JP3471907B2 - Document processing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document processing method and a device for allowing a plurality of users to share document information and perform document processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Document information processed by various document processing devices is a data group that can be expressed as a document, and is described as structured document data as defined by SGML (ISO8879) as shown in FIG. be able to. Such structured document data can be stored using the document structure as a unit, for example, by utilizing a conventional file directory structure. FIG. 3 shows an example of the document structure. The structured data group stored in this way is information that can be recognized by humans as one document, and in order to recognize the contents of this document, it is converted into "display", "print", or voice, etc. Is said to "listen". In addition, for example, using the technology such as conventional links,
Data included in other document information can also be shared.

Now, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, it is assumed that a group of structured data groups provides a document format and forms one document information. This document information can be displayed as a document as shown in FIG. 5, for example, by using a conventional hypertext system. In order to handle multiple documents, documents are distinguished using IDs such as document names, where a document editor-like is used to edit these documents.

[0004]

When such document information is used by a plurality of people, if the document information is such that the content is frequently updated, even with the same document data, a plurality of people or a specific person may change with time. Will be maintained by and updated. In such a case where the content of the document information is updated, the user who is referring to the document information is able to access the document information by the time when the user refers to the document information before this time. A situation may occur in which is updated by another user.
Therefore, it is important for each user to know whether or not the document information has been updated by another user since the last time the document information was referenced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and it is possible to easily identify whether or not the document information has been changed by a certain user from the time when the user last referred to the document information to the time when the document information is referred to this time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a document processing method and an apparatus therefor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a document processing method and apparatus which can easily identify document information changed by another user.

It is another object of the present invention to include a document processing method including a document information referred to by a certain document information, and a document processing method capable of identifying whether or not the document information has been updated by another user since the last reference by the user. To provide the device.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a document processing method and apparatus capable of notifying the user of the document information updated by another user with a warning sound.

Another object of the present invention is to provide each user with
Another object of the present invention is to provide a document processing method and an apparatus thereof that can identify whether or not each user has updated each document information since the last update by that user.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the document processing method of the present invention comprises the following steps.
That is, for each of a plurality of document information held in association with the update time information of each document information holding means, for each user, the document information corresponding each user last <br/> reference or A storage step of storing reference time information indicating the updated time, a reading step of reading the document information held in the holding means, and update time information added to the document information read in the reading step. The reference time information of the desired user stored in the storing step is compared to determine whether the document information has been updated by another user after the last reference or update by the desired user. And a control step for distinguishably displaying whether or not the document information is updated according to the above.

To achieve the above object, the document processing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a holding means for holding a plurality of document information and the document information each update time information for each of a plurality of document information held in the holding means, for each user, the document information The
A storage unit that stores reference time information indicating the time when each user last referenced or updated , a reading unit that reads the document information held in the holding unit, and a document information read by the reading unit. The added update time information is compared with the reference time information of the desired user stored in the storage unit, and the desired user last made reference or update . After that, it is determined whether or not the document information has been updated by another user, and a control unit that distinguishably displays whether or not the document information has been updated according to the determination.

[0012]

[Action] In the above configuration, holds the plurality of document information and the document information each update time information for each of a plurality of document information being such holding, for each user, the document information Each user last referenced or
Stores reference time information indicating the updated time. Then, when reading the document information to which this is held, compared the read and update time information added to the document information, and the reference time information of a desired user, which is stored, the desired The user determines whether the document information has been updated by another user after the last reference or update, and displays whether the document information has been updated or not according to the determination.

[0013]

【Example】

[First Embodiment] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of the document processing apparatus of this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a keyboard (KB)
The operator can input document data and various commands. Reference numeral 2 denotes a pointing device such as a mouse, which is used to move a cursor or the like on the screen of the display unit 4 such as a CRT and input desired commands or data. A CPU 3 controls the entire apparatus, and executes various control processes according to various programs stored in a storage unit 5 such as a RAM. Reference numeral 4 is a display unit such as a liquid crystal display or CRT, and 5 is a storage unit for holding the programs and data in the present embodiment and executing the control by the CPU 3 based on the control program held therein. Reference numeral 6 denotes an auxiliary storage device for holding programs and various data in a nonvolatile manner. The storage unit 5 and the auxiliary storage device 6 may be used as a program / data holding storage unit as a whole without making a distinction. 7 is a timer, C
It has a predetermined time according to an instruction from the PU 3, and has a current time and a calendar function. In addition, in the document processing apparatus of this embodiment, when reading or saving document data, it is necessary to specify a user (user) by inputting a password or ID code.

As shown in FIG. 1, the storage unit 5 has a document name display program 511 and a document display program 52.
1. The document change program 531 is stored. The auxiliary storage device 6 also stores a document information group 611 and document reference time information 62 for each user.

In the present embodiment, the document information is treated as structured document data having update time information <UpdateTime> as an attribute as shown in FIG. 6, for example. In FIG. 6, the update time of this document is 5:30 pm on January 24, 1994. Further, the document reference time information for each user is, for example, as shown in FIG.
It holds each reference time for each document. In the example of FIG. 7, reference times of the document 1 and the document 2 for the user 1 and the user 2 are stored. Hereinafter, this information will be referred to as document reference time information for each user.
Incidentally, such update time information or reference time information is updated according to the time information from the above-mentioned timer 7.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the document processing apparatus of this embodiment. The control program for executing this processing is stored in the storage unit 5.

When a document processing apparatus of this embodiment is started by a user, first, an event loop of step S801 waits for the occurrence of an event. If the operation of displaying the document name is performed here, the process proceeds to step S802, and a list of data, such as the document name, of the document information that has been changed since the user referred to the document data can be specified. Is displayed (see FIG. 9).

In the example of FIG. 9, "x" indicates a document updated by another user after being referenced by one user,
"○" indicates a document that is not so.

The operation of displaying the document name in step S802 of FIG. 8, that is, the processing flow of the document name display program 511 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in S1001, the document names are sequentially displayed. Next, in step S1002, it is determined whether or not the document data has been changed, using the document reference time information 62 for each user,
Judge by comparing with the update time attribute <UpdateTime> of the document data. Then, in the case of the document data changed after the document reference time for each user, the process proceeds to step S1004,
In the sense that confirmation is required, for example, as shown in FIG.
Display the corresponding document name with "x".

On the other hand, if the document has not been updated, the process proceeds to step S1003, and the document name is displayed with "O" added, for example, as shown in FIG. These processes are repeated until all the document names are displayed in step S1005.

On the other hand, if a document display operation is performed in step S801, the flow advances to step S803 to display the document specified by the document name or the like on the display unit 4. Then, the time when the document information is read is stored in the auxiliary storage device 6 as the user-specific document reference time information 62 of the user for the document. In this way, the document display program 52
1 is executed.

When the editing operation is performed in step S801, the process proceeds to step S804, and the document specified by inputting the document name or the like is edited / updated by, for example, so-called interactive document data processing of a document editor. It At that time, the attribute <UpdateTime> of the update time information of the changed document data is set to the current time. Then, the set current time is stored in the auxiliary storage device 6 as the user-specific document reference time information 62 of the document of the user. In this way, the document modification program 5
31 is realized. Then, when the ending operation is performed, the process in the apparatus of the present embodiment ends.

By doing so, the reference time for each document for each user is always held, and by comparing the document reference time information 62 for each user with the update time attribute of the document data, it is possible for the user to refer to the previous time. In addition, it is possible to identify a document updated by another user and to know for each user which document has been updated without the user's knowledge.

In this embodiment, the user who is referring to the document data determines whether or not the document has been updated by another user since the user referred to the document in the past based on the update time of the document. However, the original document may be saved at the time of updating, or the temporal relationship between the updating time and the reference time of the document can be obtained by a counter or a comment.

In the present embodiment, the update time is given as an attribute of the structured document data. However, when the document data is one file, the time stamp of the file is used. Is also good. Further, in the present embodiment, the event-driven processing is realized, but the event-driven processing may be performed by an independent program sharing the document information. In this case, end event processing is not necessary.

Further, although the display program and the editing program are separated in this embodiment, a program in which display and editing are integrated may be used as the editing program, and the display program may be omitted. Further, in this embodiment, “with update” and “without update” are clearly indicated for each of the updated document data and the unupdated document data, but only the updated document name or the updated It is also possible to display only the document name that did not exist.

Further, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to recognize, for each user and for each document, that the document data has been updated by another user after the reference by that user. Therefore, there is an advantage that each user can easily determine whether or not the document data desired to be viewed has been updated by another user.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment described above,
Document data including unknown information is represented as shown in FIG. 9, for example, but the present invention is not limited to this.

In the flow chart of the first embodiment, that is, in step S802 of FIG. 8, the document reference time information 62 for each user and the update time attribute <UpdateTime> of the document data.
When comparing the document names with respect to the document data changed after the document reference time for each user,
As described above, the corresponding document name may be shaded or highlighted. Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, when the icon of each document data is displayed, the updated icon and the document not updated are displayed in a distinguishable manner. It can be seen that in both of FIGS. 11 and 12, only the document 2 is not updated, as in FIG.

As described above, the known information and the unknown information are displayed by changing the display attribute and the display form of the document data including the unknown information updated by the other user after the previous update. Document data including unknown information of the user can be identified from the mixed document information group 611. Therefore, there is an advantage that each user can easily obtain the desired document data.

[Third Embodiment] In the first and second embodiments described above, the document data becomes a document including unknown information by one user updating the document and then another user updating the document. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the document data including the unknown information may be recognized by a sound.

The structure of the document processing device in this case is, for example, the device structure shown in FIG. 1 described above and further provided with a sounding unit for generating an alarm sound, and further, the document name display program 5 in FIG.
11 can be realized by changing the processing program for executing the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In the flow chart of the entire system of this embodiment, the document name display processing of the flow chart of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 8 is replaced with another document name display processing. That is, when the device is activated by a certain user, the event is waited for in the event loop as in step S801. When the operation of displaying the document name is performed, step S8
In the document name display process 02, all document names stored in the document information group 611 are displayed.

Details of the processing in step S802 will be described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

First, in step S1301, a list of document names stored in the document information group 611 is displayed on the screen of the display unit 4. FIG. 14 shows a display example of such a document name. In FIG. 14, 201 denotes a document list, and 200
Is a command area for instructing the end of document display. Next, the process proceeds to step S1302 and waits for a document to be selected using the pointing device 2. When the pointing device 2 indicates “document 3” by the cursor 202 as shown in FIG. 14, for example, the document reference time information 62 for each user and the update time attribute of the document 3
It is compared with <UpdateTime> to determine whether or not the document 3 has been updated by the other user after the user last updated it. When the document 3 is updated by another user and contains unknown information, the process proceeds to step S1304, and the sounding unit is sounded to generate a warning sound or the like, and the process proceeds to step S1.
The user is notified that the document data (document 3) selected in 302 includes unknown information.

When the end command area 200 is pointed to by the cursor 202 and the button of the pointing device 2 is clicked in step S1305, the display process of the document name ends. In this case, the instructed document may be selected as the target document data for the document display process and the document edit process by double-clicking the button of the pointing device 2, and then the document name display process may be ended.

The other document display processing (corresponding to S803), document editing processing (corresponding to S804), end processing and the like are the same as those in the first embodiment.

In this embodiment, the document information including the known information and the unknown information can be identified by performing a process such as issuing a warning sound when the document data including the unknown information is selected. The warning is not limited to the sound, and any notification may be given by a stimulus that appeals to the five senses of human beings or may be indicated.

[Fourth Embodiment] In the above-described embodiment, the update time information of the document is handled only for the entire document, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the fourth embodiment, Each time the structured document data is changed, the change time is stored as the update time attribute for each changed document element. The details of this operation will be described below. The device configuration of this embodiment is also the same as the configuration of FIG. 1 described above, and only the content of the corresponding program is changed.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the structured document data of the fourth embodiment. Each document element holds update time information as an attribute (date =, time =). The processing in the apparatus of this embodiment is executed according to the flowchart of FIG. 8 as in the above-mentioned embodiment.

FIG. 16 shows step S8 of the fourth embodiment.
It is a flowchart which shows the document name display process of 02.

When a document editing operation is instructed, the contents of the document specified by the document name or the like are updated as in the above-described embodiment. At that time, the update time attribute (date, time) of the updated document element is set to the current time. Then, the current time is stored in the auxiliary storage device 6 as the reference time information 62 for each user of the updated document of the user.

Then, when the operation of displaying the document name is performed, as in the above-described embodiment, after the user refers,
A list of documents whose document data can be specified, such as a document name, of documents changed by another user is displayed (S1601). Next, the processing proceeds to step S1602, and it is determined whether or not the document pointed to by the cursor 202 as described above has been updated by another user since the previous reference by this user, and if so, step S160.
In step 4, "x" is displayed corresponding to the document, and if not, step S1603 follows and "○" is displayed in association with the document name (see FIG. 9 described above).

Next, the processing in step S1602 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

Since the entire document data specified by the cursor 202 or the like is also one document element, the update time of the document element is compared with the document reference time information for each user in step S1701. If the update time of the document element is newer, it is determined that there is an update, and step S17 is performed.
At 06, "true" (true) is returned, and the processing ends.

If there is no update, or if the time when the document element was updated is equal to the document reference time information for each user, the flow advances to step S1702 to sequentially extract the document elements having the contents of the document element. . Step S170
In step 3, the update / comparison process of this document element is “false” (false), and this process is continued until all the document elements having the content of this document element have been extracted, and if completed, step S1
In step 705, “false” (false) is returned and the process ends, but if the update comparison process returns (true) during the process,
That is, when the update time of the document element is newer than the document reference time for each user, "true" is returned in step S1706, and the process ends.

When this process ends, the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 16 described above, and the process of step S1602 is "true".
Depending on whether it is "False" or "False", the process branches to Step S1603 or S1604, and for example, "x" or "○" is displayed for each document as described above.

By doing so, the reference time for each document is always held for each user, and by comparing the document reference time information 62 for each user with the update time attribute corresponding to each document element, the user can see the previous time. After the reference, the document data including the document element updated by another user can be specified and identified.

In the present embodiment, each document element holds the update time, but the document data may be given a time stamp, for example, to give the update time information as an attribute of the entire document. You can In that case, when updating the document, each update time information of all the document data including the updated document element may be set to the current time. In this way, the same processing as in the first embodiment described above can be performed.

[Fifth Embodiment] In the above-described embodiments, the document data are independent, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the fifth embodiment, the structured document data is allowed to refer to another document data, and the modification time is held in the update time of the entire document data. By doing this, even in document data that refers to other document data,
Document data including unknown information can be grasped and specified. The details of this operation will be described below. In the case of this embodiment as well, the device configuration is almost the same as in the case of FIG.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the structure of the structured document data of the fifth embodiment.

In this embodiment, update time information <Updat
It is handled as structured document data that has eTime> as attribute information. Also, in the document data, for example, “& f
ilel; "is allowed to refer to document data. "&Filel;" mentioned here is, for example, <! ENTITY filel S
YSTEM “/DIR/filel.sgml”>,
It indicates a reference to another document data file or the like.
Note that "filel" is document data that can be regarded as one document element.

Also in this case, the processing is executed based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 16 as in the case of the above-mentioned fourth embodiment. The process corresponding to step S1602 of the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S1901, the cursor 20
The update time of the document data designated by using 2 or the like is compared with the document reference time information for each user, and if the update time of the document is newer, it is considered that there is an update, and step S1
The process proceeds to step 905, returns “true”, and ends the processing. If there is no update, the process advances to step S1902, the reference document data referred to by the content of the document is sequentially extracted from the document information group 611, and the update time of the reference document data is the document reference time information for each user. Newer than. If so, go to step S1905,
If "true" is returned and the process ends, otherwise, the process advances to step S1904, and the process proceeds to step S19 until all the reference document data referred to by the contents of the document data are extracted.
04 to S1902 are repeatedly executed. If this process is continued and ended, the flow advances to step S1906 to return "false" and end the process.

By doing so, the reference time for each document for each user is always held, and the reference time information 62 for each document for each user, the update time attribute of the document data, and the update time attribute of the referenced document data are stored. By making a comparison, it is possible to identify a document that has been updated since the user last referred to it and a document that refers to the updated document data, and to know information that has changed without being grasped for each user.

As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, for each user and for each document, the document data is updated by another user after the user refers to the document data in which known information and unknown information are mixed. I made it recognizable.

Even when other document data is referred to in this document data, the document data including unknown information of the user can be identified in the same manner.

[Sixth Embodiment] In the fifth embodiment described above, the update time information of the document is handled as the entire document, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the sixth embodiment, a structured document is used. The data can be checked in reference document element units of other document data. By doing so, even in document data that refers to other document elements, it is possible to recognize and clearly indicate document data that includes unknown information. The details of this operation will be described below.
In this case as well, the overall configuration of the apparatus and the basic processing are the same as those in the above-described embodiment, and therefore the description thereof is omitted.

In this case as well, in the structured document data of FIG. 20, reference is made to another document element by "&file;" 205. Then, similar to the above-described embodiment, when the document name display operation is performed, the document name display processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16 is executed.

The process of step S1602, which is a characteristic part of the sixth embodiment, will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the document name is displayed and the document in it is designated by the cursor 202 or the like, the process advances to step S2101 to sequentially extract document elements or entities to the reference document from the document data. It is determined whether the document data thus extracted is a document element (step S
2102), if it is a document element, the process advances to step S2103 to check whether the update time of the document element is newer than the document reference time for each user. When the update time is newer than the document reference time for each user, the flow advances to step S2108 to return "true". On the other hand, if the update time is older or equal, step S
In step 2104, a comparison process for comparing the update times of the contents of the document element is performed. When the result of this update comparison process is "true", that is, when the update time is newer than the document reference time for each user, the flow advances to step S2109 to return "true".

If it is not a document element in step S2102, the flow advances to step S2105 to check whether the extracted data is reference document data. If it is reference document data, the process advances to step S2106 to perform a comparison process of comparing the update time of the reference document data with the document reference time information for each user. As a result of this comparison processing, if the reference document data is newly updated by another user, step S
The process proceeds to 2110 and returns “true” with update. On the other hand, if there is no update, the process returns to sequential extraction. Thus, when the sequential extraction of the designated document data is completed, "false" is returned and the process ends.

As described above, according to the sixth embodiment, the reference time for each document for each user is always held, and the reference time information 62 for each document for each user, its document data, and the document data to which the document data refers. , And the update time attribute of the document element is compared, and the document data including the document element updated since the user last referenced can be recognized.

[Seventh Embodiment] In the seventh embodiment, the structured document data is allowed to refer to another document data by the content of the document element, and is changed every time the structured document data is updated. The change time is held in the update time attribute provided for each document element. This makes it possible to recognize document data including unknown information even in document data that refers to other document data. The seventh embodiment is substantially the same as the above-described sixth embodiment, and the difference is that, as shown in FIG. 22, not the arrangement of elements as reference document data, but the “&file;” in FIG. As described above, it is allowed to refer to the content of the element.

By doing so, the reference time for each document for each user is always held, and the reference time information 62 for each document for each user and all the document elements of the document data and the document data referred to by the document data are stored. By comparing the update time attributes that the user has, it is possible to identify the document data that includes the document element that has been updated since the user last referenced, and for each user, recognize the document data that has been updated by another user. .

According to the present embodiment, the document data is updated for each user and for each document after the user refers, and the unknown information of the user is included from the document information group in which the known information and the unknown information are mixed. Document data can be grasped. Also,
Even when other document data is referred to in the document data in units of the content of the document element, the document data including the unknown information updated by another user can be recognized in the same manner.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the known document and the unknown information can be identified by notifying or clearly showing the document changed for each reader from the plurality of document information since the last reference. Documents containing can be recognized.

Therefore, there is an advantage that each user can easily obtain the changed document information desired to be viewed in the form of a document. In addition, since the reference destination document data also has the update time information as an attribute, it is possible to identify a known document and a document including unknown information even in the document data having the reference document information.

[Eighth Embodiment] FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a document processing apparatus according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention. The parts common to those in the above-described embodiments are designated by the same reference numerals, and their description will be omitted. To do. This embodiment is different in that the storage device 6 stores the document reference time information 621 for each user.

The basic processing in this case is the same as that in the flow chart of FIG. 8 described above, but the document name display in step S802 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
Document data that has been updated by another user since the previous reference can be specified. This FIG. 24 corresponds to FIG. 9 of the above-described first embodiment, and this display processing is performed by, for example, FIG.
It is shown in the flowchart of FIG. The details of this processing will be briefly described in association with the flowchart of FIG.

In step S101, all the user names stored in the user-specific document reference time information 621 are displayed, and in step S102, the document names are sequentially displayed. In step S103, the document reference time for each user is compared with the update time <UpdateTime> of the document data, and for the document data updated after the user-specific document reference time, in step S105, as shown in FIG. , "X" is added for display. These processes are performed for all users. If it has not been updated, in step S104, it is displayed with a mark "O" as shown in FIG.

[Ninth Embodiment] Further, for example, in the flowchart of the first embodiment, S802 of FIG. 8, the document reference time information 621 for each user is compared with the update time attribute <UpdateTime> of the document data, Regarding the document data changed after the user-specific document reference time, when the document name is displayed, for example, as shown in FIG. 26, the corresponding document name may be displayed in a shaded or inverted display. in this way,
By displaying the document data including the unknown information by changing the display attribute or the display form, the document data including the unknown information of the user can be recognized from the document information group 611 in which the known information and the unknown information are mixed. Further, in the table as shown in FIG. 26, when a document of a certain user is selected by the pointing device 2 or the like, instead of reversing the display, when the document is changed for the user, a warning sound or the like is given. May notify that the document data has been updated by another user.

As described above, when the document data including the unknown information is selected, a warning sound is output to generate the document information group 61.
The document data containing the known information and the unknown information corresponding to the user can be recognized from the item 1. At this time, not only the sound but also a stimulus appealing to the human senses or an image may be used.

[Tenth Embodiment] In the tenth embodiment,
A document updated by another user can be displayed as shown in FIG. 27, for example. Here, when the user 1 is designated, only the icon of “document 2” is displayed as not updated, and the user 2 displays the cursor 202.
, The icons of “document 2” and “document 4” are displayed as not updated. This process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
This process compares the user-specific document reference time information 62 with the update time attribute <UpdateTime> of the document data, and when displaying the document name of the document data changed after the user-specific document reference time, As in 27, the icon of the document corresponding to the relevant document is marked. At this time, the document is displayed in a folder or the like for each user, and the user switching is performed sequentially by clicking the user name display portion 207 in FIG.

First, in step S111, the first user name is displayed, and a document icon is displayed in the folder like that user (S112). The document is
Whether or not the document has been updated by another user since the user last viewed it is determined by the document reference time information 62 for each user.
1 is compared with the update time attribute <UpdateTime> of the document data (S113), and the icon of the document is displayed with respect to the document data updated by another user after the user-specific document reference time. (S114). Then, in step S115, these steps S113, S1
The processing of 14 is performed on all the documents.

When all the documents corresponding to the user are displayed, the process proceeds to step S116, and an instruction input for displaying the next user (step S116) or an end input of the display process is waited for (step S118). When the display is instructed, the process proceeds to step S117, and the document icons are sequentially displayed in the form of a folder of each user until the display for all users is completed. Also, step S
When the end of the display process is instructed at 118, the process ends.

In this way, by changing the display form and displaying the icon of the document including the unknown information updated by the other user after the previous update by that user,
Document data including unknown information of the user can be recognized.
It should be noted that the display example of icons and the like in this embodiment is not limited to this embodiment, and a user may be designated by a folder format for each document and the user may be represented by an icon.

Further, in a folder as shown in FIG.
Instead of putting a mark on the corresponding document icon, when an icon of a certain document is selected by the pointing device 2 or the like, if the document has been updated by another user, a warning sound or the like may be given. At this time, not only the sound but also the stimulus that appeals to the human senses,
Or anything is acceptable as long as it is clearly shown.

[Eleventh Embodiment] In the eleventh embodiment,
Only the document data name that has been updated or only the document name that has not been updated is displayed for each user (FIG. 29). Further, for each document data, only the confirmed user name or the unconfirmed user name may be displayed for the updated document, as shown in FIG. 31, for example.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing this processing, and the structure of the document processing apparatus in this case is the same as the structure shown in FIG.

When a document name display operation is performed, the same processing as in step S802 in FIG. 8 described above is performed for each user, for example, the document name of a document changed by another user after the last reference. , Display the document data that can be specified.

First, in step S121, all the user names held in the user-specific document reference time information 621 are displayed in an auxiliary table format. Next, the process proceeds to step S122 and sequentially waits for the document to be specified. This is done by the user using the keyboard 1 or the pointing device 2. Whether or not the specified document has been updated is determined by comparing the user-specific document reference time information 621 with the update time attribute <UpdateTime> of the document data (S123). Then, in the case of the document data updated by another user after the user-specific document-specific reference time, the process proceeds to step S124, and the document name is entered in the corresponding user column of the table as shown in FIG. indicate. The processes of steps S125 and S124 are performed for all users (S125). Then, step S12
In step 6, the processing for each user is performed on all documents.

When all of these processes are completed, step S1
Proceeding to 27, the user name whose document name is not listed in the table, that is, the user name which does not have the document updated by another user is deleted from the table. Then, the process proceeds to step S128, the table is displayed, and the process ends. Other processes are basically the same as those in the above-mentioned embodiments.

By doing so, the reference time for each document is always held for each user, and by comparing the reference time information 621 for each document for each user with the update time attribute of the document data, each user can refer to the last time. Then, the document updated by another user can be specified.

In this embodiment, the unconfirmed document is specified for each user, but conversely, as shown in FIG. 31, only the unconfirmed user name may be specified for each document.

In this case, the update of the document can be easily confirmed, especially after the author of the document has updated the document.

The display of such document data for each user may be in the icon format as shown in the above-mentioned embodiment.

In this embodiment, the update time is given as an attribute of the entire structured document data. However, when the document data is one file, the time stamp of that file can be used. good.

Further, it is determined whether the user who is referring to the document data has changed the document information by the operation of another user after referring to the document in the past, not the update time. It is also possible to save the above and use the counter or the comment to know the context between the update time and the reference time.

Although the above-described embodiments have been individually described, they may be combined appropriately or may be selected appropriately and implemented.

Further, although these embodiments are realized by event driven, the processing of each event driven may be an independent program sharing document information. In this case, end event processing is not necessary. Further, in this embodiment, the display program and the editing program are separated, but a program in which display and editing are integrated may be used as the editing program, and the display program may be omitted.

In the embodiment, the update information for all the documents of all the users, which is stored in the reference time information 621 for each document for each user, is processed.
Alternatively, a step of inputting a certain plurality of users may be added, and the update information may be specified only to this user, or a step of inputting a specific document or a plurality of documents may be added. The update information may be specified only for the document.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the document data updated by another user after the user refers to each user and each document can be displayed in a distinguishable manner.

Therefore, there is an advantage that each user can easily grasp the document data whose unknown information needs to be confirmed, or the supervisor of each document data can easily grasp the user who needs to confirm the unknown information. .

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. The present invention can also be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program for implementing the present invention to a system or an apparatus.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a known document and unknown information are included by notifying or clearly indicating a document that has changed since the last reference for each reader from among a plurality of document information. It became possible to understand the document for each user.

Therefore, there is an advantage that each user can easily grasp the document information confirmed or not confirmed.

Further, there is an advantage that it is possible to easily grasp the confirmed user and the unconfirmed user with respect to the updated document.

Further, by giving the update time information as an attribute also to the document data of the reference destination, even in the document data having the reference document information, the document including the known document and the unknown information can be obtained by the user or by the unknown information. Users who do not include can be recognized for each document.

[0103]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible for a user to easily identify whether or not the document information has been changed from the time the user last referred to the document information to the time when the user referred to the document information this time. There is an effect that can be done.

Further, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the document information changed by another user can be easily identified.

Further, according to the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to identify, including the document information referred to by a certain document information, whether or not it has been updated by another user since the previous reference by that user.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the document information updated by another user can be notified by a warning sound.

Further, according to the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to identify, for each user and for each document information, whether or not the user has been updated since the last update.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a document processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of general structured document data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of conventional document data storage.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of providing a document from conventional document data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional document display.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of structured document data having update time information according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of document reference time information for each user in the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing in the document processing apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of a document name according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a document name display process according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of a document name according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display example of a document name according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a document name display process according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a display example of a list of document names according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of structured document data having update time information according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a document name display process of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing update comparison processing of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of structured document data having update time information according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing update comparison processing of the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of structured document data having update time information according to the sixth embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing an update comparison process of the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of structured document data having update time information according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a document processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a display example of a document name according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing a document name display process of the eighth embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a display example of the ninth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a display example of the tenth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing a document name display process of the tenth embodiment.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a display example of a document name according to the eleventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing a document name display process of the eleventh embodiment.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of correspondence between user names and document names according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 keyboard (KB) 2 pointing device 3 CPU 4 Display 5 memory 6 Auxiliary storage device 7 timer 62 Reference time information for each document for each user 202 cursor 511 Document name display program 521 Document Display Program 531 Document Change Program 611 Document information group 621 Document reference time information for each user

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-27470 (JP, A) JP-A-5-210673 (JP, A) JP-A-4-100144 (JP, A) JP-A-4-41 107651 (JP, A) JP-A-4-195643 (JP, A) JP-A-4-271461 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/21-17 / 24 G06F 12/00

Claims (10)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of document information and the document information each update time information and the holding means for holding, for each plurality of document information held in the holding means, for each user, the document information Each user
A storage unit that stores reference time information indicating the time of the last reference or update , a reading unit that reads the document information held in the holding unit, and a document information read by the reading unit. The update time information and the reference time information of the desired user stored in the storage means are compared to determine whether the document information has been updated by another user after the desired user last referenced or updated. A document processing apparatus, comprising: a control unit configured to make a determination and display in a distinguishable manner whether or not the document information has been updated according to the determination. 2. The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit emits a warning sound when the document information read by the reading unit is being updated. 3. The holding means further holds update time information in other document information referred to by the document information, and the control means refers to the document information read by the reading means. The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not there is an update, including the document information that is displayed. 4. The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the desired user is a user who has instructed the reading unit to read the document information. 5. The desired user is stored in the storage means.
Specified among the users whose reference time information is stored
The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document processing apparatus is an authorized user . Against 6. holding means to a plurality of document information associated with the update time information held in each document information, for each user, the document information is the individual user
A storage step of storing reference time information indicating the time of the last reference or update , a reading step of reading the document information held in the holding means, and a document information read in the reading step. Update time information and desired user stored in the storage step
Reference by comparing the time information, the desired users last
And a control step of determining whether the document information has been updated by another user after referring to or updating the information and displaying the document information in an identifiable manner according to the determination. Characteristic document processing method. 7. The document processing method according to claim 6, wherein in the control step, a warning sound is emitted when the document information read in the reading step is updated. 8. The holding means further holds update time information in other document information referred to by the document information, and the control process refers to the document information read in the reading process. 7. The document processing method according to claim 6, further comprising determining whether or not the document information has been updated. 9. The document processing method according to claim 6, wherein the desired user is a user who has instructed to read the document information in the reading step. 10. The desired user is the storage step.
Of the users whose reference time information is stored in
7. The document processing method according to claim 6, wherein the document processing method is a defined user .