JP2013196624A - Information processing apparatus, approval flow definition generating method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing apparatus, an approval flow definition generating method, and a program, capable of automatically generating a definition of an approval flow without using a registration work with manpower.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus according to an embodiment realizes an approval flow by exchanging messages with each other between users. The information processing apparatus includes a storage part, a determination part, a generation part, and a presentation part. The storage part stores the message in such a manner that a reply relation with another message can be specified. The determination part analyzes the message so as to determine division of duties of the transmitter of the message in the approval flow. The generation part generates an approval flow definition, which is a flow of the messages in the approval flow, on the basis of the reply relation of the message and the division of duties of the transmitter of the message. The presentation part presents the approval flow definition.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an information processing apparatus, an approval flow definition generation method, and a program.

  Conventionally, an electronic approval system has been used that electronically executes a series of procedures such as application, investigation and approval of business deliverables in accordance with a predefined approval flow from the viewpoint of improving business efficiency in corporate activities. ing. The electronic approval system is often realized as one function in an information sharing system provided by SaaS, for example. For example, the information sharing system provides a registered user with a virtual community for exchanging messages using an electronic bulletin board or an e-mail, and enables information to be shared between registered users through the virtual community.

  In order to use the electronic approval system, it is necessary to define an approval flow by determining an investigator who investigates an application and an approver who performs approval. However, the task of manually registering investigators and approvers is complicated, and even if it is desirable to use the electronic approval system, a series of procedures may be performed without using the electronic approval system. there were. In other words, if the approval flow definition can be automatically generated without the need for manual registration work, the use of the electronic approval system is promoted, and the efficiency of operations in corporate activities is promoted.

JP 2005-38145 A

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, an approval flow definition generation method, and a program capable of automatically generating an approval flow definition without relying on manual registration work.

  The information processing apparatus according to the embodiment realizes an approval flow by exchanging messages between users. The information processing apparatus includes a storage unit, a determination unit, a generation unit, and a presentation unit. A memory | storage part memorize | stores the said message so that the reply relationship between other messages can be specified. The determination unit analyzes the message and determines the job of the sender of the message in the approval flow. The generation unit generates an approval flow definition that identifies a person in charge of the job in the approval flow based on the reply relationship of the message and the job of the sender of the message. The presenting unit presents the approval flow definition.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an overview of an information sharing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of user information stored in the user information storage unit. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message stored in the message storage unit. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an attached document stored in the document storage unit. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of access information stored in the access information storage unit. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message group accumulated in the message storage unit. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a thread in which the message group illustrated in FIG. 6 is connected by the relationship of the reply destination message ID. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an approval-related message stored in the approval-related message storage unit. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of group information stored in the group information storage unit. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a dictionary that defines the correspondence between job assignments and character strings. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of job information stored in the job information storage unit. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing by the approval flow definition generation unit. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an approval flow definition stored in the approval flow definition storage unit. FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically showing how the approval flow definition changes with the organizational change of the development department. FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing by the approval flow determination unit. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message creation screen provided by the message creation unit.

  Hereinafter, an information processing apparatus, an approval flow definition generation method, and a program according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is an application example to an information sharing system that provides a virtual community to registered users.

  The information sharing system according to the present embodiment provides a registered community with a virtual community for exchanging messages and providing various types of information using an electronic bulletin board or electronic mail. A registered user of an information sharing system can share information with other registered users through a virtual community provided by the information sharing system by accessing the information sharing system using a user terminal. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an overview of an information sharing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the information sharing system includes a message management unit 100 that manages messages exchanged between registered users, an approval flow management unit 200 that automatically generates a definition of an approval flow and presents it to the registered user, Is provided.

  The message management unit 100 includes a user information storage unit 101, a message creation unit 102, a message reception unit 103, a message transmission unit 104, a message registration unit 105, a message storage unit 106, a document storage unit 107, a message browsing unit 108, and access information. A storage unit 109 is provided.

  The user information storage unit 101 stores user information of registered users. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of user information stored in the user information storage unit 101. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the user information stored in the user information storage unit 101 includes, for example, a registered user account and a display name. The account is a character string for uniquely identifying a registered user. The display name is a display name of the registered user displayed on the screen. Note that the user information of the registered user may include, for example, authentication information such as a password set by the registered user in addition to the account and the display name.

  The message creation unit 102 provides a message creation screen to the registered user's user terminal in response to a request from the registered user, and assists the registered user in creating a message. The message creation unit 102 can be realized, for example, in the form of a website that provides a message creation screen described in HTML or the like to a web browser installed on the user terminal.

  The message receiving unit 103 receives a message created by the registered user using the message creating unit 102. The message is a structure having a message ID, a transmission date / time, a sender, a transmission destination, a text, an attached document (product). The message reception unit 103 passes the received message to the message transmission unit 104 and the message registration unit 105.

  The message transmission unit 104 transmits the message received from the message reception unit 103 to the registered user account designated as the transmission destination of the message.

  The message registration unit 105 records the message received from the message reception unit 103 in the message storage unit 106. Further, when a document is attached to the message received from the message receiving unit 103, the message registration unit 105 records the attached document in the document storage unit 107.

  The message storage unit 106 stores a message created by the registered user using the message creation unit 102. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message stored in the message storage unit 106. As shown in FIG. 3, the message stored in the message storage unit 106 includes, for example, a message ID, a transmission date and time, a sender, a transmission destination, a reply destination message ID, an attached document ID, a text, and the like. The message ID is a character string for uniquely identifying the message. The sender is the account of the registered user who sent the message. The transmission destination is an account of a registered user as a message transmission destination, and a plurality of accounts can be designated. The account of the sender and destination matches the account of user information stored in the user information storage unit 101. The reply destination message ID is a character string for uniquely identifying the reply destination message when the reply message is created as a reply message to the message. The attached document ID is a character string for uniquely identifying the document attached to the message. The body is a character string described as the body of the message.

  The document storage unit 107 stores a document attached to a message created by the registered user using the message creation unit 102. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a document stored in the document storage unit 107. As shown in FIG. 4, the document stored in the document storage unit 107 includes a document ID, a document name, document content, and the like. The document ID is a character string for uniquely identifying the document, and matches the attached document ID of the message stored in the message storage unit 106. The document name is a file name given to the document. The document content represents the content of the document file. Generally, the document file is a plain text file, a structured text file described in XML or HTML, or a binary file. In many cases, binary files can extract text with a structure such as page numbers by using text extraction filter software. In the present embodiment, description will be made assuming that the document file of the document attached to the message is a structured text file. In this example, the page break is expressed by the notation “---- 1p” as the structure information. This means the boundary of the first page.

  The message browsing unit 108 provides a message browsing screen to the registered user's user terminal in response to a request from the registered user, and includes a message recorded in the message storage unit 106 and a document recorded in the document storage unit 107. The message or document designated by the registered user is acquired from the message storage unit 106 or the document storage unit 107, and the registered user browses it. The message browsing unit 108 can be realized, for example, in the form of a Web site that provides a message browsing screen described in HTML or the like to a Web browser installed on the user terminal.

  The access information storage unit 109 stores access information that is a record that a registered user has accessed using the message browsing unit 108 with respect to a message stored in the message storage unit 106 and a document stored in the document storage unit 107. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of access information stored in the access information storage unit 109. As shown in FIG. 5, the access information stored in the access information storage unit 109 includes an account, an access date and time, an access target, and the like. The account is an account of a registered user who has accessed a message or a document using the message browsing unit 108 and matches the account of the user information stored in the user information storage unit 101. The access target is a message ID of a message viewed by a registered user or a document ID of a document. With this information, the message or document accessed by the registered user can be specified.

  The approval flow management unit 200 operates after a message group constituting one or more threads is accumulated in the message storage unit 106. A thread is a set of messages related to a common topic, and is a connection of messages in a reply relationship. Hereinafter, details of the approval flow management unit 200 will be described using the specific examples shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message group accumulated in the message storage unit 106. It is assumed that seven messages having message IDs M01 to M07 are accumulated in the message storage unit 106, and the body of each message is composed of a character string shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing threads that specify the reply relationship of the message groups M01 to M07 illustrated in FIG. 6 based on the reply destination message ID and connect these message groups M01 to M07 according to the reply relationship. In FIG. 7, a circled name represents a message sender, and an arrow represents a message reply relationship.

  The approval flow management unit 200 includes an approval-related message determination unit 201, an approval-related message storage unit 202, a group generation unit 203, a group information storage unit 204, a group adjustment unit 205, a job division determination unit 206, a job information storage unit 207, an approval. A flow definition generation unit 208, an approval flow definition storage unit 209, an approval flow definition update unit 210, and an approval flow determination unit 211 are provided.

  The approval-related message determination unit 201 extracts an approval-related message from the message group stored in the message storage unit 106 and records the extracted approval-related message in the approval-related message storage unit 202. The approval-related message is a message exchanged in a series of approval flows such as application, investigation, and approval.

  For example, the approval-related message determination unit 201 performs morphological analysis on the body of each message stored in the message storage unit 106 and the document stored in the document storage unit 107, and extracts an approval-related message by scoring. For example, the higher the degree of coincidence between the words and phrases in the approval-related message and the pattern of the description format and the body of the message, the higher the score, and the description format pattern of the deliverable such as a development plan and the message attached to the message The approval-related message can be extracted by performing scoring such that the higher the degree of matching with the document, the higher the score, and extracting a message with a score higher than the reference value. In this case, a phrase, a description format pattern, a product description format pattern, and the like that frequently appear in an approval-related message may be created and held in advance as a dictionary. When the message group M01 to M07 shown in FIG. 6 is stored in the message storage unit 106, the approval-related message determination unit 201 obtains a message M01 in which a score equal to or higher than the reference value is obtained from these message groups M01 to M07. , M02, M04, M05, M06, and M07 are extracted as approval-related messages. The message M03 is not extracted as an approval-related message because the score does not satisfy the reference value.

  The approval-related message storage unit 202 stores the approval-related message extracted by the approval-related message determination unit 201 from the message group accumulated in the message storage unit 106. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an approval-related message stored in the approval-related message storage unit 202. As shown in FIG. 8, the approval-related message stored in the approval-related message storage unit 202 includes, for example, a message ID, a transmission date / time, a sender, a transmission destination, a reply destination message ID, an attached document ID, a text, a group ID, and the like. Including. The message ID, the transmission date and time, the sender, the transmission destination, the reply destination message ID, the attached document ID, and the text match the message information stored in the message storage unit 106. The group ID is a character string for uniquely identifying which group the message has been classified by the group generation unit 203 described later, and is described after the classification by the group generation unit 203 is completed.

  The group generation unit 203 performs clustering on the approval-related messages stored in the approval-related message storage unit 202. For example, a message group related to A development, a message group related to YYY development, and the like. Are classified into groups according to the content of the message. For example, the group generation unit 203 first analyzes a message stored in the message storage unit 106 and a document recorded in the document storage unit 107, and identifies a topic (A development, YYY development, etc.) handled in the virtual community. Then, a group is generated for each topic, and group information (group ID, group name, etc.) is recorded in the group information storage unit 204. Then, the group generation unit 203 classifies the approval-related messages so as to belong to any group by clustering the approval-related messages stored in the approval-related message storage unit 202, and sets the group ID corresponding to the classification result to the approval-related message. Write as the group ID of each approval-related message stored in the message storage unit 202. Clustering for the approval-related message can be performed using, for example, a result of morphological analysis on the body of the approval-related message.

For example, when the message groups M01 to M07 shown in FIG. 6 are stored in the message storage unit 106, the group generation unit 203 analyzes these message groups M01 to M07 and the attached document to obtain “A development” and “ Two groups of “YYY Development” are generated. Then, the group generation unit 203 performs clustering of six messages M01, M02, M04, M05, M06, and M07 extracted as approval-related messages from the message groups M01 to M07, and groups them as follows. .
Message M01 → Group “Development A”
Message M02 → Group “YYY Development”
Message M04 → Group “Development A”
Message M05 → Group “Development A”
Message M06 → Group “Development A”
Message M07 → Group “YYY Development”

  The group information storage unit 204 stores group information related to the group generated by the group generation unit 203. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of group information stored in the group information storage unit 204. As shown in FIG. 9, the group information stored in the group information storage unit 204 includes, for example, a group ID and a group name. The group ID is a character string for uniquely identifying the group. The group name is a character string indicating a name given to the group. For example, a word symbolizing the group is extracted from the approval-related message classified into the group and given.

  The group adjustment unit 205 verifies the validity of the grouping performed on the approval-related message by the group generation unit 203 based on the reply relationship of the approval-related message, and adjusts the group if it is not appropriate. That is, it is appropriate to classify the approval-related messages constituting one thread into the same group. For example, the group generation unit 203 groups the approval-related messages based on the result of morphological analysis of the body of the approval-related message. In this case, one approval-related message and another approval-related message constituting one thread may be classified into different groups. Therefore, the group adjustment unit 205 adjusts the groups based on the reply relationship of the approval-related messages so that the approval-related messages constituting one thread belong to the same group. The adjustment result by the group adjustment unit 205 is reflected in the approval-related message stored in the approval-related message storage unit 202. That is, the group adjustment unit 205 rewrites the group ID written by the group generation unit 203 to the approval-related message whose group has been changed to the group ID after the change.

In the above-described example, the six approval-related messages M01, M02, M04, M05, M06, and M07 constitute one thread. However, as a result of classification by the group generation unit 203, the approval-related messages M01, M04, M05, and M06 are classified into the group “A development”, whereas the approval-related messages M02 and M07 are classified into the group “YYY development”. Has been. Therefore, the group adjustment unit 205 determines that the approval-related messages M02 and M07 classified into the group “YYY development” belong to the same group “A development” as the approval-related messages M01, M04, M05, and M06. The group of the messages M02 and M07 is changed. As a result, the six approval-related messages M01, M02, M04, M05, M06, and M07 are finally grouped as follows.
Message M01 → Group “Development A”
Message M02 → Group “Development A”
Message M04 → Group “Development A”
Message M05 → Group “Development A”
Message M06 → Group “Development A”
Message M07 → Group “Development A”

  The job division determination unit 206 determines the job of the sender of the approval-related message stored in the approval-related message storage unit 202. Here, the job is a job classification in a series of approval flows, and represents a job such as an applicant, investigator, or approver. For example, the division of duties determination unit 206 first extracts approval-related messages belonging to the same group from the approval-related messages stored in the approval-related message storage unit 202, and performs morphological analysis on the body of the extracted approval-related messages. Run. Then, the job segregation determination unit 206 determines the sender of the approval-related message including a character string determined in advance corresponding to each job of the job segregation as the job corresponding to the character string, and determines the determination result as job information. Is recorded in the job information storage unit 207. In this case, the correspondence between each job of job division and the character string may be created and held in advance as a dictionary.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a dictionary that defines the correspondence between each job of job segregation and a character string. In the example of FIG. 10, the job “applicant” is associated with the character string “please confirm”, and the job “inspector” is associated with the character string “please correct”. , The job "Investigator" is associated with the string "Checked", the job "Investigator" is associated with the string "Please reflect", and the string "Approve" ”Is associated with the role of“ Approver ”, the character“ Reject ”is associated with the role of“ Approver ”, and the character“ Registered in the XXX system ” It shows that the job of “applicant” is associated.

  For example, of the six approval-related messages M01, M02, M04, M05, M06, and M07 belonging to the group “A development”, the text of the approval-related messages M01 and M04 includes the character string “Please confirm” In the body of the approval-related message M06, the character string “Registered in the MMM system” is included. For this reason, Tanaka, who is the sender of these approval-related messages M01, M04, and M06, is determined as the “applicant”. The body of the approval-related message M02 includes the character string “Please correct”, and the body of the approval-related message M07 includes the character string “Please reflect”. For this reason, Mr. Suzuki (Suzuki) who is the sender of these approval-related messages M02 and M07 is determined as the “inspector”. In addition, the text of the approval-related message M05 includes the character string “I approve”. Therefore, Mr. Suzuki (Suzuki) who is the sender of the approval-related message M05 is determined as the “approver”.

  The job information storage unit 207 stores job information representing the job determined by the job segregation determination unit 206. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of job information stored in the job information storage unit 207. As shown in FIG. 11, the job information stored in the job information storage unit 207 includes, for example, an account, a job, a group ID, and the like. The account is an account of a registered user whose job is determined by the job segregation determination unit 206 and matches the account of the user information stored in the user information storage unit 101. The job is a job determined by the job segregation determination unit 206. The group ID is a group ID of a group in which the job determined by the job segregation determination unit 206 is valid, and matches the group ID of the group information stored in the group information storage unit 204. As can be seen from this example, in the present embodiment, the duties of registered users are determined on a group basis, and even if the registered users are the same, there may be different duties if the groups are different.

  The approval flow definition generating unit 208 approves in units of groups based on the reply relationship of the approval related message (thread reply relationship) stored in the approval related message storage unit 202 and the job information stored in the job information storage unit 207. Generate a flow definition. Approval flow definition (approval flow definition) is a definition that identifies who of the registered users is responsible for which job in the approval flow, and uniquely identifies the sequence of procedures in the approval flow. It is information for.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing by the approval flow definition generation unit 208. The approval flow definition generation unit 208 executes, for example, the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12 for the approval related message stored in the approval related message storage unit 202, and generates an approval flow definition in units of groups. Note that the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12 is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this example.

  First, in step S101, the approval flow definition generation unit 208 has no reply destination message ID among the approval related messages belonging to the same group stored in the approval related message storage unit 202, that is, the approval related that is the head of the thread. Extract messages.

  Next, in step S102, the approval flow definition generation unit 208 generates a thread starting with the approval-related message extracted in step S101 based on the reply message ID of the message stored in the message storage unit 106. Among the messages constituting the thread, the approval-related messages stored in the approval-related message storage unit 202 are arranged in chronological order. At this time, when there is a relationship between a plurality of threads, the plurality of threads may be handled as one thread.

  Next, in step S103, the approval flow definition generation unit 208 selects one of the threads generated in step S102. Then, in step S104, the approval flow definition generation unit 208 refers to the job information stored in the job information storage unit 207, and the job segregation determination unit 206 adds the approval related message in the thread selected in step S103. It is determined whether or not a message transmitted by a registered user determined as “inspector” or “approver” is included. Here, if the message transmitted by the “investigator” or “approver” is included (step S104: Yes), the process proceeds to the next step S105, and if not included (step S104: No), the step The process proceeds to S110.

  In step S105, the approval flow definition generation unit 208 determines whether or not an attached document is attached to the approval-related message immediately before the message transmitted by the “investigator” or “approver”. If an attached document is attached to the previous approval-related message (step S105: Yes), the process proceeds to the next step S106, and if no attached document is attached (step S105: No), step The process proceeds to S110.

  In step S106, the approval flow definition generation unit 208 performs morphological analysis on the attached document, and determines whether the attached document is a business product. If it is determined that the attached document is a product (step S106: Yes), the process proceeds to the next step S107. If it is determined that the attached document is not a product (step S106: No), the process proceeds to step S110. To do.

  In step S107, the approval flow definition generation unit 208 refers to the job information stored in the job information storage unit 207, and transmits the approval-related message immediately before the message transmitted by the “investigator” or “approver”. It is determined whether or not the registered user is determined as “applicant” by the job separation determination unit 206. If the sender of the previous approval-related message is “applicant” (step S107: Yes), the process proceeds to the next step S108, and if it is not “applicant” (step S107: No), The process proceeds to step S110.

  In step S108, the approval flow definition generation unit 208 performs morphological analysis on the body of the approval-related message immediately before the message transmitted by the “investigator” or “approver”, and the approval-related message is approved. It is determined whether or not it is an application message for applying. Here, when it is determined that the previous approval-related message is an application message (step S108: Yes), the process proceeds to the next step S109, and when it is determined that the message is not an application message (step S108: No), The process proceeds to step S110.

  In step S109, the approval flow definition generation unit 208 temporarily stores the application → investigation or application → approval flow obtained by the processing in steps S104 to S108 as a candidate for an approval flow definition in the target group.

  In step S110, the approval flow definition generation unit 208 determines whether or not the processing in steps S104 to S109 has been completed for all threads generated in step S102. Here, when the process is completed for all threads (step S110: Yes), the process proceeds to the next step S111. If there is a thread for which the process is not completed (step S110: No), the process returns to step S103. To select another thread, and repeat the processing from step S104 to step S109.

  In step S111, the approval flow definition generation unit 208 determines whether there is an approval flow definition candidate temporarily stored in step S109 that has an appearance count equal to or greater than the threshold value X. If there is an approval flow definition candidate whose number of appearances is greater than or equal to the threshold X (step S111: Yes), the process proceeds to the next step S112, and there is an approval flow definition candidate whose number of appearances is greater than or equal to the threshold X. If not (step S111: No), a series of processing is terminated. Note that it is desirable that the value of the threshold value X used in the determination in step S111 is variable, and the value of the threshold value X is appropriately adjusted so that an appropriate number of approval flow definitions are generated in each group.

  In step S112, the approval flow definition generation unit 208 determines the approval flow definition candidates whose appearance count is greater than or equal to the threshold X from among the approval flow definition candidates temporarily stored in step S109 and records them in the approval flow definition storage unit 209. Then, a series of processing ends.

  Based on the specific example shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the process by the approval flow definition production | generation part 208 according to the flowchart of FIG. 12 is demonstrated. First, among the approval-related messages M01, M02, M04, M05, M06, and M07 belonging to the group “A development”, the approval-related message M01 that is the head of the thread is extracted (step S101).

  Next, a thread shown in FIG. 7 is generated starting from the approval-related message M01, and the approval-related messages M01, M02, M04, M05, M06, and M07 included in this thread are arranged in chronological order (step S102). . When arranged in chronological order, M01 → M02 → M04 → M05 → M06 → M07.

  Next, the thread shown in FIG. 7 is selected (step S103), and the job determined by the job segregation determination unit 206 is included in the approval-related messages M01, M02, M04, M05, M06, and M07 included in this thread. It is determined whether or not the message transmitted by the registered user who is “inspector” or “approver” is included (step S104). Here, it is determined that the approval-related messages M02, M05, and M07 transmitted by Mr. Suzuki, who is the “investigator” and the “approver”, are included.

  Next, for each of the approval-related messages M02, M05, and M07, it is determined whether or not an attached document is attached to the previous approval-related message M01, M04, and M06 (step S105). Here, it is determined that the attached document D01 is attached to the approval-related message M01, and the attached document D02 is attached to the approval-related message M04.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the attached documents D01 and D02 are work products by morphological analysis on the attached documents D01 and D02 (step S106). Here, since both the attached documents D01 and D02 are development plans, it is determined that they are work products.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the sender of the approval-related messages M01 and M04 is a registered user whose job determined by the job segregation determination unit 206 is “applicant” (step S107). Here, it is determined that the sender of the approval-related messages M01 and M04 is Tanaka, who is the “applicant”.

  Next, whether or not these approval-related messages M01 and M04 are application messages is determined by morphological analysis on the texts of the approval-related messages M01 and M04 (step S108). Here, it is determined that these approval-related messages M01 and M04 are application messages from the text of the body of the approval-related messages M01 and M04.

  Next, from the flow of approval-related messages M01 → M02 and the flow of approval-related messages M04 → M05, with respect to Tanaka's application, Mr. Suzuki (Suzuki) becomes an approval flow definition candidate, Approval flow definition candidates for which Mr. Suzuki (Suzuki) is an approver are temporarily stored for Mr. Tanaka (Tanaka) application (step S109).

  Thereafter, the same processing is repeated for the threads in the same group C01 as the thread illustrated in FIG. 7, and when the processing for all the threads belonging to the group C01 is completed (S110: Yes), the temporarily stored approval flow definition candidates It is determined whether or not there is an object whose appearance number is equal to or greater than the threshold value X (step S111). Here, there are more than X approval flow definition candidates for which Mr. Suzuki (Suzuki) becomes an investigator for Tanaka's application, and Mr. Suzuki (Suzuki) for Tanaka's application. It is assumed that X or more candidates for the approval flow definition that become the approver appear. As a result, the approval flow definition where Mr. Suzuki (Suzuki) becomes an investigator for Tanaka's application and the approval flow where Mr. Suzuki (Suzuki) becomes an approver for Tanaka's application The definition is recorded in the approval flow definition storage unit 209 as the approval flow definition in the group C01 (step S112).

  The approval flow definition storage unit 209 stores the approval flow definition generated by the approval flow definition generation unit 208. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an approval flow definition stored in the approval flow definition storage unit 209. As illustrated in FIG. 13, the approval flow definition stored in the approval flow definition storage unit 209 includes, for example, a flow ID, an account, a job, a group ID, and the like. The flow ID is a character string for uniquely identifying the approval flow definition. The account is an account of a registered user who is a person in charge in the approval flow definition and matches the account of the user information stored in the user information storage unit 101. The job indicates the job in the approval flow definition and matches the job in the job information stored in the job information storage unit 207. The group ID is the group ID of the group to which the approval flow definition is applied, and matches the group ID of the group information stored in the group information storage unit 204.

  When the approval flow definition update unit 210 generates a new approval flow definition for a group with the approval flow definition generation unit 208, the approval flow definition storage unit 209 stores the approval flow definition stored in the approval flow definition storage unit 209. Update to the newly generated approval flow definition. For example, if there is a change in the organization of the development department or a change of the person in charge during the development of α, the investigator or the approver may be changed for the application related to α development. In this case, the approval flow needs to be redefined. Therefore, in this embodiment, the process of the approval flow management unit 200 is periodically executed at a predetermined cycle, and the approval flow definition generation unit 208 is different from the approval flow definition stored in the approval flow definition storage unit 209. When a new approval flow definition is generated, the approval flow definition update unit 210 updates the information in the approval flow definition storage unit 209 with the newly generated approval flow definition.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically showing how the approval flow definition changes with the organizational change of the development department. In FIG. 14, the message exchange before the organization change is represented as a thread connecting the messages M11 to M17, and the message exchange after the organization change is represented as a thread connecting the messages M21 to M29.

The outline of the messages M11 to M17 shown in FIG. 14 is as follows.
M11: Mr. Tanaka (applicant) attached the function specifications for α development, Mr. Suzuki, cc. Send an application message for functional specifications to Mr. Yamada.
M12: Mr. Suzuki (inspector) issues a message for requesting correction of the functional specification to M11.
M14: Mr. Tanaka (applicant) attached a modified version of the functional specification reflecting the matters pointed out by M12, Mr. Suzuki, cc. Send an application message to Mr. Yamada.
M15: Mr. Suzuki (approver) confirms the contents of M14 and issues an approval message.
M16: A message to the effect that Mr. Tanaka (applicant) has registered a modified version of the functional specification in the system is issued.
M13: Mr. Yamada (investigator) writes a comment on the functional specification of M11 and issues a message.
M17: Mr. Suzuki (investigator) issues a message to make the same correction to β development.

The outline of the messages M21 to M29 shown in FIG. 14 is as follows.
M21: Mr. Takahashi (applicant) attached a basic design document for α development, Mr. Aoki, cc. Send out a basic design application message to Mr. Yamada.
M22: Mr. Aoki (approver) issues a message for requesting correction of the basic design document to M21.
M24: Mr. Takahashi (applicant) attached a revised version 01 of the basic design document reflecting the matters pointed out by M22, Mr. Aoki, cc. Send an application message to Mr. Yamada.
M25: Mr. Aoki (approver) confirms the contents of M24 and issues an approval message.
M26: A message to the effect that Mr. Takahashi (applicant) has registered the revised version 01 of the basic design document in the system is issued.
M23: Mr. Yamada (investigator) writes a comment on the basic design document of M21 and issues a message.
M27: Mr. Takahashi (applicant) attaches a revised version 02 of the basic design document reflecting M23's points to the revised version 01 of the basic design document, and issues an application message to Mr. Aoki.
M28: Mr. Aoki (approver) confirms the contents of M27 and issues an approval message.
M29: A message to the effect that Mr. Takahashi (applicant) has registered the modified version 02 of the basic design document in the system is issued.

  In the case of the example shown in FIG. 14, based on the messages M11 to M17, as an approval flow definition applied to the group related to α development, “Investigator” is Mr. Suzuki and “Approver” is Suzuki for the application. Approval flow definition is generated. After that, based on messages M21 to M29, as a new approval flow definition applied to the group related to α development, an approval flow definition in which “inspector” is Mr. Yamada and “approver” is Mr. Aoki is applied to the application. Generated. The approval flow definition update unit 210 is stored in the approval flow definition storage unit 209 when a new approval flow definition (inspector: Mr. Yamada, approver: Mr. Aoki) to be applied to the group related to α development is generated. The approval flow definition (inspector: Mr. Suzuki, approver: Mr. Suzuki) is updated with the newly generated approval flow definition.

  The approval flow determination unit 211 determines whether or not a message created by the registered user using the message creation unit 102 is an application message. If the message is an application message, the registered user becomes the “applicant” group. Is read from the approval flow definition storage unit 209 and presented to the registered user through a message creation screen.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing by the approval flow determination unit 211. When the registered user creates a message using the message creation unit 102 in a state where the approval flow definition is stored in the approval flow definition storage unit 209, the approval flow determination unit 211 is illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. Execute the process and present the approval flow definition to the registered user who created the message. Note that the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15 is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this example.

  The approval flow determination unit 211 first analyzes the content of the message created by the registered user using the message creation unit 102 in step S201. For example, the approval flow determination unit 211 performs morphological analysis on the message body or attached document, and analyzes the message content.

  Next, in step S202, the approval flow determination unit 211 determines whether the message is an application message based on the analysis result of the message in step S201. If it is determined that the message is an application message (step S202: Yes), the process proceeds to the next step S203. If it is determined that the message is not an application message (step S202: No), the process is terminated. .

  Next, in step S203, the approval flow determination unit 211 determines that the sender of the message “applies” based on the group information stored in the group information storage unit 204 and the approval flow definition information stored in the approval flow definition storage unit 209. Identify the group that will be the “person”.

  Next, in step S204, the approval flow determination unit 211 acquires an approval flow definition applied to the group specified in step S203 from the approval flow definition storage unit 209.

  Next, the approval flow determination unit 211 creates a message in step S205 by, for example, displaying the approval flow definition acquired in step S204 on the message creation screen provided by the message creation unit 102. Present to the registered user, and the series of processing ends.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message creation screen provided by the message creation unit 102. A message creation screen 300 shown in FIG. 16 includes a title column 301 for entering a message title, a body column 302 for entering a message body, a file column 303 for attaching an attached document, and operations for posting a message. And a posting button 304 to be displayed. In addition, the message creation screen 300 is provided with an approval flow display field 305 in which the approval flow definition acquired by the approval flow determination unit 211 is displayed. In the approval flow display field 305, when it is determined that the message created on the message creation screen 300 is an application message, an approval flow definition to be applied to the group in which the message creator is the applicant is selected. Displayed as possible. When a registered user who creates a message selects the approval flow definition displayed in the approval flow display field 305 and operates the posting button 304, the message created on the message creation screen 300 is processed according to the approval flow. Will be.

  As described above in detail with specific examples, according to the information sharing system according to the present embodiment, the approval flow definition is automatically generated based on the past message reply relationship and the division of duties determination result. Therefore, for example, it is not necessary for the system administrator to manually register an investigator or an approver, and convenience is improved.

  Further, according to the information sharing system according to the present embodiment, whether or not a reply message of a message transmitted by a registered user whose job is an investigator or an approver is an application message, and an attached document is attached. Considering whether or not there is an approval flow definition for defining the investigator and approver for the application, it is possible to sublimate from ambiguous exchanges to routine work.

  Further, according to the information sharing system according to the present embodiment, past messages are classified into groups, and approval flow definitions are generated for each group. For example, many development departments in a company share an information sharing system. Approval flow definition can be generated appropriately even if it is used.

  Further, according to the information sharing system according to the present embodiment, since the classification of each message group is adjusted based on the reply relationship of the past message, the routine work can be classified from the ambiguous exchange.

  In addition, according to the information sharing system according to the present embodiment, when a new approval flow definition is generated, the approval flow definition generated in the past is updated. Even if fluctuations occur, the latest approval flow definition can be presented.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the definition of the approval flow can be automatically generated regardless of manual registration work.

  For example, when a computer is used as the hardware configuration of the information sharing system, each function described above in the information sharing system according to the present embodiment can be realized by a program executed by the computer. In this case, the information sharing system communicates with a control device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory) by communicating with a network. F, an external storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and a CD (Compact Disc) drive device, a display device such as a display device, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a bus for connecting each part.

  The program executed in the information sharing system according to the present embodiment is, for example, an installable or executable file, such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R ( It is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a Compact Disk Recordable (DVD) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and provided as a computer program product.

  The program executed in the information sharing system according to this embodiment may be configured to be stored by being stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. The program executed by the information sharing system according to the present embodiment may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  Further, the program executed by the information sharing system according to the present embodiment may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like provided in the information sharing system.

  The program executed in the information sharing system according to the present embodiment includes functional components of the information sharing system (message creation unit 102, message reception unit 103, message transmission unit 104, message registration unit 105, message browsing unit 108, A module configuration including an approval-related message determination unit 201, a group generation unit 203, a group adjustment unit 205, a segregation of duties determination unit 206, an approval flow definition generation unit 208, an approval flow definition update unit 210, an approval flow determination unit 211, and the like. As actual hardware, for example, when the CPU (processor) reads and executes the program from the recording medium, the above-described components are loaded onto the main storage device, and the components described above are loaded. It is generated on the main memory. Note that the information sharing system according to the present embodiment realizes part or all of the above-described components using dedicated hardware such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). It is also possible to do.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, embodiment described here is shown as an example and is not intending limiting the range of invention. The novel embodiments described herein can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. The embodiments and modifications described herein are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Message management part 105 Message registration part 106 Message storage part 107 Document storage part 200 Approval flow management part 201 Approval related message determination part 203 Group generation part 205 Group adjustment part 206 Duties division determination part 208 Approval flow definition generation part 210 Approval flow definition Update unit 211 Approval flow determination unit

Claims (10)

An information processing apparatus for realizing an approval flow by exchanging messages between users,
A storage unit for storing the message so that a reply relationship with another message can be specified;
Analyzing the message to determine the job of the sender of the message in the approval flow; and
A generation unit that generates an approval flow definition that identifies a person in charge of the job in the approval flow based on the reply relationship of the message and the job of the sender of the message;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a presentation unit that presents the approval flow definition.   The generation unit returns a first message transmitted by a user whose job determined by the determination unit is an investigator or an approver, and a reply to a second message transmitted by a user whose job determined by the determination unit is an applicant. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the case of a message, an approval flow definition is generated in which a sender of the first message is an investigator or an approver.   The generation unit further analyzes the content of the second message, and when determining that the second message is an application message, defines an approval flow definition in which a sender of the first message is an investigator or an approver. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information processing apparatus generates the information processing apparatus.   The generation unit further determines whether or not a document is attached to the second message, and determines that the sender of the first message is an investigator when determining that the document is attached to the second message. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an approval flow definition for an approver is generated. An extraction unit that extracts an approval-related message that is a message exchanged in an approval flow among messages stored in the storage unit;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit generates the approval flow definition based on a reply relationship of the approval-related message and a job of a sender of the approval-related message. A classification unit for classifying the messages into groups;
The determination unit determines the job of the sender of the message for each group,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit generates the approval flow definition for each group.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising an adjustment unit that adjusts the classification of the message by the classification unit based on a reply relationship of the message.   The update unit according to claim 1, further comprising an update unit configured to update the already generated approval flow definition with the newly generated approval flow definition when the generation unit generates the new approval flow definition. Information processing device. A method executed in an information processing apparatus for realizing an approval flow by exchanging messages between users,
Recording the message in a storage unit so that a reply relationship with another message can be identified;
Analyzing the message to determine the job of the sender of the message in an approval flow;
Generating an approval flow definition that identifies a person responsible for the job in the approval flow based on the reply relationship of the message and the job of the sender of the message;
Presenting the approval flow definition, and an approval flow definition generation method. In the information processing device for realizing the approval flow by exchanging messages between users,
A function for recording the message in a storage unit so that a reply relationship with another message can be specified;
A function of analyzing the message to determine the job of the sender of the message in an approval flow;
A function for generating an approval flow definition that identifies a person in charge of the job in the approval flow based on the reply relationship of the message and the job of the sender of the message;
A program for realizing the function of presenting the approval flow definition.

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