JP4205097B2 - Print history management system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a print history management system that manages a history when printing is performed by a printer or a preview of printing by a computer, and a desired history can be easily selected from a large number of printing or preview histories.

  From the viewpoint of ensuring security against leakage of document information within a company, there is an increasing need to manage the printing history of printers. In order to manage the printing history, conventionally, the administrator manages the printing history by recording the printing date and time, the user name, the printer name, the name of the printed document, the number of copies, and the like as the history. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-228561 shows a conventional system for managing print history.

JP 2003-44255 A

  In a conventional system for managing print histories, when (print date and time) where (printer name) who (user name) what (printed document name) how much (number of copies) can be grasped, It is impossible to grasp what kind of content is actually. Therefore, for example, when printing a document containing a trade secret, if a malicious user changes the document name to a name that does not interfere with it, it will be difficult for an administrator to check from the document name. There is.

In particular, in the case of a company or the like, a large number of documents are printed by a printer, but most of them are documents used in daily work, and only a part of the documents is a security problem. It is not practical for the administrator to always monitor that a part of the document is printed, and it is very efficient to monitor only when a document including a specific term is printed.

  Therefore, the present inventor decided to record the printed document itself in addition to the above printing history. As a result, even if the document name is changed, the contents can be grasped, so that the administrator can check the contents of the printed document.

  In addition, a page format file for recording a printed document is recorded in a metafile format. By recording in the metafile format, the administrator can search the contents of the document. For example, a document including a specific term can be extracted.

The invention of claim 1 is a print history management system for managing a history of printing or previewing a document used in a monitoring target system, wherein the printing history management system detects an operation for detecting a print instruction or preview instruction for the document. Monitoring means, output condition generation means for generating an output condition indicating under what conditions the document is instructed to be printed or previewed, and actual output in print or preview by the print instruction or preview instruction Output history generation means for generating an output result as an output history, page format file generation means for generating a page format file indicating the contents of the document that is the target of the print instruction or preview instruction, the generated output condition, wherein the output history page Four In association with Ttofairu, output a history storage means for storing, receiving a reference request for the print history including the output condition and said output history and the page format file, a print history stored in the history storage means as print history And a means for comparing the generated output condition with the output history and notifying if there is a difference .

According to the present invention, not only the history of printing results as in the prior art, but also what kind of contents are printed or previewed is stored as a page format file, so that the contents can be grasped even if the document name is changed I can do it. In addition to the output history, the output conditions specified by the user are also included in the print history, so that analysis from various viewpoints can be performed. The output history and the output conditions usually match. However, if the user is not familiar with the document configuration of the monitored system, a document that does not actually exist may be printed or previewed. By comparing the output history with the output condition and notifying it, the manager can quickly grasp the above situation.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the page format file generation means generates the page format file in a metafile format, the reference means receives an input of a term, and uses the received term as a search condition, the page format file. Is a print history management system that outputs a page format file including the term and / or an output history associated with the page format file.

  By storing the page format file in the metafile format, the contents of the document can be searched in addition to simply grasping the contents. As a result, it is possible to grasp the print or preview output history of a document including a desired term from a large number of print histories.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the print history management system stores a new print history in the history storage means, it searches a page format file in the print history using a predetermined term as a search condition. The print history management system performs notification when the term is included.

  By providing the processing of the present invention, for example, when a document including a term such as “confidential” is printed or previewed, the administrator is immediately notified. As a result, the administrator can respond quickly and reduce the burden of monitoring.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the print history management system in which the operation monitoring unit notifies a predetermined message at a predetermined timing when the print instruction or the preview instruction is detected.

  By performing such a notification message, a deterrent effect is generated for the user.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, operation monitoring means for detecting a print instruction or preview instruction for a document used in the monitoring target system on one or more computer terminals, the print instruction or preview instruction for the document under any conditions An output condition generating means for generating an output condition indicating the output condition, an output history generating means for generating an output result that is actually output by printing or preview as an output history by the print instruction or preview instruction, and the print instruction or preview instruction Page format file generating means for generating a page format file indicating the contents of the target document, associating the generated output condition, the output history, and the page format file with each other as a print history in the storage device of the computer terminal Remembering history Comparison means, receiving the reference request for the print history including the output condition and said output history and the page format file, reference means for outputting a print history stored in the storage device, and an output history and output conditions described above produced However, it is a print history management program for causing it to function as a means for notifying if different .

  The above-described print history management system can be a program as in the present invention. As a result, not only the history of print results as in the past, but also what kind of document was printed or previewed is stored as a page format file, so even if the document name is changed, the contents can be grasped I can do it.

  With these inventions, the administrator can grasp the contents of a document even if the user changes the document name printed. Further, by recording the page format file of the document in the metafile format, the contents of the printed or previewed document can be searched, so that a document including a specific term can be extracted. This makes it easy to manage the print history of the administrator.

In this way, by providing the print history management with a function that reduces the burden on the administrator, for example, a deterrent effect is generated for a malicious user who intends to perform unauthorized output.

  An example of the system configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to the system configuration diagram of FIG. The document to be printed in this specification may be any document as long as it is used in a system to be monitored (monitoring target system 4). For example, it may be a document used in a core business system (a business system necessary for performing a core business of a company such as a financial accounting system and a customer management system) and a document management system. The document includes document data, form data, table data, image data, and the like.

  The print history management system 1 of the present invention has a user side system 2 that functions on a computer (user terminal) used by a user, and a server side system 3 that functions on a server that manages those data. Although it is preferable, the user side system 2 and the server side system 3 can be integrated, and all or part of the user side system 2 and the server side system 3 are integrated with the monitoring target system 4. Also good.

  Note that each unit constituting the printing history management system 1 of the present invention is realized on a computer terminal (including a server) having an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU and a storage unit such as a RAM and a hard disk. A program that realizes the print history management system 1 is stored in a storage device such as a hard disk of the computer terminal, and is read into a RAM or the like when a predetermined operation is performed, and its function (means) is subjected to arithmetic processing. Processing is performed by executing it in the apparatus. Information stored as a storage means used for the processing is stored in a storage device such as a RAM or a hard disk in various file storage formats such as a database or a data file, and is appropriately read out during processing of each function (means). Process is performed. The processing result is also written to a storage device such as a RAM or a hard disk, and stored as appropriate.

  The monitoring target system 4 is a system that performs processing in accordance with data, instructions, and the like input at the user terminal, and preferably functions on the server.

  The user side system 2 includes an operation monitoring unit 5, an output history generation unit 6, a page format file generation unit 7, a temporary storage unit 8, and a transmission unit 9. The server side system 3 includes a reception unit 10 and a history. A storage unit 11 and a reference unit 12 are provided.

  The operation monitoring unit 5 monitors the print instruction and preview instruction of the document input by the user at the user terminal with respect to the monitoring target system 4. When these instructions are detected, the output history generation unit 6 and the page format file generation unit 7 are detected. Is a means for instructing and starting processing. Further, the operation monitoring unit 5 may display on the user terminal that “the executed process is recorded” when a document print instruction or preview instruction is detected on the user terminal. This display may be performed every time an instruction is detected, may be performed at random, or may be performed at a predetermined rate (for example, once every 10 times). If the display is always performed, it will be bothersome for the user, and if the display is not performed at all, the deterrence effect on the user will be reduced.

  When printing a document to be used in the monitoring target system 4, when the user presses a button for executing the document and designates the name of the document to be printed, the print range (number of pages, etc.), and the printer to be printed, the print target The document name, print range (number of pages, etc.) designated by the user, user terminal name, user identification information, and date / time information are included in the print instruction and transmitted from the user terminal to the monitoring target system 4. By receiving the print instruction, the monitoring target system 4 generates print data of the print range of the designated document, and the actual printable document name, print range (number of pages, etc.), user terminal name, user identification information The monitoring target system 4 passes the date / time information as print data to the user terminal. The user terminal prints the document by passing the information received from the monitoring target system 4 to the printer.

  When previewing a document to be used in the monitoring target system 4, when the user presses a button for executing the document and specifies a document name to be previewed and a preview range (number of pages, etc.), the user specifies the preview target. The document name, preview range (number of pages, etc.), user terminal name, user identification information, and date / time information are included in the preview instruction and transmitted from the user terminal to the monitoring target system 4. By receiving the preview instruction, the monitoring target system 4 generates preview data of the designated document, and the actual previewable document name, preview range (number of pages, etc.), user terminal name, user identification information, date and time are displayed. The monitoring target system 4 passes the information as preview data to the user terminal. The user terminal executes the document preview by displaying the information received from the monitoring target system 4 on the monitor.

  Upon receiving the notification from the operation monitoring unit 5, the output history generation unit 6 displays the output history actually output as print or preview, when (output date / time), where (printer name), who (information identifying the user ( User name, user ID, etc.)), what (printed document name), how much (number of copies), printed, previewed, or printed after preview as output history.

  In addition to the output history generation means 6, an output condition generation means (not shown) may be further provided. The output condition generation unit generates, as a log, an output condition indicating under what conditions the user has transmitted a print instruction or a preview instruction to the monitoring target system 4 or the printer. By generating the output history and the output condition in this manner, the administrator can grasp an abnormal state such as the user frequently repeating printing under conditions that do not exist originally. For example, when the forms 1 to 10 are printed even though only the form numbers 1 to 5 exist, the document names of the output history are the form numbers 1 to 5, and the output conditions The document names are form numbers 1 to 10. When the administrator compares the output history with the output condition, a difference occurs, and the administrator can grasp the abnormality by viewing the difference. This is because it is generally considered that a user of a system knows what document exists and how much, and does not perform processing that deviates from that document. The comparison between the output history and the output condition may be automatically performed in the server-side system 3, and the administrator may be notified when there is a difference.

  The output history generation unit 6 acquires the document name and print range (number of pages, etc.), the user terminal name, the user identification information, and the date / time information that can be actually printed or previewed, which the monitoring target system 4 has passed to the user terminal. Further, information such as the number of prints designated by the user is acquired to generate an output history. Whether it has been printed or previewed can be determined by the type of instruction.

  Further, the output condition generation means provides the document name and print range (number of pages, etc.) desired to be printed or previewed by the user, passed from the user terminal to the monitoring target system 4, user terminal name, user identification information, date and time information. In addition, information such as the number of copies specified by the user is acquired to generate an output condition. Whether it has been printed or previewed can be determined by the type of instruction.

  Upon receiving the notification from the operation monitoring unit 5, the page format file generation unit 7 temporarily stores a command for generating output information for printing or screen display of a document printed or previewed by the user, and performs printing or preview processing Thereafter, it is means for generating a page format file of the document based on the temporarily stored instruction. The page format file may be generated in a metafile format, but is not limited thereto. The page format file may be used as it is when the print data or preview data transferred from the monitoring target system 4 to the user terminal is in the metafile format, or a new page format file is generated in the metafile format based on them. Also good. A metafile format is a file that defines the layout and data of a page. It consists of a combination of coordinates, size, drawing commands, etc. on paper and a screen, and alphanumeric symbols that are actually printed or previewed. It is a file format consisting of information such as columns and images. For example, there are file formats such as EMF, PDF, and DOC format. When a page format file is generated in a format other than the metafile format, an image format is generally used.

  After associating the output history generated by the output history generating means 6, the page format file generated by the page format file generating means 7, and the output conditions generated by the output condition generating means in some cases, data such as RAM is stored. It is stored in the temporary storage means 8 that temporarily stores it.

  The transmission unit 9 is a unit that transmits the output history, the page format file, and possibly the output condition stored in the temporary storage unit 8 to the server side system 3 via the network. As a communication protocol at this time, it is preferable to use HTTP, HTTPS, or the like. Since the page format file is transmitted, the amount of data tends to increase. Therefore, it is preferable to compress the data when transmitting.

  The receiving means 10 is means for receiving the output history and page format file transmitted from the user-side system 2 and possibly the output conditions via the network and storing them in the history storage means 11 in association with each other. The receiving unit 10 transmits an instruction to delete the output history, the page format file, and possibly the output condition stored in the temporary storage unit 8 of the user-side system 2 after being stored in the history storage unit 11. However, they may be deleted by the user side system 2.

  The history storage unit 11 is a unit that stores an output history, a page format file, and in some cases, an output condition in association with each other.

  The reference unit 12 is a unit that acquires and displays the output history, the page format file, and, in some cases, the output condition from the history storage unit 11 when a browsing request such as an output history is received by a predetermined operation from the administrator. It is. An example of this display is shown in FIG. When it is desired to search an output history including a specific term from a large number of output histories, the input of the term is accepted and a page format file is searched using the term as a search condition. The output history associated with the page format file including the term and the page format file are displayed as search results on the computer used by the administrator. The display of the page format file can be enlarged / reduced. FIG. 3 shows an example in which the displayed page format file is enlarged and a part thereof is displayed.

  Next, an example of the processing process of the print history management system 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2 and the system configuration diagram of FIG.

  First, when a user who uses the monitoring target system 4 desires to print or preview some document and inputs the instruction to the user terminal, the instruction is transmitted from the user terminal to the monitoring target system 4. The instruction is detected by the operation monitoring means 5 of the user side system 2 (S100).

  The operation monitoring unit 5 that has detected the print instruction or the preview instruction notifies the output history generation unit 6, the page format file generation unit 7, and in some cases, the output condition generation unit that a predetermined instruction has been performed. . Further, by detecting the instruction, the operation monitoring unit 5 may display “the executed process is recorded” on the user terminal at a predetermined timing.

  Upon receiving this notification, the output history generating means 6 printed the output history actually output as a print or preview as to when, where, who, what, how much, the preview, or after the preview. Is generated as an output history (S110) and stored in the temporary storage means 8 (S130).

  Similarly, the page format file generation means 7 that has received the notification from the operation monitoring means 5 temporarily stores a command for generating output information for printing or displaying a document printed or previewed by the user, After printing or preview processing, a page format file of the document is generated in a metafile format based on the temporarily stored command (S120) and stored in the temporary storage unit 8 (S130).

  When the user-side system 2 is further provided with an output condition generation unit, the output condition generation unit that receives the notification from the operation monitoring unit 5 indicates under what conditions the print or preview instruction is transmitted. Output conditions are generated and stored in the temporary storage unit 8 in the same manner as the output history and page format file.

  The output history, page format file, and output condition stored in the temporary storage unit 8 may be associated with each other.

  At a predetermined timing, the transmission unit 9 uses a predetermined communication protocol such as HTTP or HTTPS for the output history, page format file, and possibly output conditions stored in the temporary storage unit 8 to the server side system 3. Then, it is transmitted via the network (S140).

  The receiving means 10 receives the output history, page format file, and possibly the output conditions transmitted from the user-side system 2 via the network (S150), and stores them in the history storage means 11 in association with each other (S160). .

  After storing in the history storage unit 11, the reception unit 10 transmits an instruction to delete the output history, page format file, and output condition stored in the temporary storage unit 8 to the user side system 2, and the instruction is transmitted to the user side system. 2, the user side system 2 deletes the output history, page format file, and output condition stored in the temporary storage unit 8.

  Through the processing process as described above, the server-side system 3 can manage the user's print instruction, preview instruction, and document contents for the monitoring target system 4.

  When the administrator performs a search based on the print instruction or preview instruction log recorded as described above and its contents, the server side system 3 is accessed by a predetermined method. When the reference unit 12 receives an input of a list display instruction, an output history, a page format file, an output condition, and the like stored in the history storage unit 11 are acquired and displayed on a screen as shown in FIG. The output history is displayed in the upper part of FIG. 3, and the page format file associated with the output history selected by the administrator from the output history list is displayed in the lower part of FIG. FIG. 3 shows an example in which a total balance trial calculation table (two-column fixed type, balance sheet) is selected from the output history list and its page format file is displayed.

  If the administrator wants to search for an output history including a specific term, the reference unit 12 accepts an input of a term serving as a search condition by performing a predetermined operation (S170). The reference unit 12 searches the page format file stored in the history storage unit 11 using the received term as a search condition (S180), and extracts a document including the term as a search result. Then, the page format file of the document including the term, the output history and the output condition associated therewith are acquired from the history management means, and displayed as search results on the computer used by the administrator (S190).

  This search may be performed automatically. That is, a term is specified in advance as a search condition, and the reference unit 12 searches the page format file stored in the history storage unit 11 based on the term specified as the search condition at a predetermined timing. The page format file of the included document, the output history associated with it, and the output conditions are displayed on the computer terminal used by the administrator. Further, when the receiving unit 10 newly stores an output history, a page format file, and output conditions in the history storage unit 11 in association with each other, a search is performed as to whether or not the predetermined term is included in the page format file. Can also be configured to notify the administrator. By performing this notification, for example, when a user prints or previews a document including a term such as “confidential”, the administrator can quickly grasp the document.

  According to the present invention, the administrator can grasp the contents of the document even if the user changes the name of the document printed. In addition, by recording a page format file of a document in a metafile format, the contents of the document can be searched, so that a document including a specific term can be extracted. This makes it easy to manage the print history of the administrator.

In this way, by providing the print history management with a function that reduces the burden on the administrator, for example, a deterrent effect is generated for a malicious user who intends to perform unauthorized output.

It is a system configuration figure showing an example of the system configuration of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the processing process of this invention. It is an example of the screen which browses an output history and a page format file.

Explanation of symbols

1: Print history management system 2: User side system 3: Server side system 4: Monitoring target system 5: Operation monitoring means 6: Output history generation means 7: Page format file generation means 8: Temporary storage means 9: Transmission means 10: Reception means 11: History storage means 12: Reference means

Claims (5)

A print history management system for managing a history of printing or previewing a document used in a monitored system,
The print history management system includes:
Operation monitoring means for detecting a print instruction or preview instruction of the document;
Output condition generating means for generating an output condition indicating under what conditions the document is printed or previewed;
An output history generating means for generating, as an output history, an output result actually output by printing or preview according to the print instruction or preview instruction;
Page format file generating means for generating a page format file indicating the contents of the document that is the target of the print instruction or preview instruction;
A history storage means for associating the generated output condition, the output history and the page format file, and storing them as a print history;
A reference means for the output condition and said output history receiving a reference request of the print history including said page format file, and outputs a print history stored in the history storing means,
Means for comparing the generated output condition and output history, and if different, notifying;
A print history management system comprising: The page format file generation means generates the page format file in a metafile format,
The reference means receives an input of a term, searches the page format file using the received term as a search condition, and outputs a page format file including the term and / or an output history associated with the page format file. ,
The print history management system according to claim 1. The print history management system includes:
When a new print history is stored in the history storage means, a page format file in the print history is searched using a predetermined term as a search condition, and notification is made when the term is included.
The print history management system according to claim 2, wherein: The operation monitoring means includes
A predetermined message is notified at a predetermined timing when the print instruction or the preview instruction is detected;
The print history management system according to claim 1. One or more computer terminals,
Operation monitoring means for detecting a print instruction or a preview instruction for a document used in the monitoring target system;
Output condition generation means for generating an output condition indicating under what conditions the document is printed or previewed;
An output history generating means for generating, as an output history, an output result actually output by printing or preview according to the print instruction or preview instruction;
Page format file generation means for generating a page format file indicating the contents of the document that is the target of the print instruction or preview instruction;
A history storage means for associating the generated output condition, the output history, and the page format file, and storing it in a storage device of the computer terminal as a print history;
Reference means for the output condition and receiving a reference request of the print history including said output history and the page format file, and outputs a print history stored in the storage device,
Means for comparing the generated output condition and output history, and notifying if different,
Print history management program to function as

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