JP3189760B2 - Circulation route simulation system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a circulation type electronic mail system that spans a plurality of organizations, and more particularly to a system in which the implementation of a circulation path follows a rule uniquely determined by each organization.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When circulating between organizations by e-mail, there is a workflow system in which a route of the circulating is defined in advance, and an e-mail destination is automatically set according to the route at the time of transmission. In such a system, a method of specifying an alias associated with an address is often used instead of directly specifying an e-mail address in a circulation route.

For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-230415 (title of the invention: "automatic e-mail circulating device") discloses a system in which a circulating destination is determined according to a preset intra-company circulating pattern. It has been disclosed. That is, the above-mentioned publication proposes an automatic e-mail distribution device that enables a destination to be automatically designated in a desired distribution order by a form type and a drafter when transmitting an e-mail. . Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-308378 (title of invention: "e-mail address setting method") discloses that an individual has a management table for associating an e-mail address with an alias and that all users refer to the table. A configuration in which at least three types are provided, one capable of centralized management and the other owned and managed for each group to which the user belongs, and can be referred to only by the user belonging to the group, is provided in a plurality of layers in a format in which each can refer to the upper level An e-mail address setting method has been proposed.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-149154 (title of the invention: "e-mail circulation device"), in the circulation of e-mails over a plurality of organizations, rules determined by each organization independently are adopted. There is also known an e-mail circulation device which determines a circulation route in each organization based on the e-mail. This conventional e-mail routing device holds rules regarding organizational structure and division of duties at the e-mail reception desk of each organization, selects appropriate rules according to the type of received circulation mail, and automatically sets the circulation route. Is realized.

[0005]

In the conventional method in which a circulation route is defined for each organization, rules are applied when an electronic mail arrives at each organization to determine the circulation route. In addition, the conventional method of managing rules in each organization is superior in terms of flexibility, which makes it easy to make changes when an organization change occurs, and security, in which organization information cannot be referenced by others. .

[0006] On the other hand, however, the initiator of the circulation cannot confirm in advance whether the corresponding rules are prepared in each organization or whether the prepared rules are desirable.
There is also a problem.

[0007] Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to embody a circulation route in a circulation format extending over a plurality of organizations in accordance with a rule uniquely determined by each organization. In a mail system, before the circulation starter actually starts the circulation, the rules defined by each organization are applied and all the circuit paths can be simulated, thereby validating the circulation path. It is an object of the present invention to provide a circulation route simulation system capable of confirming in advance, thereby improving productivity and maintainability in automating operations.

[0008]

According to the present invention, an e-mail is sent between a plurality of organizations in the form of a circulation so that the circulation route is embodied according to rules uniquely determined by each organization. in it we system, the circulation path analyzing means for analyzing the rules defined top of the circulation path, the monitoring agent to hold the circulation path of the analysis, and moving are defined by routing slip into circulation destination to be layered Within the organization
It includes an agent management means for generating and managing the dispatch agent to obtain the local rules is rule information, and hierarchy information reporting means for taking out a circulation route hierarchy to the lowest became clear from the monitoring agent, wherein the Agent
The client management means manages the number of dispatch destinations to be hierarchized.
Agent, send it to each circulation destination, dispatch agent
Retrieves the local rules defined for each routing
Return to the transmission source, and
Local to the node corresponding to the routing destination in the agent
The rule is updated, and the hierarchical information reporting means updates the collected rows.
The hierarchical routing route created based on the local rules
Output to a file .

[Summary of the Invention] In the present invention, a circuit route simulation system that expands a hierarchically arranged circulation route to the lowest level before sending an e-mail is provided.
Circulation route analysis means for analyzing the circulation route (11 in FIG. 1)
And an agent management means (12 in FIG. 1) for generating and managing the monitoring agent and dispatching agent for collecting the in-house rule information of each circulation destination, and reaching the bottom of the circulation route based on the collected in-house rule information. It has hierarchical information reporting means (13 in FIG. 1) expressed at hierarchical levels.

The circulation route analysis means analyzes the circulation route data such as the name and identification number of the circulation destination in the circulation route at the highest level, and stores it in the monitoring agent generated by the agent management means.

The agent management means generates dispatch agents corresponding to the number of circulation destinations to be hierarchized and transmits them to each circulation destination. The dispatch agent acquires the in-house rule information defined at each circulation destination, returns to the transmission source, and stores the acquired information in the monitoring agent. The hierarchy information reporting means extracts a circulation route hierarchized to the lowest embedded in the monitoring agent and outputs it to a file.

[0012]

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

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, in a preferred embodiment of the circulation route simulation system of the present invention, a data processing device 1 for processing data under program control and a storage of a file for outputting a circulation route embodied to the lowest order are provided. Device 2. The data processing device 1 includes a circulation route analysis unit 11 for analyzing the rules of the defined top-level circulation route, a monitoring agent that holds the analyzed circulation route, and a local agent that is moved to a hierarchical circulation destination and defined. The system includes an agent management unit 12 for generating and managing a dispatch agent for acquiring rules, and a hierarchy information reporting unit 13 for extracting a circulation route whose hierarchy to the lowest level is clear from the monitoring agent.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the agent management means 12 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the agent management unit 12 includes a monitoring agent generation unit 21 and a dispatch agent generation unit 22.
And a local rule acquisition unit 23. here,
The monitoring agent and the dispatch agent are electronic mails that control from creation to deletion by a program. The monitoring agent is of a resident type, and holds the highest-order circulation route data in the main body. The dispatch agent is a mobile agent that moves to an organization, stores local rules of each organization defined therein in its body, and moves again to the transmission source.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings.

The circulation route defined at the highest level is passed to the circulation route analysis means 11. The definition of the circulation route is composed of a node indicating the circulation destination and an arc indicating the flow of the e-mail, each of which has a unique identification number within the route.
The circulation route analysis unit 11 decomposes the inside of the route into elements such as nodes and arcs.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the monitoring agent generating means 21 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of dispatch agent generating means 22 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the monitoring agent generating means 21 generates a monitoring agent (step 3).
1) Record the rules of the circulation route decomposed by the circulation route analysis unit 11 in the monitoring agent (step 3).
2).

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4, nodes which are elements of the circulation route are obtained (step 41),
If the node is to be hierarchized (Y in step 42)
(ES branch), dispatch agent generation means 22 generates a dispatch agent (step 43), records the data of the corresponding circulation destination node in the dispatch agent (step 44), and transmits it to the circulation route destination (step 45).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the local rule obtaining means 23 for setting the local rule in the dispatch agent according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the local rule obtaining means for extracting local rules from the dispatch agent according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the circulation destination to which the dispatch agent has been dispatched, the local rule acquisition means 23 searches for a local rule that matches the name of the node in the dispatch agent that has arrived at the circulation destination, and the contents thereof. Is described in the dispatch agent (step 51), and the destination is changed to the address of the transmission source and transmitted (step 52).

As shown in FIG. 6, at the source from which the dispatch agent has returned, the local rule obtaining means
From the returned dispatching agent, the local rules corresponding to each node are extracted (step 61), the corresponding nodes in the monitoring agent are replaced with local rules (step 62), and the dispatching agent is deleted (step 63).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the hierarchy information reporting means 13 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7, the hierarchy information reporting means 13
Then, the circulating route hierarchized from the monitoring agent to the lowest level is extracted (step 71), output to a file (step 72), and the monitoring agent is deleted (step 73).

[0025]

Next, in order to further describe the above-described embodiment of the present invention with specific examples, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the workflow shown in FIG. 8 as an example.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the highest-level structure of a circulation route of a certain e-mail. The e-mail is sent to node 81,
It is circulated in the order of node 82 and node 83. In this example, nodes 81, 82, 83
Have No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, respectively. The node 81 expresses an individual by an alias called a window, the node 82 expresses an organization called a development department, and the node 83 expresses an organization called a planning department. The node 81 represents a node that is not hierarchized, and the nodes 82 and 83
By applying local rules, each is broken down into circulation routes within each organization. The node 82 is expanded to a circulation route component indicating a circulation route named “line chief”. FIG. 9 is a route diagram showing a circulation route component of “line chief” in the development department. The node 91 and the node 92 are assigned identification numbers n01 and n02, respectively, and represent individuals respectively in charge and chief. Node 83 is
It is expanded to a circulation route component indicating a circulation route named “line general affairs”.

FIG. 10 shows the "line general affairs" in the planning department.
It is a route diagram showing a circulation route of. Further, the node 102 in FIG. 10 represents an organization called “general affairs department”, and is expanded into a circulation route component indicating a circulation route named “line manager”. Figure 11 shows the “line manager” in the general affairs department
It is a route diagram showing a circulation route of.

The operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In the node 81 of FIG.
Thus, a node name, a circulation route component name, an identification number, and the like are extracted.

Subsequently, a monitoring agent is generated by the monitoring agent generating means 21. In the main body of the monitoring agent, the attributes of the node 81 are "contact", "no circulation route part name", "No1", and the attributes of the node 82. "Development Department", "Line Chief", "No2", Node 83
"Planning Department", "Line General Affairs", "No3"
Is described (see FIG. 12). FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the description of the top-level circulation route rule in the monitoring agent.

Next, dispatch agent generating means 22 generates dispatch agent 1 for node 82 and dispatch agent 2 for node 83. In the main body of the dispatch agent 1, the name "development department" of the node 82, the circulation route part name "line chief", and the identification number "No2" are described. In the main body of the dispatch agent 2, the name of the node 83 "planning department", the circulation route part name "line general affairs", the identification number "N"
o3 "is described. Dispatch agent 1 goes to the development department,
Dispatch agent 2 is transmitted to the planning department.

In the development section, the local rule acquisition means 23 searches for a local rule having a name that matches the name of the circulation route part "line chief" described in the dispatch agent 1 that has received the call, and stores the rule in the main body of the dispatch agent 1. Write inside. Dispatch agent 1 is sent back to node 81 that is the source (see FIG. 13). FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a description in a case where the contents of the dispatch agent are partially replaced by local rules.

In the planning section, the local rule acquisition means 23 searches for a local rule having a name that matches the name of the circulation route part "line general affairs" described in the dispatch agent 2 that has received the call, and stores the rule in the main body of the dispatch agent 2. It is described in FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a description in a case where the contents of the dispatch agent are partially replaced with local rules.

In this example, the local rule "line general affairs"
Since the node 102 is an organization called the general affairs department and is further hierarchized, the dispatch agent 3 for the node 102 is generated. In the dispatch agent 3, the name “general affairs department”, the circulation route part name “line manager”, and the identification number “No2” which are the attributes of the node 102 are described and transmitted to the general affairs department.

The general affairs department searches for a local rule having a name that matches the "line manager" described in the dispatch agent 3, describes the content in the main body, and sends it back to the planning department (see FIG. 15). FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a description in a case where the contents of the dispatch agent are partially replaced with local rules.

In the planning section, the local rule acquisition means 2
3 extracts the local rule of the "line manager" in the dispatch agent 3 which has received the call, and replaces the circulation route of the "line manager" in the dispatch agent 2 which has been waiting with hierarchical data (FIG. 16). FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a description when the contents of a dispatch agent are replaced with local rules described in another dispatch agent.

Thereafter, the dispatch agent 3 is deleted.
Dispatch agent 2 is sent back to node 81 that is the source.

At the node 81, the dispatch agent 1 and the dispatch agent 2 have acquired local rules and have returned. The local rule acquisition means 23 extracts the circulation route rule "line chief" defined by the organization "development department" in the dispatch agent 1, and replaces the "line chief" in the monitoring agent. After the replacement is completed, the dispatch agent 1 is deleted. Subsequently, the routing route rule “line general affairs” defined by the organization “planning department” in the dispatch agent 2 is extracted, and “line general affairs” in the monitoring agent is replaced. After the replacement is completed, the dispatch agent 2 is deleted.

As a result, the rule in which the circulation route is hierarchized to the lowest level is held in the main body of the monitoring agent (see FIG. 17). FIG. 17 shows an example of the description when the contents of the monitoring agent are replaced with the local rules described in all dispatching agents.

The hierarchy information reporting means 13 outputs the information to a hierarchical circulation route file held by the monitoring agent.

In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the circulation rules are double-layered in the planning unit, but the same applies to the case where the hierarchy is further deeply defined. By generating a dispatch agent, transmitting it to each organization, and repeating the process of acquiring local rules, it is possible to materialize the contents of the hierarchy in order.

[0041]

As described above, by using the circulation route simulation system of the present invention, an e-mail system in which the implementation of the circulation route in a circulation format extending over a plurality of organizations follows the rules uniquely determined by each organization. , The circulation route can be simulated before the circulation starter actually starts the circulation, so that the validity of the circulation route can be confirmed in advance, and the operation when automating business can be performed. This has the effect of improving maintainability and maintainability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an agent management unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a monitoring agent generation unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a dispatch agent generation unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a process of setting a local rule in a dispatch agent by a local rule acquisition unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a process of extracting a local rule from a dispatch agent by a local rule acquisition unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a hierarchical information report unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention;
It is a figure showing an example of a circulation route (path rule) of an electronic mail.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention;
It is a figure showing an example of a circulation route part "line chief."

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating an example of a circulation route component “line general affairs”;

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating an example of a circulation route component “line section manager”;

FIG. 12 is a diagram for describing an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating an example of a description of a top-level circulation route rule in a monitoring agent;

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a description example in a case where the contents of a dispatch agent are partially replaced by local rules.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for describing an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a description example in a case where the contents of a dispatch agent are partially replaced by local rules.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for describing an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a description example in a case where the contents of a dispatch agent are partially replaced with local rules.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, showing an example of description in a case where the contents of a dispatch agent are replaced with local rules described in another dispatch agent.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a description example in a case where the contents of a monitoring agent are replaced with local rules described in all dispatch agents.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 data processing device 2 output device 11 circulation route analysis means 12 agent management means 13 refurbishment information reporting means 14 monitoring agent 15 dispatch agent 21 monitoring agent generation means 22 dispatch agent generation means 23 local rule acquisition means 31-73 steps 81-112 nodes

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] In a system in which an e-mail is sent in a circulation format between a plurality of organizations in which a circulation route is embodied in accordance with rules uniquely determined by each organization, a defined top-level circulation route is defined. A circulation route analyzing means for analyzing the rules, a monitoring agent for holding the analyzed circulation routes, and moving to a hierarchically arranged circulation destination and defined by the circulation destination
Includes an agent management means for generating and managing the dispatch agent to obtain the local rules are tissue rule information, and hierarchy information reporting means for taking out a circulation route hierarchy to the lowest became clear from the monitoring agent, a The agent management means may include a number of hierarchized circulation destinations.
Create a dispatch agent and send it to each circulation destination,
Dispatching agents are local agents defined for each routing
Get local rules, return to the sender,
Rules that correspond to the circulation destination in the monitoring agent
Update the local rules of the code, and the hierarchical information reporting means updates the local rules based on the collected local rules.
Output the created hierarchical routing route to a file
That, circulation path simulation system, characterized in that. 2. The agent management means generates a monitoring agent, records rules of the circulation route decomposed by the circulation route analysis means in the monitoring agent,
Get the node information that is each element of the circulation route,
Generate dispatch agents for the number of routing destinations to be hierarchized and send dispatch agents to the hierarchized routing destinations. If the routing destination organization is further hierarchized, generate dispatching agents further. , Dispatching agents to each organization, generating and transmitting dispatching agents until the hierarchically circulated routing route finally disappears, the dispatching agent that has acquired the intra-organizational rule information in each organization returns to the transmission source, and the monitoring agent 2. The circulation route simulation system according to claim 1, wherein the system collects all in-house rule information of all dispatching agents and passes the rule information to the hierarchy information reporting means. 3. A means for performing a circulation route simulation of a system in which an electronic mail is sent in a circulation format between a plurality of organizations in which the circulation route is embodied in accordance with rules uniquely determined by each organization. Circulating route analyzing means for analyzing the rules of the defined top-level circulating route; (b) a monitoring agent holding the analyzed circulating route;
And within the organization defined by moving to the circulated routing destination
Agent management means for generating and managing the dispatch agent to obtain the local rules is rule information, and hierarchical information report to retrieve the circulation path became clear hierarchy up (c) the lowest from the <br/> monitoring agent means, Bei the
The agent management means may include a number of hierarchized circulation destinations.
Create a dispatch agent and send it to each circulation destination.
Agents are governed by organizational rules defined for each
Retrieve a local rule, return to the source, and
Local rules to the circulation destination in the monitoring agent.
The local rule of the corresponding node is updated, and the hierarchical information reporting means updates the collected local rule information.
Output the hierarchical routing route created based on the file to a file
And a recording medium for recording a program for causing a computer to operate each of the means (a) to (c) under program control.