JP2011210167A - File management device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate file management by providing a means for reflecting an operation to one file on a file system to other files.SOLUTION: The file management device includes: a similar file search means which searches a file similar to a file designated by a user; a similar file list presentation means which executes the similar file search means on files managed by the file management device and presents files determined to be similar to a user; and a file operation reflection means which reflects an operation performed on one file by the user in the similar file list presentation means, to a file of the similar files.

Description

The present invention relates to file operations in an information processing apparatus that manages files existing on a file system.

  A file on the HDD may be copied to another folder or changed to a different file name on one or a plurality of hard disks (hereinafter simply referred to as HDD) under the same management by a single or a plurality of users. is there.

  As these operations are repeated, data with the same content is generated in a plurality of folders with the same or different file names, and the number of files increases even though the purpose is achieved if one is shared in the PC. Sometimes. As a result, management / organization becomes difficult, and use of the HDD may become inefficient due to an increase in data capacity.

Further, when a part of the file is updated, the file before the update is often left as it is, but the file management on the HDD becomes more difficult and inefficient.
In the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-72675, it is proposed to manage a group of files copied, renamed, and updated from one file as a derivative series. The user is given access authority to a specific derivative series as necessary, and a file management / HDD capacity reducing means is realized by reducing unnecessary files in the file group in the derivative series.

JP 2007-72675 A

  In Patent Document 1, a list of files included in a derivation series is presented, and reduction of HDD usage is realized by deleting unnecessary files.

  However, the derivation series manages only files that have been subjected to some operation from one file, that is, processing such as copying, updating, and renaming. This method is a file that is originally different but similar in content, or even if the same file is downloaded multiple times from the outside such as the Internet, it does not become a file on the same derivative series was there.

  It is an object of the present invention to facilitate file management by providing a means in which the above-mentioned file is also regarded as a similar file, and an operation on one file on the file system is reflected in other files.

  A file management apparatus for managing stored files, a similar file search means for searching for a file similar to a file designated by a user, and the similar file search means for files managed by the file management apparatus. The similar file list presenting means for presenting to the user a file determined to be similar, and in the similar file list presenting means, an operation performed on one file by the user is performed on the file of the similar file. There is provided a file management device having file operation reflecting means for reflecting the file operation.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to facilitate file management by providing a means in which an operation on one file on the file system is reflected in other files.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system configuration | structure of the file management apparatus, file sharing server, and client in connection with embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of each hardware constitutions of the file management apparatus shown in FIG. 1, a file sharing server, and a client. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline flow of operation | movement of a file management system. It is a figure of the file manager which selects a user designation | designated file. It is a flowchart of a similar file list generation program. It is a dialog as an example of a user interface for setting a similar file determination attribute. It is the figure which represented the file which the file management apparatus manages in the file system, and its attribute value with the table. It is a figure showing the example of a similar file list. It is a figure of the example of an interface which presents a similar file list corresponding to selection of a user designation file. It is a figure showing the similar file list | wrist produced | generated previously. It is a figure which shows the detail of the example of a similar file list presentation dialog. It is a flowchart of the program which implements collective link. It is a figure of the folder where the link source file after implementing a batch link generation function was stored. It is a flowchart of the program which implements batch overwrite. It is a flowchart of the program which implements an event process when the file on a file sharing server is updated.

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

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of a file management apparatus, a file sharing server, and a client according to an embodiment of the present invention. The file management apparatus 101, the file sharing servers 102a and 102b, and the clients 103a and 103b are connected to each other via the network 104.
In FIG. 1, the client PC, the file sharing server, and the file management apparatus are illustrated as different ones, but they may be the same.

  As a first example other than FIG. 1, there may be a configuration in which there are one or a plurality of file sharing servers, and one of them is the same as the file management apparatus. As a second example, one or a plurality of client PCs may also serve as a file sharing server that exposes the inside of the HDD, and the file management apparatus may be configured as shown in FIG. Furthermore, as a third example, a case where one client PC in the second example also serves as a file management apparatus is conceivable.

  The file management apparatus 101, the file sharing servers 102a and 102b, and the clients 103a and 103b are each configured by an information processing apparatus (computer). Details of each will be described in FIG.

  2, the file management system includes a CRT 201, an input device 202, a CPU 203, a RAM 204, a ROM 205, an external storage device 206, and a network interface 207.

  The CPU 203 reads and executes a control program stored in the ROM 205 and controls the information processing apparatus. The RAM 204 functions as a buffer and work area for temporarily storing data and the like, and is used as a work area for executing various programs including the OS.

  The external storage device 206 is a storage device such as a hard disk drive, and is used as a short-term and permanent storage device for various programs and various data including programs of the OS and file management system.

  The input device 202 is a user input device represented by a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and the CRT 201 is a device for displaying a processing result of the information processing apparatus. A bus 208 is a system bus that connects the above-described units to each other. In the file sharing servers 102a and 102b, the CRT 201 and the input device 202 are not essential.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a schematic flow of the operation of the file management system. The client PC 301 corresponds to the clients 103a and 103b in FIG. 1, the file management apparatus 302 corresponds to 101 in FIG. 1, and the file sharing server 303 corresponds to the file sharing servers 102a and 102b.

  The client PC 301 of FIG. 3 includes a file selection program 304 and a file presentation program 305, which operate by communicating with each other by connecting to the file sharing server 303 through the file management apparatus 302. The file selection programs 304 and 305 may be realized as different programs or may be realized as the same program.

  The user of the client PC 301 uses the file selection program 304 to select the user-specified file 306 of the file sharing server 303 that is to be processed by the present invention. The file selection program 304 may be a program unique to the present invention that hierarchically displays folders in the HDD and can select a file. The file may be selected by double-clicking with a mouse or the like. Double-clicking is merely an example, and other means may be used.

  FIG. 4 illustrates a case in which a folder is already hierarchically displayed in a file system on an existing operating system (OS) and a mechanism for selecting a file is provided. In this case, for example, the user right-clicks on the file 401 and the user selects an item “display similar file list” from the context menu 402 displayed by the OS or the file system. 304 may be realized. This method is merely an example, and the file may be specified by another method.

In the similar file determination attribute registration program 308, a file attribute used as a determination condition as to whether or not each file on the user-specified file 306 and the file sharing server 303 is a similar file in the file management system of the present invention is previously similar. Registered in the file determination attribute 309.
In the file selection program 304, the user specified file 306 is specified by the above method, and the similar file search program 310 is started.

  In the similar file search program 310, the file attribute registered in the similar file determination attribute 309 is read in advance. Using these file attributes, it is determined whether or not they are similar files in the present invention using the file attributes of the files 307 on the file system, the file attributes of the user-specified file 306, and the identity of the file contents as search conditions. To do.

In the similar file search program 310, the files determined to be similar files in the above process are set as the similar file list 311. Further, the file presentation program 305 of the client PC 301 displays a similar file list on the CRT 201 and delivers information necessary for presentation to the user.
The file presentation program 305 of the client PC 301 displays the delivered information on the CRT 201 and presents it to the user.

A user who operates the file presentation program 305 can select any file from the presented files and perform an operation even if the file is a file other than the file initially selected by the file selection program 304.
The result of the file processed by the user is also reflected in other files included in the similar file list.

The configuration in FIG. 3 is merely an example, and the file management apparatus 302 and the file sharing server 303 may be the same PC. The client PC 301 may be the same as the file sharing server 303. Further, all the PCs in FIG. 3 may be the same.
Hereinafter, the operation of the file management system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
The user of the client PC 301 uses the file selection program 304 to select one arbitrary file.

  The file selection program may be configured with a GUI as shown in FIG. 4, for example. For example, an arbitrary file is selected with the mouse which is one of the input devices 202, and the context menu 402 is clicked by clicking the right button of the mouse. Is displayed.

The user selects an item in the context menu, similar file list display. This item activates the similar file list generation program shown in FIG. 5 for the file designated by the user.
When the program of FIG. 5 is started, in step S501, the set file attribute is read from the similar file determination attribute 309 of FIG.

  This file attribute is set in advance by the similar file determination attribute registration program 308. Specifically, the similar file determination attribute registration program 308 has a user interface such as the similar file determination attribute setting dialog 601 in FIG. 6 and allows the user to specify the similar file determination attribute in advance. In FIG. 3, it is assumed that the program is installed in a file management apparatus, set by a person in charge of the file management apparatus, and uses the same setting for any user of the client PC. However, for example, every time the user selects a user-specified file in the file selection program 304 of FIG. 3, it may be set according to the user's purpose or may have a similar file determination attribute.

  In step S502, a file attribute value serving as a similar file determination attribute is acquired from the user-specified file. For example, according to FIG. 6, among the file attributes, “file size”, “creation date”, and “creator” are designated, so these three values are used in the description of this embodiment.

  Next, in order to determine a similar file to be managed by the file management apparatus, one file is extracted one by one from all file loops S503 (repeating process start part) to S513 (repeating process end part), and the process is executed. . This iterative process is the first iterative process.

  FIG. 7 will be described for use in the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a table showing files managed by the file management apparatus and their attribute values. The table in FIG. 7 includes the following items. The GUID 703 is a number that uniquely identifies a file on the file sharing server. A full path 704 indicates the folder hierarchy from the root of the HDD to the location where the file is actually stored. The file name is divided into a file name 705 and an extension 706 and stored. In addition, the file size 707 (number of bytes), the creation date 708 when the file was first generated on the file sharing server (may store up to year, month, day, hour, minute, second, or millisecond), the file was last updated The update date 709 (may be stored up to the year, month, day, hour, minute, second or millisecond), and the creator 710 who created the file first. Further, a 711 hash value may be generated and stored based on file data in order to compare whether the file contents themselves are equal, which will be described later. The hash value does not uniquely determine the file data, that is, the same hash value may be obtained even if different file data are calculated. When hash values are equal, it is necessary to compare file entities, but the number of files to be compared is greatly reduced. The configuration of this file table is merely an example, and may be configured from different attributes in consideration of the operating system and the file system.

  The table of FIG. 7 is physically real if data is acquired in a format in which files are extracted one by one from the operating system or file system at the necessary steps of this embodiment and necessary file attributes are extracted at the same time. It is not necessary. Alternatively, it may be generated in advance and stored in an HDD or the like. In this case, an index may be generated according to the attribute designated by the user in FIG. 6 to speed up the search when determining the similar file list. The above is the description of FIG.

  The description returns to the all file loop S503 which is the start position of the first iterative process. If the process repeats, step S504 is executed first. In step S504, one file on the file server is acquired (referred to as file A). In step S505, the similar file determination attribute value read in step S501 is extracted from the file A. In this embodiment, the values of “file size”, “creation date”, and “creator” are acquired from the file attributes as in the case of the user-specified file.

  All attribute loops S506 to S509 are second iterative processes for sequentially comparing the attributes “file size”, “creation date”, and “creator” of both the user specified file and the file A acquired in step S504.

Upon entering the second iterative process, step S507 designates one corresponding attribute from both the user designated file and file A, retrieves the value, and compares it in step S508. As long as the values of the same attribute are equal, step S508 is YES, and the process is repeated until there is no attribute that needs to be compared. In this embodiment, since three attributes of “file size”, “creation date”, and “creator” are compared, the comparison is repeated three times at the maximum.
If all the attributes match, step S512 regards the file A as a similar file of the user-specified file and registers it in the similar file list.

  When the user selects the file shown in FIG. 7 as the designated file, ID00000003, a similar file list 712 is generated and includes three files. The similarity list is shown as a list of GUIDs in a list 801 in FIG. A similar file list 713 is generated for the file ID 00000006 and is shown as a list 802 in FIG.

  Furthermore, in the table 702 in FIG. 7 (files and file attributes are the same as those in the table 701), the attributes used for the similarity determination are the file name, the extension, and the creator. In that case, a similar file list 714 for the file ID 00000001 is generated and shown as a list 803 in FIG. A similar file list 715 is generated for the file ID 00000003 and is shown as a list 804 in FIG.

  The description returns to the iterative process from step 506 to step 509. If the values of the two attributes do not match during the iterative process, the determination in step S508 is NO, and the process goes out of the second iterative process and proceeds to step S510.

  In step 510, the two file data are compared as binary, and if the contents match, the process proceeds to step S512 based on the determination YES in step 511. In step S512, the file A currently compared with the user-specified file is regarded as a user-specified file and a similar file, and registered in the similar file list. If the determination in step 511 is NO, the file A is not regarded as a similar file, and the process returns to the all file loop S503 which is the head of the first repetition process. This completes the processing for one file A.

  In the above example, in order to compare the files, the description was made using the file attributes and the file contents. These are just examples, and for other files from which text data can be extracted, we use “concept search” and “concept classification” techniques that statistically determine the co-occurrence of appearing words. May be. For files storing still images and moving images, a technique for classifying similar files by extracting image features may be used. Any technique for determining file similarity can be used.

  As described above, the similar file list for the user-specified file is generated by executing the process on the file on the file management apparatus through the iterative processing from the all file loops S503 to S513.

  Here, how this result looks to the user will be briefly described with reference to FIG. A similar file list presentation dialog 901 in FIG. 9 indicates that the user has selected a user-specified file. The folder 902 includes a file group displayed in the right file name frame. In FIG. 9, “sample.gif” (file corresponding to ID00000003) is selected with the mouse as a user-specified file, and a right-click displays a context menu from which a command and a similar file list presentation 904 are selected. On the other hand, a dialog 905 displays a place where a similar file list is presented. In the right display frame, a user specified file 906 and a similar file list 907 are displayed. Details of the similar file list presentation dialog will be described later with reference to FIG.

  As a result, the similar file list for the user-specified file finally includes a list of GUIDs of the files including the user-specified file itself and having the same determination attributes or the same file contents as binary. The element of the similar file list may not be the GUID of the file. This is merely an example, and any information may be used as long as the physical file can be uniquely identified on the file sharing server.

  Further, in the above description using the flowchart of FIG. 5, it is assumed that the attribute condition designated for similar file determination is used as a logical product, but this is a logical sum or a more complicated condition. It may be a logical expression.

  In the setting dialog 601 of FIG. 6, when a plurality of attributes are designated, 603 allows the user to designate whether these conditions are handled as logical products or logical sums.

  In addition, the determination by attribute and the comparison of the file contents as binary are logical sums because they are performed separately, but this is also a logical condition or a more complex logical expression combined with other file attributes as a determination condition, The user may be allowed to specify.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 5, the similar file list of FIG. 8 is generated after the user-specified file is specified. However, the similar file list is created in advance, and it is not necessary to execute the first all file loop S503 to step S513 in FIG. 5 every time the user designates the generation of the similar file list. May be presented.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of a similar file list generated in advance. An index 1001 is an index for specifying a plurality of similar file lists, and each element of the similar file list stores a file GUID and a hash value of the file as indicated by 1002. Each GUID 1002 describes a full path name to a file entity including a file name and an extension name.

  If the similar file list is not generated every time, the similar file list is updated in real time when there is an increase / decrease or update of the file in the file sharing server 303, or the difference is stored when there is an increase / decrease or update of the file. To keep. Then, after the similar file list search, it is necessary to determine whether the difference file is a similar file or to confirm that it has been deleted and adjust the similar file list.

  The description returns to the flowchart of FIG. After completing the generation of the similar file list, step S514 starts the presentation program of the client PC 301 in FIG. 3 and passes the similar file list.

  FIG. 11 is a dialog that implements file operation reflection means. The file operation reflecting means is merely an example. A similar file list operation dialog 1101 in FIG. 11 is a dialog for managing the entire file operation reflecting means. The similar file list operation dialog 1101 includes a folder in the file sharing server 303, a hierarchical folder display window 1102 for browsing files, and a similar file list presentation window 1103. Furthermore, the user has buttons 1109 to 1013 for instructing file operations.

  A user-specified file 1104 is displayed in the upper part of the similar file list presentation window 1103, and a similar file list 1105 is displayed in the lower part. Reference numeral 1104 corresponds to the user-specified file 306 in FIG. The similar file list 1105 corresponds to files other than the user-specified file indicated by 1104 in the similar file search program 310 of FIG. 3, the list returned to the calling program from step S534 of FIG. 5, and the lists 801 to 804 of FIG. To do.

  In the hierarchical folder display window 1102, the file name may be highlighted in order to make it easy to understand the position of the user specified file and other similar file lists in the file system. In the example, the file 1106 is highlighted, indicating that it is the same as the user specified file in the similar file list presentation window 1103.

  Further, the file 1108 is highlighted in another color, indicating that it is one of the similar file lists 1105 in the similar file list presentation window 1103. Also, a check 1107 can be added to a part of the similar file list 1105 (two in the left side in this example), but these files may be highlighted in another color in the hierarchical folder display window 1102 as well. good.

  In the above description, the user-specified file and other similar files are not equivalent in that the operation performed on the user-specified file 1104 is reflected in other similar files. That is, the user-specified file is a file that directly reflects the user's operation, and the other files are only reflection destinations that are indirectly reflected in the operation of the user-specified file.

  In this regard, for example, the user may newly designate one file in the similar file list presentation window 1103 in FIG. 11 and the search result may be reflected in another similar file. Alternatively, a user-specified file may be newly specified by double-clicking a single file from the similar file list 1105 on the GUI with the mouse and the positions of the file and the user-specified file 1104 are switched.

  If the user-specified file changes, the case where the flowchart in FIG. 5 is executed again to re-present the similar file list may be considered. In addition, there may be a case where the user-specified file and another similar file are simply replaced in the similar file list presented at that time. Therefore, when one of the other similar files is changed to a user-specified file, the file management apparatus administrator or the user of the client PC may be able to specify which method to use.

  A “collective link generation” button 1111 and a “collective overwrite” button 1112 are buttons that the user presses to execute batch link generation and batch overwrite processing, which will be described later. The actual processing target is the file in the similar file list 1105 whose upper left check box is checked. The user checks the upper left check box of the file to be processed.

  When the user presses a “check all” button 1109, the upper left check of all files in the similar file list 1105 is entered. On the other hand, when the “Uncheck all” button 1110 is pressed, the upper left check for all files is canceled.

When the user presses the “collective link generation” button 1111, the file whose check box is checked in the similar file list 1105 is deleted by the file deletion unit. Further, a link to the user specified file is generated in the folder where the deleted file originally existed. This link is sometimes called a “shortcut”. FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the processing.
First, in step S1201, the full path (absolute path) of the folder where the user-specified file exists and the user-specified file name are acquired.

  Next, from step S1202 to step S1207, the iterative process is performed on the file whose upper left check box is checked among the files in the similar file list 1105 in FIG.

In the first step S1203 of the iterative process, one is extracted from the files whose check boxes in the similar file list 1105 are checked. This file will be described below as file A.
In step S1204, the folder (absolute path) and file name in which file A is stored are acquired, and in step S1205, file A is deleted.

  In step S1206, the same link as the file name acquired in step S1204 is created in the folder acquired in step S1204. The link destination entity file of the link is the user-specified file acquired in S1201.

  An example of the result of executing the program of FIG. 12 is shown in FIG. A folder 1301 displayed in FIG. 13 indicates the state of the folder in which the file A was originally stored. The folder is displayed in the folder 1302. The file A (sample1.jpg here) is deleted by the processing of FIG. 12, but a new link is generated. In FIG. 3, the link name 1303 is generated with the same name as the original file name. Further, the link destination 1304 indicates the entity of the file to which the link name 1303 is actually linked.

Next, the “batch overwrite” button 1112 shown in FIG. 11 will be described. When the user presses the “collective overwrite” button 1112, the contents of the user-specified file are overwritten on the file whose check box is checked in the similar file list 1105. FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining the processing.
First, in step S1401, the full path (absolute path) of the folder where the user-specified file exists and the user-specified file name are acquired.

  Next, from step S1402 to step S1405, the iterative process is performed on the file whose upper left check box is checked among the files in the similar file list 1105 in FIG.

  In the first step S1403 of the iterative process, one is extracted from the files whose check boxes in the similar file list 1105 are checked. This file will be described below as file A.

  In step S1404, the file A is overwritten with the contents of the user specified file. When the loops S1401 to S1405 are completed, the flowchart of FIG. 14 is completed.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a program that performs event processing when a file on the file sharing server is updated. This is a program required for updating the similar file list in real time in the following cases. The premise is that a similar file list is generated in advance by the similar file list batch creation program.

  That is, in the flowchart of FIG. 5, after the user designated file is designated, the similar file list of FIG. 8 is generated. However, the similar file list may be created in advance. In this case, it is not necessary to execute the first loop, all file loops S503 to S513 in FIG. 5 every time the user designates the generation of the similar file list, and if the similar file list generated in advance is presented to the user. As mentioned above, it is good. However, in that case, when there is an increase / decrease / update of a file in the file sharing server 303, the similar file list is updated in real time, or when there is an increase / decrease / update of the file, the difference is stored. . Further, after the similar file list is searched, it is necessary to determine whether the difference file is a similar file or to confirm that it is deleted and adjust the similar file list.

  When the file management apparatus is activated, the program shown in FIG. 15 is automatically activated. In S1501, the file attribute item actually required for the similar file determination attribute is acquired from the similar file determination attribute 309 in FIG.

  While the file management apparatus is running, the file sharing server constantly monitors by repeating steps S1502 to S1516 so that it can respond to file events such as addition, deletion, and update of files.

  In step S1503, a file event is acquired. In step S1504, the contents of the file event are determined. If no file event has occurred, the process returns to file event monitoring. If the file event is a new file generation, the process up to step S1509 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S1510.

  If the file event is a file deletion or update (change of the contents of an existing file), a file attribute value used for similar file search is determined from the file corresponding to the file event (hereinafter referred to as file A) in step S1505. get. However, although the file to be processed in step S1505 is a file that has already been deleted or updated, it is necessary to acquire the file attribute before deletion or update. Therefore, although not shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15, the file event may be extracted not only when the processing for the file is completed but also when some operation is about to start. Further, the file attributes and file contents before the operation on the file are acquired and stored, and used when searching for a similar file list. The file attribute acquired in step S1505 is the value of the stored file attribute before the operation.

  In step S1506, the similar file list is searched from the index of the similar file list in FIG. 10 based on the file attribute value and the file content. In step S1507, information on the file A is deleted from the similar file list obtained as a search result in the search. As a result of this processing, the number of files registered in the similar file list is confirmed in step S1508. If there is no file information in the similar file list, the similar file list itself is unnecessary, and is deleted in step S1509 and also deleted from the index of the similar file list in FIG.

  In the above processing, the processing related to the file information to be deleted from the index and the similar file list is completed. If the content of the original file event is re-confirmed in step S1510 and the result is “delete”, all processing is completed, and the process returns to file event monitoring. If the file event content is update, the file A was once deleted from the similar file list in which it was registered in the above process, but it is necessary to register it again in another similar file list. Proceed to processing. Similarly, when a new file is generated, the process proceeds to step S1511 and subsequent steps.

  In step S1511, the file attribute is acquired from the file A to be processed. If the file event is a new file generation, the file attributes are not acquired until this point. If the file event is update, the file attributes of the file A are acquired once. File attributes. Here, it is necessary to newly acquire the file attribute value of the file A after the file is newly generated or updated.

  After obtaining the file attribute of file A in step S1511, in step S1512 a similar file list is searched from the index of the similar file list in FIG. 10 based on the file attribute value and the file contents. In step S1513, it is determined whether a similar file list exists as a search result. If there is no similar file list, a similar file list is created in step S1514 and added to the index of FIG.

  In step S1515, the information on file A is added to the similar file list searched in step S1512 or the similar file list generated in step S1514 if it does not exist.

  With the above processing, the generation of the real-time similar file list for the file A is completed. After this process is completed, the process returns from step S1502 to step S1516. That is, monitoring of the next file event is resumed. The above is the description of the flowchart of FIG.

  As described above, in FIG. 15, only the monitoring related to the file sharing server while the file management apparatus is activated has been described. However, it is assumed that the file management server is not activated even though the file sharing server is activated. If such a situation is assumed, information on a file event that occurred while the file management apparatus was stopped may be stored on the file sharing server side. Then, when the file management apparatus is activated, a method of checking those file events with the program of FIG. 15 or a process of confirming the file sharing server is added to the beginning of the flowchart of FIG. In this processing, the file-related update status from when the file management apparatus was last stopped until it is started may be checked and reflected in the similar file list. The flowchart shown in FIG. 15 and the description regarding the file update while the above-described file management apparatus is stopped are merely examples, and the similar file list update unit updates the similar file list by any other method. Anything is acceptable.

  The object of the present invention is achieved by executing the following processing. That is, a storage medium that records a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus is stored in the storage medium. This is the process of reading the code.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention.

  Moreover, the following can be used as a storage medium for supplying the program code. For example, floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD + RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM or the like. Alternatively, the program code may be downloaded via a network.

  Further, the present invention includes a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by executing the program code read by the computer. In addition, an OS (operating system) running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing based on an instruction of the program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. Is also included.

  Furthermore, a case where the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by the following processing is also included in the present invention. That is, the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, based on the instruction of the program code, the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing.

  Further, the present invention includes a case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by executing the program code read by the computer. In addition, there is a case where the OS running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  In this case, the program is supplied by downloading directly from a storage medium storing the program or from another computer or database (not shown) connected to the Internet, a commercial network, a local area network, or the like.

  The form of the program may be in the form of object code, program code executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to an OS (operating system), and the like.

101 File management apparatus 102a File sharing server 102b File sharing server 103a Client 103b Client 201 CRT
202 Input device 203 CPU
204 RAM
205 ROM
206 External storage device 207 Network interface 208 Bus 301 Client PC
302 File management device 303 File sharing server 304 File selection program 305 File presentation program 306 User specified file 307 File 308 on file system Similar file determination attribute registration program 309 Similar file determination attribute 310 Similar file search program 311 Similar file list

Claims (9)

A file management device for managing stored files,
Similar file search means for searching for a file similar to the file specified by the user,
Executing the similar file search means for files managed by the file management device, and presenting a similar file list presentation means for presenting to the user the files determined to be similar;
In the similar file list presenting means, a file operation reflecting means for reflecting an operation performed on one file by the user to the file of the similar file;
A file management apparatus.   The file management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the similar file search unit uses a file attribute value as a search condition.   The file management apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the similar file search means uses the same or similar file contents as a search condition. In the similar file list presenting means, a first file selecting means for allowing a user to select one file as a file serving as a link destination entity;
Second file selection means for causing the user to select one or more files as files to be deleted;
File deletion means for deleting the file selected by the second file deletion means;
Batch link generation means for generating a link to the link destination entity file selected by the first file selection means in the folder in which the file deleted by the file deletion means was originally stored;
The file management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: In the similar file list presenting means, third file selecting means for selecting one file as a file to be overwritten,
Fourth file selection means for causing the user to select one or more files as files to be overwritten;
Batch overwriting means for overwriting one or more files selected in the fourth file with the file selected in the third file selecting means;
The file management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: A file management device for managing stored files,
Similar file list batch creation means for creating a list of similar files in advance for files managed by the file management device using the similar file search means;
After creating a similar file list by the similar file list batch creation means, if a file managed by the file management apparatus is newly created, changed, or deleted, a file event is acquired as a file event Acquisition means;
Similar file list update means for updating the similar file list for a file that has been newly created, changed, or deleted by the file event acquisition means;
6. The file management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: A file management method for managing stored files,
A similar file search step for searching for a file similar to the file specified by the user;
Performing the similar file search step on a file managed by the file management method, and presenting a similar file list presentation step to present a file determined to be similar to the user;
In the similar file list presentation step, a file operation reflecting step of reflecting an operation performed on one file by the user on the file of the similar file;
File management method. A program for executing a file management device for managing stored files,
Similar file search means for searching for a file similar to the file specified by the user,
The similar file search means is implemented for files managed by the file management device, and similar file list presenting means for presenting the files determined to be similar to the user,
A program for causing the similar file list presenting means to function as a file operation reflecting means for reflecting an operation performed on one file by a user to a file of the similar file. A storage medium in which the program according to claim 8 is recorded so as to be readable by a computer.