 13. Upon receiving the operation content, the browsing / revision control unit 13 transmits the document data acquisition request, the operator information, and the print history to the document information storage unit 11, the user information storage unit 10, and the history information storage unit 12, respectively. , Receive user information and print, discard, revision history.

  The browsing / revision control unit 13 determines whether or not to permit document printing, and when document printing is permitted, sends a document data output command to the printing and browsing data forming unit 16. The printing / browsing data forming unit 16 converts the document data into printing data and transmits the printing data to the user terminal 3. The user terminal 3 that has received the print data transmits the print data to the MFP 2 via the MFP operation unit 30. Receiving the print data, the MFP 2 causes the output unit 20 to output the document as a paper document.

  When a document is output as a paper document, information such as a document ID, a contact address when a shredder is applied, and a printer is embedded by a method such as barcode printing or tint block printing. Although not shown, the MFP 2 according to the present embodiment includes a unit that prints the barcode and the background pattern, and a unit that analyzes the barcode and background pattern printing information embedded in the paper document read by the paper document reading unit 21. ,have.

(View after destruction)
As shown in FIG. 3, when viewing a document after discarding the printed document, the paper document is first read by the paper document reading unit 21 of the MFP 2 and then discarded. The paper document reading unit 21 reads the document information, transmits the discard history of the document to the MFP joint 14 of the document management server 1, and stores the discard history in the history information storage unit 12. Then, the print, discard, and revision history data are browsed and transmitted to the revision control unit 13. Thereafter, the user performs an operation of browsing the document, and transmits the operation content to the operation interpretation unit 15 of the document management server 1 via the document management system operation unit 31 of the user terminal 3. The operation content interpreted by the operation interpretation unit 15 is transmitted to the browsing / revision control unit 13. Upon receiving the operation content, the browsing / revision control unit 13 transmits the document data acquisition request and the operator information to the document information storage unit 11 and the user information storage unit 10, respectively, and receives the document data and the user information.

  The browsing / revision control unit 13 determines whether or not to permit document browsing. When document browsing is permitted, the document data output command is transmitted to the printing and browsing data forming unit 16. The printing / browsing data forming unit 16 converts the document data into browsing data and transmits it to the user terminal 3.

(Document revision)
As shown in FIG. 4, when the document is revised, the user first operates from the user terminal 3, and transmits the operation content to the operation interpretation unit 15 of the document management server 1 via the document management system operation unit 31. To do. The operation content interpreted by the operation interpretation unit 15 is transmitted to the browsing / revision control unit 13. The browsing / revision control unit 13 that has received the operation content determines whether or not the revision is permitted. When the revision is permitted, the document data update request and the revision history data are transmitted to the document information storage unit 11 and the history information storage unit 12, respectively.

  Next, an operation example of this embodiment will be described in detail.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 5 shows an operation example when the document is discarded in the document management system according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, an example of operation when a document is discarded in the document management system will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  As illustrated, the user A transmits a print request for the document A from the user terminal A to the document management server (1). The document management server that has received the print request checks the viewing authority for the user A of the document A and the print history of the document A of the user A, and when there is no history of printing the old version or when there is a history of discarding after printing. Permits the printing of the current latest version, and simultaneously saves the print history in the history information storage unit.

  When the document management server permits printing of the current latest version document, the print document management server transmits the print data to the user terminal A (2). In the print data, in addition to the document data, information such as the printer and the document ID is embedded by a method such as barcode printing or tint block printing. The user terminal A automatically transmits the print data to the MFP as a print command (3).

  In response to the print command, the MFP outputs a printed matter A (4). The MFP transmits this print history to the document management server (5), and the document management server stores the received print history.

  When the user A discards the printed matter A from the MFP (6), the MFP reads the information of the printed matter A with a scanner before applying the shredder. Then, by reading the information embedded in the barcode or copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing with the scanner, the MFP transmits the information as a discard history to the document management server (7), and the printed matter A is also discarded by the shredder.

  When the user B modifies the document A, the user B transmits the document revision data from the user terminal B to the document management server (8). The document revision data includes document text data, other attribute data to be revised, operator information, reason for revision, and the like.

  The print history, discard history, and revision history are information including document ID, user ID, operation date and time, operation content (print, discard, revision), and the like.

  According to the present embodiment, it is possible to manage document printing, revision, and discarding histories together with document information. Furthermore, when discarding a printed material with a shredder, it is possible to transmit the discard history to the document management server and manage the destruction of the printed material in a timely manner.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 6 shows an operation example in the case of browsing a document of the same version as the printed material before discarding the old version of the printed material in the document management system according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, an operation example in the case of browsing a document of the same version as the printed material before discarding the old printed material will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, in addition to the first embodiment, when the user A browses the document A after the revision of the document A by the user B, a dialog or the like that prompts the user to discard the printed matter A until the user A discards the printed matter A is displayed. Display and only allow viewing of the old version.

  That is, first, the user terminal A transmits print data to the MFP as a print command (1). In response to the print command, the MFP outputs a printed matter A (2). The MFP transmits this print history to the document management server (3), and the document management server stores the received print history. When the user B modifies the document A, the user B transmits the document revision data from the user terminal B to the document management server (4). The document revision data includes document text data, other attribute data to be revised, operator information, reason for revision, and the like.

  Next, when the user A requests document browsing (5), until the user A discards the printed matter A, the document management server displays a dialog or the like for promoting the discarding of the printed matter A which is the old version, and browses only the old version. Is allowed (6).

  When the user A discards the printed matter A, as described in the first embodiment, the MFP scans the printed matter A before applying the shredder, and transmits the discard history to the document management server (8). Thereafter, when the user A browses the document A again (9), the document management server permits the user A to browse the latest version of the document A (10).

  According to the present embodiment, when a document is printed, it is possible to control browsing of the user's latest document until the old printed matter is discarded. Furthermore, it is possible to control the viewing authority so that the latest document can be browsed again only when the printed matter is discarded.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the document of the same version as the printed material can be browsed until the printed material is discarded, and the browsing authority can be controlled so that the latest document can be viewed again only when the printed material is discarded. .

  In this embodiment, an example in which the document management server 1, the MFP 2, and the user terminal 3 are provided as the document management system has been described, but the document management server 1 is used even in a system having a different configuration. By doing so, it is possible to obtain the same effect.

  Note that the program for each CPU to execute the processing shown in the flowchart of each figure constitutes a program according to the present invention. As a computer-readable recording medium for recording the program, a semiconductor storage unit, an optical and / or magnetic storage unit, or the like can be used. By using such a program and recording medium in a system having a configuration different from that of each of the above-described embodiments and causing the CPU to execute the program, substantially the same effects as those of the present invention can be obtained.

  Although specific description has been given based on the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the document management system described above, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

It is a figure which shows the example of schematic structure of the document management system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example which prints a document in the document management system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example browsed after document destruction in the document management system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example which revises a document in the document management system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation example in the case of destroying a document in the document management system which concerns on this embodiment. In the document management system according to the present embodiment, it is a flowchart showing an operation example in the case of browsing a document of the same version as the printed matter before discarding the old printed matter.

Explanation of symbols

1 Document management server 2 Multi-function printer (MFP)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 User terminal 10 User information storage part 11 Document information storage part 12 History information storage part 13 Browsing and revision control part 14 MFP cooperation part 15 Operation interpretation part 16 Printing and browsing data formation part 20 Output part 21 Paper document reading part 30 MFP operation unit 31 Document management system operation unit

Claims (5)

A document management system having an image forming apparatus, a document management server, and a user terminal,
The image forming apparatus includes:
Output means for outputting the document as a paper document on paper;
An information output unit that outputs a paper document by the output unit and outputs information including a document ID for identifying the document, contact information, and printer information to the paper document;
Paper document reading means for reading the paper document;
Analysis means for analyzing the information output by the information output means, which is output to the paper document read by the paper document reading means;
Discarding means for discarding the paper document,
When discarding a paper document by the discarding unit, the information output by the information output unit is analyzed by the analyzing unit, and a discarding history is created based on the analyzed information. To the management server,
The document management server
Document information storage means for storing the document data;
User information storage means for storing user information;
Cooperation means for receiving data from the image forming apparatus;
History information storage means for storing the print history, discard history, and revision history of the document;
Control means for determining whether to permit printing, viewing and revision of the document,
When the document stored by the document information storage unit is revised, and when the print history and the discard history are stored by the history information storage unit, the control unit sends a new version to the printer. A document management system that permits browsing.   The control means permits browsing of a document of the same version as the paper document when the document is revised and the old paper document is not discarded by the discarding means. 1. The document management system according to 1.   3. The document management system according to claim 1, wherein the information output unit outputs information including the document ID, contact information, and printer information to the sheet as a barcode. 4.   3. The document management system according to claim 1, wherein the information output unit outputs information including the document ID, contact information, and printer information to the paper as a background pattern. 4.   2. The document management server according to claim 1, further comprising a notifying unit for notifying the destruction of the old paper document when the document has been revised and the discarding unit does not discard the old version of the paper document. 5. The document management system according to any one of 1 to 4.

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