JP3799907B2 - Document management method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It relates to document history management.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, the demand for document management systems for information disclosure has increased.
[0003]
“Public documents” in public institutions such as government offices and local governments have been formulated in terms of style and preparation methods, and have been carried out according to a hierarchical classification in storage and preservation. However, when publishing information, unlike the conventional “public document publication”, not only the final public document itself but also all documents used systematically are basically subject to publication. There is a growing need to go back and examine what considerations have been made.
[0004]
Although important documents and materials related to matters directly related to official documents are left as management targets in the form of attachments to official documents, various documents that are generated when decisions are made in actual administrative work Most of them are not managed systematically and are managed personally.
[0005]
Against this background, when considering comprehensive management of official documents and information with a view to responding to information disclosure in the future, documents that have not been organized in the past, that is, documents in the decision-making process It is necessary to consider the management method. For that purpose, document information recording and management with information disclosure in mind, and a function for searching and displaying it are necessary.
[0006]
By the way, in recent years, groupware is becoming popular as a means for supporting the decision making process, and e-mail has been established as a basic means for exchanging information. Documents necessary for business need to be shared and shared by the organization, and many of them have been exchanged by e-mail. Government agencies and municipalities also use email systems at the decision-making process.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional e-mail system, when the progress / results of decision-making on a certain series of themes are grasped under the disclosure of information, the following progress is made in the follow-up survey of the e-mail sent and received and related documents. There is a problem like this.
[0008]
Since received mail is managed for each user, you can see the history of the received mail in the body and header, but the attached document is limited to information such as file name and file size, There is a problem that the updated status, that is, the update history of the attached document cannot be referred to. For this reason, it is impossible to grasp past circumstances such as when the attached document was created by who or when it was updated. In addition, it is impossible to grasp the progress of how the attached document that has been transmitted has been updated through the subsequent reply mail or forward mail.
[0009]
In order to be able to refer to the update history of the attached document, it is necessary for the user to confirm that the attached document has been updated every time an e-mail is sent / received and then transfer it individually to a document management system etc. In addition, it is very time-consuming and has a problem that it is not managed correctly due to an erroneous operation.
[0010]
Further, since the conventional e-mail system does not have a mechanism for collectively managing the progress and results of decision making, there arises a problem that, for example, participants who participated in the discussion later cannot grasp the flow of the discussion from the beginning.
[0011]
If you want to be able to follow the process of decision-making later, you can use e-mail and a document management system together. And attached documents must be registered and managed on a case-by-case basis, which is very time-consuming.
[0012]
That is, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to grasp the update status of the attached document received and transmitted with respect to a certain series of themes by associating the mail transmission / reception information with the update history information of the document attached to the mail. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a display method that presents the details of decision making to a user accurately and easily.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in a document history management method, a history in which an attached file is updated in the process of sending and receiving an electronic mail is displayed. As a result, the user can refer to the exchange of e-mails and the update status of the attached document, and can accurately grasp the progress of decision making regarding a certain series of themes.
[0014]
In the document history management method, the present invention displays the number of times an attached file has been updated in the process of sending and receiving electronic mail. Thereby, the user can judge the effectiveness of the attached document in the decision making regarding a certain series of themes.
[0015]
In the document history management method, the present invention displays identification information indicating that an attached file of an e-mail is a file updated at a transmission source. Thereby, the user can grasp that the intention of the mail sender is reflected in the attached document.
[0016]
In the document history management method, when the user designates one of the attached documents included in the history display, the electronic mail information corresponding to the history is displayed. As a result, the user can sequentially refer to the mail information at the update timing of the attached document, and can easily track the decision making process.
[0017]
Further, according to the present invention, in the document history management method, the date when the attached file was updated and the name of the updater are displayed as the history of the attached file being updated. As a result, the user can refer to the exchange of e-mails and the update status of the attached document, and can grasp the progress of decision making regarding a certain series of themes.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. This does not limit the present invention.
[0019]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a document processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the document management system shown in this figure, the document server 10, the electronic mail server 140, the user terminal A20, and the user terminal B30 are connected by a network 50 such as a LAN, the Internet, or a public line. The document server 10 includes a document database 100, a document management program 110 that controls the document database 100, and a document search / display program 120. The e-mail server 140 includes an e-mail database 130, a mail server control unit 150 that controls the e-mail database 130, and a mail transfer application 160. The mail transfer application 160 transfers the mail data in the electronic mail database 130 to the document server 10 via the mail server control unit 150.
[0020]
In the present embodiment, the document management program 110 performs control to receive e-mail data transferred by the mail transfer application 160 and register and update it in the document database 100.
[0021]
The user terminal A20 includes an e-mail client 200, a document creation application 210, a web browser 220, and an input device 40. Here, the e-mail client 200 communicates with the mail server control means 150 in the e-mail server 140 via the network, and the Web browser 220 communicates with the document search / display program 120. The user terminal B30 has the same function as the user terminal A20.
[0022]
The document database 100 stores data on matters, emails, email texts, and attached documents. The e-mail database 130 stores incoming mail and outgoing mail.
[0023]
The above is the configuration of the document management system in this embodiment.
[0024]
Next, the concept of data management in the document management system of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
[0025]
In the document management system of the present embodiment, transmission / reception of individual e-mails exchanged by users on different agendas (agenda, work) is managed based on the concept of “item”. “Matter” defines the agenda for the purpose of mail exchange as one unit. A user sends a new agenda by e-mail and starts a discussion. One e-mail can be created, and e-mails that a user continues to exchange with other users are grouped as a “matter”. By providing such a concept, all users who are involved in sending and receiving mail can be managed as a single unit including e-mails sent and received other than themselves for a certain discussion.
[0026]
In this embodiment, mail is managed in units of matters. An item is defined as “a unit for collecting a collection of related email data on a certain agenda”. By storing e-mail data in such a management unit, related e-mails can be classified for each theme of the agenda.
[0027]
The above is the concept of data management in the document management system of this embodiment.
[0028]
Next, a procedure for the document server 10 to acquire an email from the email server 140 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows the relationship between the electronic mail server 140 and the document server 10 in electronic mail transmission / reception.
[0029]
First, a series of processing starts when the user performs an e-mail transmission operation.
[0030]
In this example, a mail to be managed by this system is called a business mail to distinguish it from a normal mail. When sending a business mail, the user sends the mail with identification information according to a predetermined rule. The identification information can be described in a mail title, text, attached document, mail address or the like. For example, when it is described in a mail title, identification information such as “0001” or “public 0001” may be inserted into the title. “0001” represents the item number.
Further, when a new case is started, identification information such as “” or “public” may be simply inserted into the title. In this case, the document server 10 assigns a new case number (this is called numbering processing), changes the identification information to “0001” or “public 0001”, and then sends the mail to the mail destination. In the present embodiment, it is also possible to notify the mail transmission source of the issued case number by mail.
[0031]
When the e-mail client 200 of the user terminal A20 transmits e-mail data to the e-mail server 140, the mail server control means 150 stores e-mail data for each corresponding destination in the e-mail database 130. Next, the mail transfer application 160 is activated when the mail server control unit 150 receives the email data, and whether the email data has identification information indicating that the document server 10 is a management target. The e-mail data is transferred to the document management program 110 only when it is determined that it is a management target. The document management program 110 analyzes the contents of the e-mail data and registers them in the document database 100. Subsequently, the document management program 110 transfers the e-mail data to the mail server control unit 150. The mail server control means 150 performs transmission processing of electronic mail data according to the designated destination. Finally, the user terminal B30 receives the email data.
[0032]
Further, the document search / display program 120 searches the data stored in the document database 100 according to the search condition requested by the user A via the web browser 220, and the result is the web browser 220 of the user terminal A 20. To display.
[0033]
The above is the procedure for the document server to obtain an email from the email server.
[0034]
Next, data stored in the document database 100 by the document management program 110 will be described using a specific example of a mail sequence. Below, the continuous connection of the mail transmission / reception in a case is called a mail sequence.
[0035]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen for a mail transmission path and a document update history. The mail transmission path is indicated by an arrow from mail to mail. Each mail displays the mail transmission date, sender, and attached document. For each attached document, the document name and version number are displayed, and update identification information indicating that the attached document has been updated is displayed next to the document name.
[0036]
The example of FIG. 2 represents the background of the following mail exchange.
[0037]
(Email 1): On July 5th, User Ami sends User Report to User Ito and User Uno, “Report Report.doc” (R1), “List.xls” (R1), “ Send an e-mail attached with "minutes.doc" (R1). Here, (Rn) is a number representing the update history of the attached document and is called an update registration number. Email 1 is an email that triggered the start of the project.
[0038]
(Email 2): On July 10th, after User Ito changed “Report Plan.doc” and “List.xls”, to User Ami, “Report Plan.doc” R2) and , Reply with an e-mail attached with "List.xls" (R2) and "Minutes.doc" (R1). By changing the attached document, the update registration number of “Reports.doc” and “List.xls” is increased by one. On the other hand, since “Meetings.doc” attaches the received document to the outgoing mail as it is, the update registration number does not change.
[0039]
(Email 3): On July 20th, User Uno sends an email with "Report.doc" (R1) and "Minutes.doc" (R1) attached to User Ito. .
[0040]
(Email 4): On the day of 8/1, after user Ami changed “Report Proposal.doc” and “Minutes.doc”, to User Uno, “Report Proposal.doc” (R3) Then, send an e-mail with “list.xls” (R2) and “minutes.doc” (R2) attached.
[0041]
(Email 5): On 8/5, after User Ito changed “Report Proposal.doc”, to User Eri, “Report Proposal.doc” (R4) and “Proceedings.doc” ”(R1) and a new document“ Deliberation document.doc ”(R1) attached. It will be the update registration number “R4” of “Report Proposal.doc” attached to Email 5. This is because the update registration number “R3” is registered in the document database 100 at the time of the mail 4 on the 8/1 day.
[0042]
According to the mail transmission path and the document update history display screen as shown in FIG.
It is possible to accurately and easily grasp the progress of matters and e-mail transmissions and when and how each attached document is updated.
[0043]
In the case of the mail sequence of FIG. 2, the document management program 110 stores data as shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the data structure of the document database. The document database 100 stores and manages e-mails for each case. A plurality of mails in each case is stored directly under the case folder, and each mail is constituted by a folder that holds a mail body and an attached document. In the data structure of FIG. 3, the “case number” that is the property of the case folder is “0001”. This is a number assigned by the system when a new case is started in the mail 1 of FIG. Mail 2, mail 3, mail 4, and mail 5 transmitted / received thereafter are managed as mails related to the case with the case number “0001”.
[0044]
In FIG. 3, in the case of the mail 2, the “previous mail ID” property is “1”, which means that the mail 2 is a mail that continues from the mail 1. The “next mail ID” property is “4”, which means that the mail 2 is a mail following the mail 4. With these properties, mail connection information, that is, a mail sequence is managed.
[0045]
In the document management system of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the attached document performs a series of update history management for the attached file with the same name. That is, the update registration numbers are assigned in the order in which the attached documents are updated, and the corresponding document files are stored. Then, the update registration number and the mail are managed in association with each other.
[0046]
In the document update history management of FIG. 3, it can be seen that “report plan.doc” has been changed three times so far, and documents corresponding to “R1” to “R4” are stored. Further, in the case of the mail 4, the property of the attached document “Report Proposal.doc” has the update registration number “R3” and the pre-update registration number “R2”. This means that the “report plan.doc” attached to the mail 4 holds the contents of “R3”, which is a modification of the document of “R2”. Similarly, in the case of the mail 5, it means that the attached “report plan.doc” holds the contents of “R4”, which is a modification of the document of “R1”.
[0047]
In this embodiment, it is possible to manage the mail sequence and the update history of the attached document in association with each other by the above properties held by the mail and the attached document. Thereby, a list of update histories of documents attached to the mail can be displayed immediately. Furthermore, it is also possible to display a list of all attached documents that appear in the case, or to display an update history together.
[0048]
Next, the properties of data stored in the document database 100 of this embodiment will be described.
[0049]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing properties of the case data (case object). The project data manages a series of emails exchanged on a subject. The case data holds properties such as a case number, a case name, a case proposer, a case proposal date, a top mail ID, and the number of mails. The property values in FIG. 4 exemplify values corresponding to the mail sequence in FIG. 2 and the data structure in FIG.
[0050]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing properties of mail data (mail object). The mail data manages the body and attached document of each mail exchanged with respect to a certain subject. Mail data includes message ID, mail ID, case number, mail transmission date, mail sender, mail receiver (To), mail receiver (Cc), mail title, previous mail ID, next mail ID, number of attached documents, Holds properties such as a pointer to mail body data, a pointer to attached document data, and a pointer to case data. The property value in FIG. 5 illustrates the value of “mail 4” in the mail sequence in FIG. 2 and the data structure in FIG.
[0051]
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing properties of mail body data (mail body object). The mail body data manages the body content of the mail. The mail body data holds properties such as a matter number, body data, and a pointer to the mail data. 6 exemplifies the value of the mail text of “Mail 4” in the mail sequence of FIG. 2 and the data structure of FIG.
[0052]
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing properties of attached document data (attached document object). The attached document data manages data of individual documents attached to the mail. Attachment data includes properties such as matter number, creation date, creator, document name, document type, file size, mail data pointer, update date, updater, update registration number, number of changes, and pre-update attachments Hold. The property values in FIG. 7 exemplify the values of the attached document “Suggestion.doc” of “Mail 4” in the mail sequence in FIG. 2 and the data structure in FIG.
[0053]
Next, an outline of processing at the time of document registration in the document management program 110 of this embodiment will be described.
[0054]
A specific processing procedure at the time of document registration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0055]
Step 2000: The mail is analyzed, the message ID of the received mail described in the mail header is acquired, and the message ID of the previous mail is acquired from the mail connection information. In the header of the mail, the message ID of the quoted mail is described as information indicating which mail the reply is for. In addition, message IDs of all mails quoted in reply from the mail sequence are described. In this embodiment, mail connection information is acquired based on these pieces of information.
[0056]
Step 2010: Generate a mail object. As a result, the mail ID is determined. Next, a mail body object is generated.
[0057]
Step 2020: Using the message ID of the previous mail obtained in Step 2000 as a key, the mail object is searched and the mail ID of the previous mail is acquired.
[0058]
Step 2030: As the mail sequence information, the mail ID of the current mail is set in the “next mail ID” property of the previous mail, and the mail ID of the previous mail is set in the “previous mail ID” property of the current mail.
[0059]
Step 2040: It is determined whether there is an attached document.
[0060]
Step 2050: An attachment document registration / update process is performed. The processing procedure will be described later.
[0061]
Step 2060: Determine the registration-destination Item folder. Link between the attachment document object, mail body object and mail object, and register it in the matter folder.
[0062]
The above is a specific processing procedure at the time of document registration.
[0063]
Next, a specific processing procedure of attachment document registration / update processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the following, all attached documents attached to the mail are processed in order.
[0064]
Step 2100: One attached document is read.
[0065]
Step 2110: Traverse the mail sequence to search for the previous mail having the same attached document and the attached document of the same name.
[0066]
Step 2120: It is determined whether or not it has been found. If found, go to step 2140. If not found, the document is regarded as the first appearance in the case, and the process proceeds to Step 2130.
[0067]
Step 2130: New attachment document registration processing is performed. Create a new attachment object and set a value for each property. “0” is set in the “change count” property.
[0068]
Step 2140: Compare the file content of the found previous attached document with the file content of the current attached document.
[0069]
Step 2150: It is determined whether there is a difference in file contents. If there is a difference, go to Step 2170. If there is no difference, the process proceeds to step 2160.
[0070]
Step 2160: The attached document is not updated. Set the properties of the current attachment based on the attachment object of the previous attachment. In this case, properties other than “pointer to mail data” are the same as the values of the previous attached document.
[0071]
Step 2170: The attached document is updated. Check out the file of the previous attachment, check in the file of the current attachment, and then set each property of the current attachment. Upon check-in, the value of the “update registration number” property is determined. “1” is added to the “change count” property. In the “registered document before update” property, the value of “update registered number” of the previous attached document is set.
[0072]
Step 2180: It is determined whether or not all attached documents have been processed. If “NO”, the process proceeds to Step 2100.
[0073]
The above is the specific processing procedure of the attachment document registration / update processing.
[0074]
Next, the search function of the document search / display program 120 in this embodiment will be described. FIG. 17 shows an example of the search screen. The search screen includes a search item 3500 for specifying the contents of the mail and a search item 3510 for specifying the attribute of the attached document. The search item 3500 regarding the content of the mail can specify “mail title”, “send date”, “sender”, “receiver (To :)”, “receiver (Cc :)”, and the like. In the search item 3510 regarding the attribute of the attached document, “attached document name”, “file size”, and the like can be designated. These searches are basic functions of the document search / display program of this embodiment, and can be searched for the mail property shown in FIG. 5 and the attached document property shown in FIG. In the search screen of FIG. 17, the search condition for the mail in which “Title” is “A Council”, the transmission date is “June 1 to June 30, 1998”, and the recipient is “Ito”. Is specified. The user can search for a desired mail by clicking a search start button 3520.
[0075]
When the user clicks a “specify more detailed conditions” button 3530 on the search screen of FIG. 17, the document search / display program 120 displays a detailed search screen as shown in FIG. In the detailed search screen of FIG. 18, “the number of attached documents” and “character string in the text” are newly added as the search item 3600 for designating the contents of the mail, in addition to the search item 3500 item. Full-text search is possible by designating "character string in text". In addition, a search item 3610 for specifying “characteristics of mail exchange (behavior)” and a search item 3630 for specifying “detailed features of attached document” are added to the detailed search screen of FIG.
[0076]
As a search item 3610 for designating “characteristics of mail exchange (behavior)”, “number of round trips”, “number of broadcasters”, “number of people involved in exchange”, and the like can be designated. “Number of round-trips” is the number of times mail is exchanged, and is the frequency at which mails are sent to each other continuously. Further, the “number of broadcasted persons” is the number of persons designated as the mail destination. The “number of people involved in the exchange” is the total number of people who have sent or received e-mails at least once in a certain project.
[0077]
In addition to the “creation date” of the attached document, the search item 3630 for specifying “detailed features of attached document” includes “update number of attached document”, “reference number of attached document”, and “inside attached document” It is also possible to specify “character string of”. The “attached document update count” is the number of times the document attached to the received mail is changed in the mail sequence. The “attached document reference count” refers to the number of times the user has opened the attached document obtained by the search using the document creation application 210, that is, the number of times the user has viewed the document.
[0078]
The above-mentioned mail behavior search function allows the user to perform a search focusing on characteristic mail exchange even when the memory is ambiguous. Further, when it is determined that the number of cases is large as a result of searching under certain conditions, it is possible to further narrow down target mails and documents by adding additional mail behavior search conditions.
[0079]
The above is the search function of the document search / display program.
[0080]
Next, an outline of the display method of the document search / display program 120 in this embodiment will be described. The document search / display program 120 displays a list of cases 3000 as a search result when any of cases, e-mails, or attached documents is specified by the search condition.
[0081]
First, an example of a case list display screen displayed as a result of the search by the document search / display program 120 is shown in FIG. FIG. 12 is an example in which mail 1 and mail 4 are hit in the mail sequence of FIG. The hit mail is marked with a star. The matter information in the matter list display screen is composed of the matter number, title, transmission date, sender, and the number of emails in the matter.
[0082]
The user can first understand what item the target email was related to on the item list display screen.
[0083]
Next, the mail list display screen will be described. When the user clicks the title of an arbitrary case on the case list display screen 3000, the document search / display program 120 displays a list of mails belonging to the case.
[0084]
An example of the mail list display screen of the document search / display program 120 is shown in FIG.
[0085]
The mail list display screen 3100 in FIG. 3 is a screen that is displayed when the title of the case with the number “0001” is clicked on the case list display screen in FIG. Further, the display contents of FIG. 13 correspond to the display contents of the mail sequence of FIG. In the mail list display screen 3100, mail information includes a hit mark, a mail title, a transmission date, and a sender. In this example, two mails in the case 0001 are hit, and hit marks are added to the information of the mail 4 and the mail 1. The user can refer to all of the mails received and transmitted with respect to a series of themes and the progress thereof on the mail list display screen.
[0086]
By the way, in the case list display screen of FIG. 12, the case information corresponds to the latest mail hit. In this case, the user can grasp the latest status of the target mail or document within a certain series of themes.
[0087]
Next, the mail information display screen will be described. When the user clicks a mail title on the mail list display screen 3100, the document search / display program 100 displays information related to the mail. An example of the mail information display screen of the document search / display program 120 is shown in FIG. The mail information display screen of FIG. 14 is a screen displayed when the title of the mail 4 is clicked on the mail list display screen 3100 of FIG. Further, the display content of FIG. 14 corresponds to the content of the mail sequence of FIG.
[0088]
The mail information display screen in FIG. 14 includes mail contents 3200 and attached document list information 3210. The mail content 3200 includes a mail title, a transmission date, a sender (From), a receiver (To, Cc), and a mail text. The attached document list information 3210 includes hit marks, document names, transmission dates, senders, and the number of changes.
[0089]
In the example of FIG. 14, the attached document “Suggested Proposal.doc” represents that the search condition is hit.
[0090]
The user can grasp how the attached document is updated in the case by using the mail information display screen. In the example of FIG. 4, it can be understood that the attached document “Suggested Proposal.doc” has been updated twice in the process of mail exchange. Also, from the “sender” and “send date”, it can be seen that the latest update date of “suggestion report.doc” is 8/1 and the updater is “Ami”. This corresponds to the attached document “Report Form.doc” in the mail 4 of FIG.
[0091]
When the document name in the attached document list 3210 is clicked on the mail information display screen of FIG. 14, the document creation application 210 corresponding to the document is started, so that the contents of the document can be referred to.
[0092]
Next, the document update history information display screen will be described. When the “change count” is clicked on the mail information display screen of FIG. 14, the document search / display program 100 displays the update history information of the attached document.
[0093]
A specific processing procedure for displaying the document update history information of the document search / display program 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0094]
Step 2300: Add document update history information to the list.
[0095]
Step 2310: It is determined whether the attached document is a hit.
[0096]
Step 2320: A hit mark is given to the list.
[0097]
Step 2330: It is determined whether there is a previous mail path. Refer to the "previous mail ID" property of the mail object.
[0098]
Step 2340: Trace the e-mail path to the previous one and check the document update registration number.
[0099]
Step 2350: It is determined whether or not they are the same update registration number.
[0100]
Step 2360: A list of document update history information is displayed on the document update history information display screen.
[0101]
An example of the document update history information display screen displayed as a result of the above processing is shown in FIG. The document update history information display screen in FIG. 15 is a screen that is displayed when the “number of changes” of the attached document “Report proposal.doc” is clicked on the mail information display screen in FIG. Further, FIG. 15 assumes an update history of attached documents in the mail sequence shown in FIG. 2 as a specific example.
[0102]
In the document update history information display screen shown in FIG. 15, the document update history information includes a hit mark, a document name, an update date, an updater, and a registration number.
[0103]
In this example, it is shown that the attached documents “answer proposal.doc (3)” and “answer proposal.doc (1)” have been hit.
[0104]
In the example of FIG. 15, the update history of the attached document “answer proposal.doc” in the mail sequence is known.
[0105]
When an arbitrary document name is clicked on the document update history information display screen shown in FIG. 15, the document creation application 210 is activated and the file is opened, so that the document content corresponding to the update history at that time can be referred to.
[0106]
In addition, when an arbitrary registration number is clicked on the document update history information display screen of FIG. 15, a mail information display screen is displayed, and the mail information when the update history document is attached can be referred to.
[0107]
For example, when 3 is clicked on the document update history information display screen of FIG. 15, the mail information when the document “3” is attached, that is, the mail information display screen of FIG. 14 is displayed.
[0108]
Similarly, for example, when R2 is clicked on the document update history information display screen shown in FIG. 5, the mail information when the R2 document is attached is displayed. The mail information display screen at this time is shown in FIG. It can be seen that the attached document “Report Form.doc” in FIG. 18 is R2. This corresponds to the attached document “Report proposal.doc (R2)” in the mail 2 of FIG.
[0109]
Further, for example, when R1 is clicked on the document update history information display screen of FIG. 5, information on the mail when the document of R1 is attached is displayed.
[0110]
That is, the document update history information display screen of FIG. 15 can easily grasp how the attached document “Report, doc” has been updated in the exchange of mail leading to the mail 4 of FIG.
[0111]
The user can grasp how the document attached to the e-mail has been updated within a certain series of themes through the e-mail information display screen and the document update history information display screen. Further, it is possible to refer to the document content at the time of each update, and to understand the reason for the update by referring to the mail text.
[0112]
The mail transmission path and the document update history display screen have already been described with reference to FIG.
[0113]
In the display screen of FIG. 2, the matter started by the email 1 is displayed in a list in which the emails are exchanged and how each individual attached document is updated. Thereby, the whole picture of the project can be grasped.
[0114]
Further, the mail that is not directly related to transmission / reception by the operator can be referred to as the person involved in the case by the mail transmission path and the document update history display screen of FIG. For example, when the operator of the screen display of FIG. 2 is “Uno”, mail that “Uno” is not directly related to transmission / reception, that is, mail 4 can be referred to.
[0115]
Further, by displaying a hit mark (★ mark) in FIG. 2, the user can easily grasp how the target mail or document is related to other mails or documents.
[0116]
The mail transmission path and document update history display screen of FIG. 10 shows an example in which the update history of a specific attached document of a specific mail is focused and the process leading to that is highlighted. In this example, the mail sequence leading to the answer report .doc of mail 4 is highlighted. Similarly, in the mail transmission path and document update history display screen of FIG. 11, only the mail sequence leading to mail 5 is highlighted.
[0117]
In addition to the above-described embodiments, it is also possible to link and display a mail transmission path, a document update history display screen, and another screen.
[0118]
FIG. 16 shows an example of a mail information display screen, in which “last update” is added as a display item to the mail information display screen of FIG. As a result, it can be understood that the attached document has changed the sender's confidence in the mail, and the sender's intention is reflected. In FIG. 16, the last update mark is attached to the attached documents “Report proposal.doc” and “List table.xls”, and these documents have been updated in the previous mail. Indicates that it was updated in the previous mail 2.
[0119]
In any of the display screens of the present embodiment, various highlighting focusing on a specific item such as an email, a user, an attached document, or an update history of the attached document can be performed. Various highlighting methods are possible, such as color coding, changing luminance, and surrounding with a straight line or curve.
[0120]
In the above-described embodiment, the system configuration including the two servers of the document server 10 and the e-mail server 140 shown in FIG. 1 is taken as an example. However, the system configuration with multiple servers as shown in FIG. The present invention can be similarly used when there are a plurality of electronic mail servers. 20 transfers the electronic mail to the document server A 320, and similarly, the electronic mail server B 340 transfers the electronic mail to the document server B 360. When the matter is started, the matter of this embodiment is stored in the document database of the document server that issued the matter number. Therefore, when an electronic mail related to a matter number that is not managed by the document server is transferred to the document server, the electronic mail is transferred again to the managed document server. This transfer process is possible in the document management program 110.
[0121]
Further, in order to maintain a unique number for the case number, the domain name of each document server is included in the case number.
[0122]
On the other hand, a search for a document database managed by a plurality of document servers can be easily realized by a known technique. For example, it can be realized by the function of Search Coordination in the document management standard model DMA (Doocument Management Alliance) in the document management standardization organization AIIM (reference: AIIM Doocument Management Alliance, DEN / Shamrock Convergence Document, 15- Nov 1995). That is, according to this document, in the case of FIG. 20, by adding the document search middleware 400, after searching each of the two document databases, the display can be provided to the user in an integrated form. become.
[0123]
The above is the document history management method in this embodiment.
[0124]
As described above, according to the present invention, in the document history management method, a history in which an attached file is updated in the process of sending and receiving an electronic mail is displayed.
[0125]
In the present invention, the user can refer to the exchange of e-mails and the update status of the attached document, and can accurately grasp the progress of decision making regarding a certain series of themes.
[0126]
According to the present invention, in the document history management method, the number of times the attached file has been updated in the process of sending and receiving e-mails is displayed.
[0127]
In the present invention, the user can grasp the effectiveness of the attached document in decision making regarding a certain series of themes.
[0128]
According to the present invention, in the document history management method, identification information indicating that an attached file of an e-mail is a file updated at a transmission source is displayed.
[0129]
In the present invention, the user can grasp that the intention of the sender is reflected in the attached document.
[0130]
According to the present invention, in the document history management method, when the user designates one of the attached documents included in the history display, the electronic mail information corresponding to the history is displayed.
[0131]
In the present invention, the user can sequentially refer to the mail at the timing of updating the attached document, and can easily track the decision making process.
[0132]
According to the present invention, in the document history management method, the date when the attached file was updated and the name of the updater are displayed as the history of the attached file being updated.
[0133]
In the present invention, the user can refer to the exchange of e-mails and the update status of the attached document, and can grasp the progress of decision making regarding a certain series of themes.
[0134]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, by associating email transmission / reception information with the update history information of a document attached to the email, all of the emails received and transmitted with respect to a certain series of themes and their progress can be obtained. It is possible to provide a document history management method that makes it possible to refer to it, and also makes it possible to grasp the update status of a document attached to an e-mail, and to present the process of decision making in a project accurately and easily to the user. become.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an entire system in an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a display screen for a mail transmission path and a document update history according to the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is an exemplary view showing a data structure of a document database according to the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing properties of item data.
FIG. 5 is a view showing properties of mail data.
FIG. 6 is a view showing properties of mail body data.
FIG. 7 is a view showing properties of attached document data.
FIG. 8 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a procedure of document registration processing in the document management program according to the embodiment;
FIG. 9 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a procedure of attached document registration / update processing in the document management program according to the embodiment;
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a mail sequence and a document update history on a mail transmission path and document update history display screen according to the embodiment;
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a mail sequence and a document update history on a mail transmission path and a document update history display screen according to the embodiment;
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a case list display screen according to the embodiment.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a mail list display screen according to the embodiment.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a mail information display screen according to the embodiment.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a document update history information display screen according to the embodiment.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a mail information display screen according to the embodiment;
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a search screen according to the embodiment.
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a detailed search screen according to the embodiment.
FIG. 19 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for displaying document update history information in the document search / display program according to the embodiment;
FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a multi-server system in an embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10: Document server, 20: User terminal A, 30: User terminal B, 40: Input device, 50: Network, 100: Document database, 110: Document management program, 120: Document search / display program, 130: Electronic Mail database 140: Mail server control program 200: E-mail client 210: Document creation application 220: Web browser

Claims (10)

In a document management method for managing documents attached to e-mails,
The e-mail sent by the terminal is attached with case identification information for identifying the related e-mail according to a predetermined rule, and the e-mail is sorted and accumulated based on the attached case identification information. ,
The sorted e-mail is attached with sequence information indicating mail connection information,
Determine whether the document is attached to the received email,
As a result of the determination, if a document is attached, the document is attached from an email having the same item identification information as the item identification information of the document based on sequence information of the email to which the document is attached. It has been searched for e-mail received even prior to the e-mail, in the retrieved e-mail, searches whether there is the accompanying document corresponding to the document,
If there is an attached document corresponding to the attached document as a result of the search, it is determined whether there is a difference in the file contents of the attached document;
If there is a difference in the contents of the attached document as a result of the determination, information indicating that the attached document has been updated is stored;
A document management method for displaying the stored information as update history information of an attached document.   Search for an e-mail that satisfies the search conditions received from the user, and display the searched e-mail in association with an e-mail having the same item identification information as the item identification information of the searched e-mail The document management method according to claim 1.   3. A selection of an e-mail is received from the plurality of e-mails displayed in association with each other, and an attached document attached to the received e-mail is displayed together with update history information of the attached document. Document management method described in 1. Update history information to be the displayed document management method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the number of times that the attached document is updated. 5. The displayed update history information is identification information indicating that the attached document has been updated at a transmission source of an e-mail to which the updated document is attached . The document management method according to any one of the above. Specifying a single document included in the display of the update history information, the document management method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that displaying the e-mail information corresponding to the document. The update history information, the document management method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises the name of the day and update who the attached document is updated. In a document management device that manages documents attached to e-mails,
The e-mail transmitted by the terminal is attached with case identification information for identifying the related e-mail according to a predetermined rule, and is distributed based on the attached case identification information, and indicates connection information of the e-mail Storage means for storing e-mails with sequence information;
Determine whether the document is attached to the received email,
As a result of the determination, if a document is attached, the document is attached from an email having the same item identification information as the item identification information of the document based on sequence information of the email to which the document is attached. Search for an email received earlier than the received email, and search for whether there is an attached document corresponding to the document in the searched email,
If there is an attached document corresponding to the attached document as a result of the search, it is determined whether there is a difference in the file contents of the attached document;
If there is a difference in the contents of the attached document as a result of the determination, means for storing information indicating that the attached document has been updated;
A document management apparatus comprising: display means for displaying the stored information as update history information of an attached document. The document management apparatus according to claim 8.
The document management apparatus has a search means for searching for an e-mail that satisfies a search condition received from a user,
9. The document according to claim 8, wherein the display unit displays the searched e-mail in association with the e-mail having the same item identification information as the item identification information of the searched e-mail. Management device.   The display unit accepts selection of an email from the plurality of emails displayed in association with each other, and displays an attached document attached to the received email together with update history information of the attached document. The document management apparatus according to claim 9.

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