JP2015153117A - document generation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a document generation system, in which success of a work flow is checked by a cloud platform service later in a document generation workflow with no user intervention.SOLUTION: A document generation system includes an execution history management unit for requesting writing of document generation processing history to cloud platform service using an obtained access token.

Description

  The present invention relates to a system for creating and transmitting a document by overlaying data stored on a cloud, and more particularly to an execution history storage method in an automatic workflow process that does not involve a user.

  In recent years, cloud computing systems have begun to spread as a form of managing business data and various processes on the server computer side.

  The user accesses the web page of the cloud platform service from the browser of the client computer via the Internet, and performs schedule registration for executing an automatic workflow (such as nighttime batch printing) at a specified date and time. As a typical example of a cloud platform, for example, Salesforce. com Salesforce CRM (registered trademark).

  When realizing an automatic workflow system (such as automatic nighttime batch printing) established by cooperation of a plurality of services, the document generation service starts document generation processing according to a schedule set in advance by the user. The document generation service acquires data on the cloud platform service and generates a document.

  In addition, in order to be able to uniquely check the processing result of the entire workflow in which a plurality of services operate in cooperation on the cloud platform service, the processing result of each service is stored in the cloud platform service as a history (Patent Document 1). reference).

  Since this workflow does not involve a user, a normal user authentication mechanism cannot be used for data acquisition from the cloud platform service and history storage. Therefore, for example, the above-described processing can be performed without user intervention by holding the access token of the cloud platform service in the document generation service using OAuth.

  Further, when an error occurs when the generated document is printed by the printer, the image data of the document can be attached to an electronic mail and sent.

JP 2000-194521 A

  Since the user does not intervene in the above-described workflow, the user can confirm the success or failure of the workflow later with the cloud platform service.

  However, when processing after document generation, for example, mail transmission fails, the user cannot obtain the generated form and needs to execute the job again.

  Re-execution of a job involves changing the setting value of the schedule, executing the job and returning the setting value, or manually generating a request to create a similar document by checking the contents of the schedule. It will take.

  Also, cloud services often have limited storage capacity. For this reason, the method of saving or transferring the generated document to leave the storage capacity is compressed when a large number of errors occur.

The configuration of the present invention is as follows:
A document generation system in which a client terminal 101, a cloud platform service 102, and a document generation server 103 are connected via a network, and the cloud platform service 102 includes the following.
An access control unit 303 that issues an access token in response to a request from the document generation server 103.
A data management unit 303 that transmits business data in response to a request from the document generation server 103.
An execution history management unit 304 that creates execution history information 920 that is the execution result of a scheduled job and updates the execution history information 920 in response to a request from the document generation server 103.
The execution history management unit 304 further creates a history ID for uniquely identifying the execution result of the scheduled job.
Further, the document generation server 103 includes a scheduler service 104, a document generation service 105, and a mail transmission service 106.
The scheduler service 104 includes:
A schedule management unit 401 that manages a schedule job as schedule information 900 and transmits the schedule information 900 in response to a request from the document generation service 105.
A job execution management unit 402 that generates a next execution date and time 905 from the schedule setting 903 and the end date and time 904 included in the schedule information 900.
The schedule information 900 includes a job parameter 906 that is a document generation parameter, and includes a transmission destination mail address for transmitting the generated document.
Further, the document generation service 105 includes the following.
A step of acquiring an access token of the cloud platform service 102 (S1009).
A setting management unit 505 that stores the access token acquired from the cloud platform service 102 in association with the tenant ID.
A data access unit 504 that acquires business data from the cloud platform service 102 using the acquired access token.
A data access unit 504 that acquires business data acquired from the cloud platform service 102.
A document generation unit 505 that generates document data from the business data and the form.
A transmission / reception unit 503 that transmits a scheduled job registration request to the scheduler service 104 (S1104) and acquires a scheduled job to the scheduler service 104 (S1201).
The transmission / reception unit 503 further makes an e-mail transmission request with the document data as an attached file to the mail transmission service 106 (S1207).
A system having an execution history management unit 507 that makes a request to write a document generation processing history to the cloud platform service 102 using the acquired access token.

  According to the present invention, by storing the re-execution request URL as an execution history when an error occurs after the document is generated, the user can easily instruct re-creation of the document.

  Also, by storing the re-execution request URL only when the document generation is successful, only the URL that succeeds in document generation is presented to the user as an execution history, and the user can reliably re-execute the document generation.

Block diagram showing system configuration Diagram showing hardware configuration Software module configuration diagram of cloud platform service Software module configuration diagram of the scheduler service Software module configuration diagram of document generation server Document generation service access token setting screen example Document generation service schedule job setting screen example Execution history list screen example of cloud platform service Table structure of information held by each system that composes the document generation system Access token registration processing sequence to the document generation server in the embodiment Schedule job registration processing sequence to document generation server in the embodiment Flowchart showing document generation processing of the document generation system in the embodiment

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 101 denotes a client device 101 that issues a request to a cloud platform service 102 described later and a document generation server 103 described later. In the figure, reference numeral 102 denotes a cloud platform service 102 that displays and updates data held in response to requests from the client apparatus 101 and the document generation server 103. In the figure, the document generation server 103 includes a scheduler service 104, a document generation service 105, and a mail transmission service 106.

  The scheduler service 104 manages the schedule job of the document generation instruction specified by the date and time. When the date and time comes, the scheduler service 104 responds to the schedule confirmation request from the document generation service 105 and whether or not the job can be executed. The document generation service 105 is configured to have a so-called Web application function, can be accessed via the client 101, and returns user interface information in response to a request from the client 101. The user interface information includes a scheduled job management screen, an access token management screen, a form management screen used for document generation processing, and a result confirmation screen for document generation processing, which will be described later.

  The document generation service 105 receives the schedule registration request via the Web browser of the client apparatus 101 and registers the document generation schedule job with the scheduler service 104. Further, the document generation service 105 periodically checks the schedule service for the presence of a scheduled job, and if a job exists, starts the document generation process according to the contents of the job.

  In the document generation process, the document generation service 105 acquires business data from the cloud platform service 102, performs overlay processing using a form managed by itself together with the business data, and generates document data. In accordance with an instruction from the document generation service 105, the mail transmission service 106 transmits an e-mail to the user with the received document as an attached file. Moreover, each said component is connected so that communication is possible by the network. The network is, for example, a LAN such as the Internet, a WAN, a telephone line, a dedicated digital line, an ATM, a frame relay line, a cable TV line, a data broadcasting wireless line, or the like. Moreover, it is what is called a communication network implement | achieved by these combination.

  The network only needs to be able to transmit and receive data. The communication means between the client apparatus 101 and the cloud platform service 102 and the document generation server 103, the communication means between the document generation server 103 and the cloud platform service 102, and the communication means between the servers may be different. The cloud platform service 102 manages users who use the cloud platform service and business data.

  The cloud platform service 102 is assumed to be used by a plurality of companies / organizations (generally referred to as multi-tenant), and the above-described user management, business data management, etc. are performed for each company / organization used. Is called.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating hardware configurations of the client apparatus 101, the cloud platform service 102, and the document generation server 103 in FIG. In the figure, 201 is a CPU that directly or indirectly controls each device (ROM, RAM, etc. described later) connected by an internal bus and executes a program for realizing the present invention. A ROM 202 stores the BIOS. A RAM (direct storage device) 203 is used as a work area of the CPU 201 or used as temporary storage for loading software modules for realizing the present invention. Reference numeral 204 denotes an indirect storage device such as an HDD (hard disk drive) or an SSD (solid state drive) in which an OS or software module as basic software is stored. Reference numeral 205 denotes an input device such as a keyboard or pointing device (not shown). Reference numeral 206 denotes an output device to which a display is connected. Reference numeral 207 denotes an I / F for connecting to the network 100.

  In these hardware, after starting, the BIOS is executed by the CPU 201 and the OS is loaded from the HDD 204 to the RAM 203 so as to be executable. The CPU 201 loads various software modules (to be described later) from the HDD 204 to the RAM 203 in an executable manner according to the operation of the OS. Various software modules are executed and operated by the CPU 201 in cooperation with the above devices. The I / F 207 is connected to the network 100 and is controlled by the CPU 201 in accordance with the operation of the OS to realize communication by the communication means described above.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of software modules that operate on the cloud platform service 102. Each software module is stored in the HDD 204 shown in FIG. 2, and is loaded into the RAM 203 and executed by the CPU 201 as described above.
The cloud platform service 102 includes the following.

  An access control unit 301 that generates and transmits an access token in response to an access token acquisition request from the document generation service 105 and performs user authentication in response to a request from the client 101 or the document generation server 103. A page generation unit 302 that generates a Web page for returning a response to the client terminal 101 or the document generation server 103. A data management unit 303 that stores business data in a database and acquires business data or updates business data in response to a request. An execution history management unit 304 that stores and manages an execution history including success or failure of a document generation request executed by the document generation service 105 in a database.

  The cloud platform service 102 executes processing to be described later in cooperation with these components. The database described above is a storage for storing management user data, business data, and execution history, and is stored in the HDD 204 shown in FIG. Data stored in the aforementioned database is managed for each company / organization (hereinafter referred to as an organization). An organization ID is automatically assigned to each organization, and each data is managed together with the organization ID. Subsequent processing such as data acquisition is performed based on the organization ID, and it is possible to refer only to data that matches the organization ID.

  FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of software modules that operate on the scheduler service 104. Each software module is stored in the HDD 204 shown in FIG. 2, and is loaded into the RAM 203 and executed by the CPU 201 as described above. A schedule management unit 401 that holds in a database schedule settings and print parameters for transmitting document generation information to the document generation server 103 at a specified time, and further transmits a document generation request to the document generation server 103 according to the contents of the schedule settings.

  A job execution management unit 402 that calculates the next execution date and time 905 of the job from the schedule setting of the stored scheduled job. The database described above is a storage for storing a schedule job, and is stored in the HDD 204 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of software modules that operate on the document generation service 105. Each software module is stored in the HDD 204 shown in FIG. 2, and is loaded into the RAM 203 and executed by the CPU 201 as described above. The document generation service 105 includes the following.

  An access control unit 501 that performs user authentication of a login request from the client apparatus 101. A page generation unit 502 that generates a Web page for returning a response to the client terminal 101 or the cloud platform service 102. A transmission / reception unit 503 that requests the scheduler service 104 to register the schedule setting and print parameters as a schedule job, and makes an e-mail transmission request to the mail transmission service 105 as a document generated by the document generation unit 505 described later. A data access unit 504 that acquires business data stored in the cloud platform service 102. A document generation unit 505 that performs overlay processing using the business data and form acquired by the data access unit 404 and generates document data.

  A setting management unit 506 that manages an access token and a tenant ID necessary for acquiring business data to the cloud platform service 102 and writing an execution history in the document generation process. An execution history writing unit 507 that transmits a request for storing in the cloud platform service 102 an execution history including success or failure of the document generation processing according to the document generation request. The document generation service 105 executes processing to be described later in cooperation with these components.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of an access token setting screen 600 displayed by accessing the document generation service 105 from the client terminal 101. FIG. 6 shows a state where the user has logged in to the document generation server 103. The authentication information confirmation screen 600 displays a registration button 601 for acquiring and registering an access token from the cloud platform service 102 and a tenant ID 602 necessary for authentication of a document generation request. Processing when the registration button 601 is pressed will be described later.

  FIG. 7 is an example of a schedule job setting screen 700 displayed by accessing the document generation service 105 from the client terminal 101. FIG. 7 shows a state where the user has logged in to the document generation server 103. The schedule job setting screen 700 includes a job information setting area 701 that is a schedule name, a start time setting area 702 that sets a job start date and time, a job parameter setting area 703 that sets parameters for job execution, and a registration button 704.

  In the print parameter setting area 703, for example, the form ID of the form used for the document generation process, the document name of the generated document, the query variable for acquiring business data from the cloud platform service 102, and the destination mail address of the generated document are stored. included. Processing when the registration button 704 is pressed will be described later.

  FIG. 8 is an example of an execution history list screen 800 displayed by accessing the cloud platform service 102 from the client terminal 101. FIG. 8 shows a state where the user has logged in to the cloud platform service 102.

  The execution history list screen 800 includes a job execution history 801 that is a history of jobs being executed or executed. By confirming the execution history displayed on this screen, the processing result of the job registered on the schedule setting screen 700 can be confirmed. As the contents of the column displayed in the job execution history 801, the contents of execution history information 920 described later are displayed.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a table structure of information held by the cloud platform service 102, the scheduler service 104, and the document generation service 105. The schedule information 900 is information held by the scheduler service 104 and used by the job execution management unit 402 to execute a document generation request, and includes the following. A job name 901 for distinguishing scheduled jobs from the above-described execution history information. A tenant ID 902 serving as user information in the document generation server 103. Schedule setting 903 for designating job execution date and time and interval. Specifically, a notation such as a cron formula is used.

  An end date 904 that is an expiration date of the scheduled job. If this end date and time is exceeded, the scheduled job becomes invalid and the document generation request is not executed. Immediately after that, a job start date and time 905 that is a date and time when a document generation request is executed. It consists of a job parameter 906 for specifying what kind of document is to be generated. The authentication information 910 is authentication information used by the document generation service 105 when executing document generation, and includes the following. A tenant ID 911 for identifying the tenant of the document generation server 103. An access token 912 and a refresh token 913 that are used as authentication information when accessing the cloud platform service 102.

  The execution history information 920 is information held by the cloud platform service 102, and is job execution result information displayed on the above-described execution history list screen 800, and includes the following. A job ID 921 that uniquely identifies the job. A batch job name 922 for distinguishing which schedule information is used to execute the job. An execution date and time 923 that is the date and time when the job execution history is updated. A status 924 which is a job processing state. A message 925 which is detailed information on the job processing status. When a job error occurs after the document is generated, it includes a re-execution request URL 926 for obtaining a document similar to the job.

  FIG. 10 shows a flow of processing for registering authorization information for the document generation service 105 performed by the document generation system to access the cloud platform service 102 in the document generation service 105 in the embodiment of the present invention. The OAuth protocol is generally used as an authorization method, and the process of FIG. 11 is also an example of an authorization process according to the OAuth protocol. First, in S1001 and S1002, the user logs in to the document generation server 103 on a login screen (not shown). When the registration button 601 on the access token setting screen 600 is pressed in S1003, an authorization start request is transmitted to the document generation service 105. In step S <b> 1304, the access control unit 401 that has received the request makes an authorization request to the cloud platform service 102 via the client terminal 101 using the scope as a parameter. The scope indicates a range where authorization is permitted. In this embodiment, the scope of the user data operation of the cloud platform service 102 is designated as an authorization range.

  The processing from S1005 to S1009 is omitted because it is a general authorization processing flow of the OAuth protocol. In step S1009, when the document generation service 105 receives the access token and the refresh token, the setting management unit 506 stores the access token 912 and the refresh token 913 as authentication information 910 in association with the user tenant ID. In step S1010, the page generation unit 502 generates an access token / refresh token storage completion message and returns the message to the client terminal 101. FIG. 11 shows the flow of a scheduled job registration process performed by the document generation system in the embodiment of the present invention. First, in S1101 and S1102, the user logs in to the document generation server 103 on a login screen (not shown).

  In step S <b> 1303, the user operates the schedule setting screen 700, inputs a time when a document generation request is to be executed, a print parameter, and the like, and presses a registration button 704. At this time, the transmission / reception unit 503 of the document generation service 105 transmits the instructed setting to the scheduler service 104 as a scheduled job registration request (S1304). Upon receiving the schedule job registration request, the schedule management unit 401 of the scheduler service 104 stores the schedule job as schedule information 900. At this time, the job execution management unit 402 calculates and stores the next execution date and time 905 from the schedule setting 903 and the end date and time 904.

  In step S <b> 1305, the page generation unit 502 of the document generation service 105 generates a scheduled job registration completion message and returns it to the client terminal 101. FIG. 12 shows the flow of document generation processing executed by the document generation system according to the embodiment of the present invention according to the schedule set in the schedule information 900. In step S <b> 1201, the transmission / reception unit 503 of the document generation service 105 transmits an executable schedule job acquisition request to the scheduler service 104. The schedule management unit 401 of the scheduler service 104 that has received the schedule job acquisition request returns executable schedule information 900 as a response when there is a schedule job that can be executed from the next execution date and time 905.

When there is no executable schedule, the transmission / reception unit 503 repeats S1201.
When the schedule information 900 is received, the setting management unit 506 acquires an access token 912 associated with the tenant ID 902 included in the schedule information 900 from the authentication information 910 in S1202.

  In S1203, the execution history management unit 507 transmits an execution history write request to the Web service API published by the cloud platform service 102 in S1201. At this time, the execution history information can be written by transmitting the access token 912 specified in S1202 in the execution history write request.

  Further, the execution history write request includes the job name acquired in S1201, the current time, a status indicating the start of document generation, and a detailed message. The execution history management unit 304 of the cloud platform service 102 that has received the job start history write request stores it in the execution history information 920. The job name is written in the batch job name 922, the current time is written in the execution date and time 923, the document generation start status is written in the status 924, and the detailed message is written in the message 925.

  Further, the execution history management unit 304 generates an ID for uniquely identifying the execution history information, stores it as a history ID 921, and transmits it as a response to the document generation service 105. The execution history management unit 507 that has received the history ID performs overwriting rather than newly registering the history by designating the history ID for subsequent history writing. In step S1204, the data access unit 404 makes a business data acquisition request (query). By specifying the access token 912 acquired in S1202 as a parameter for the Web service API published by the cloud platform service 102, business data can be acquired.

  The data management unit 303 of the cloud platform service 102 receives the business data acquisition API request and transmits the business data to the document generation service 105. If the business data acquisition has failed, in step S1206, the execution history management unit 507 transmits the processing failure execution history write request specifying the history ID, current time, document generation failure status, and error message together with the access token 912. The process ends. If the business data acquisition is successful, in step S1205, the document generation unit 505 acquires a form managed by a form management module (not shown), and generates document data from the acquired business data and the acquired form. The document generation process in S1205 is well known and will not be described.

  If document generation has failed in S1205, the process of S1206 is executed, and the execution history of the process failure is written in the cloud platform service 102. If the document generation is successful, the transmission / reception unit 503 performs e-mail transmission with the document data as an attached file in step S1207. The transmission / reception unit 503 transmits a mail transmission request to the mail transmission service 106 by designating the transmission destination mail address included in the job parameter 906 of the schedule information 900 acquired in S1201 as the transmission destination and the document data as an attached file. . The mail transmission service 106 transmits mail according to the mail transmission request.

  If the email transmission is successful in step S1207, the execution history management unit 507 transmits an execution history write request indicating the success of the document generation processing to the cloud platform service 102 in step S1208. The execution history write request includes an access token 912, a history ID 921, a current time, a document generation success status, and a detailed message. If the mail transmission fails, in S1209, the execution history management unit 507 creates a re-execution request URL that can generate the same document from the tenant ID 902 and job parameter 906 of the schedule information acquired in S1201.

  In S1210, the execution history management unit 507 transmits an execution history write request including the re-execution request URL to the cloud platform service 102. This execution history write request includes an access token 912, history ID 921, current time, document generation failure status, detailed message, and re-execution request URL. The execution history management unit 304 of the cloud platform service 102 that has received the job history write request stores the execution history information 920 in a record with a matching history ID. The current time is written in the execution date and time 923, the document generation failure status is written in the status 924, the detailed message is written in the message 925, and the re-execution request URL is written in the re-execution request URL 926.

  As described above, the execution history writing process in the document generation process performed by the document generation system is executed.

101 Client device 102 Cloud platform service 103 Document generation server 104 Scheduler service 105 Document generation service 106 Mail transmission service

Claims (1)

A document generation system in which a client terminal 101, a cloud platform service 102, and a document generation server 103 are connected via a network, and the cloud platform service 102 includes the following.
An access control unit 303 that issues an access token in response to a request from the document generation server 103.
A data management unit 303 that transmits business data in response to a request from the document generation server 103.
An execution history management unit 304 that creates execution history information 920 that is the execution result of a scheduled job and updates the execution history information 920 in response to a request from the document generation server 103.
The execution history management unit 304 further creates a history ID for uniquely identifying the execution result of the scheduled job.
Further, the document generation server 103 includes a scheduler service 104, a document generation service 105, and a mail transmission service 106.
The scheduler service 104 includes:
A schedule management unit 401 that manages a schedule job as schedule information 900 and transmits the schedule information 900 in response to a request from the document generation service 105.
A job execution management unit 402 that generates a next execution date and time 905 from the schedule setting 903 and the end date and time 904 included in the schedule information 900.
The schedule information 900 includes a job parameter 906 that is a document generation parameter, and includes a transmission destination mail address for transmitting the generated document.
Further, the document generation service 105 includes the following.
A step of acquiring an access token of the cloud platform service 102 (S1009).
A setting management unit 505 that stores the access token acquired from the cloud platform service 102 in association with the tenant ID.
A data access unit 504 that acquires business data from the cloud platform service 102 using the acquired access token.
A data access unit 504 that acquires business data acquired from the cloud platform service 102.
A document generation unit 505 that generates document data from the business data and the form.
A transmission / reception unit 503 that transmits a scheduled job registration request to the scheduler service 104 (S1104) and acquires a scheduled job to the scheduler service 104 (S1201).
The transmission / reception unit 503 further requests the mail transmission service 106 to send an e-mail with the document data as an attached file (S1207).
A system having an execution history management unit 507 that makes a request to write a document generation processing history to the cloud platform service 102 using the acquired access token.