JP5194763B2 - Electronic document processing system, electronic document processing method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic document processing system, an electronic document processing method, and a computer program for handling electronic documents on a network, and in particular, sharing of electronic documents among a plurality of users via a workspace constructed on the network. The present invention relates to an electronic document processing system, an electronic document processing method, and a computer program for collaborating electronic documents.

  More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic document processing system, an electronic document processing method, and a computer program that securely share an electronic document only between specific users on a workspace, and in particular, an encryption technique using the PKI method. The present invention relates to an electronic document processing system, an electronic document processing method, and a computer program that securely share an electronic document only between specific users on a workspace.

  Recently, with the development of information processing technology and information communication technology. By connecting computers to each other via a network, it is possible to smoothly share computer resources and share and distribute information. For example, a workspace can be constructed on a network as a base for realizing information sharing and collaborative work of electronic documents in a team composed of a plurality of users. The electronic document referred to here includes, in addition to an electronic document created or edited on a personal computer, an electronic document obtained by reading an actual paper document with a scanner or the like.

  When an electronic document is handled on a network, it is one of important technical issues to share safely only between specific users. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it is common to set protection for an electronic document by using PKI (Public Key Infrastructure). According to PKI, users can mutually authenticate each other's legitimacy using the user's public key described in the public key certificate, and users can directly encrypt and decrypt communication texts. It becomes possible. A certificate authority (CA) issues a certificate x for determining the identity of the user and guarantees its validity. In many PKI systems, the validity of the certificate authority is further guaranteed by the certificate y issued by the higher-order certificate authority, and the higher-order certificate authority guarantees the validity of the lower certificate authority in the same way. Relies on the chain of certificates.

  When an electronic document is securely shared using a PKI in a workspace on the network, a user who performs protection setting by the PKI (for example, a user who provides an electronic document to the workspace) is a public key of each user to be shared It is necessary to go through a procedure such as collecting documents and protecting the document with the collected public key. In such a case, there is a burden of providing a public key for a user to be shared, and a burden of collecting a public key and a burden of performing protection setting for each document for a user who performs protection setting. Also, due to the complexity of the PKI mechanism, there is a problem that the user lacks intuition when creating a protected document.

  For example, a proposal is made for an electronic data sharing apparatus that designates a user to be disclosed when uploading electronic data and uploads a document in an encrypted state using the public key of the user managed in the uploaded apparatus (For example, refer to Patent Document 1), and the user can share and disclose electronic data only to an arbitrary partner.

  Also, create a group key based on the information entered in the dialog box, import this group key, set the usage conditions for the group key that you want to use for file encryption, and the encrypted file header One or more key information is embedded in the file, and the group key usage condition to be used for decrypting the encrypted file is set, and the one or more key information included in the header portion of the encrypted file is sequentially examined. A security method for sharing a file among a plurality of users has been proposed in which a file is decrypted when key information permitted to be decrypted by a user who intends to decrypt is found (for example, (See Patent Document 2). In this method, a plurality of keys capable of decrypting an encrypted document are prepared as group keys, and a user having one of them can use the encrypted document under a use condition corresponding to the key. However, since it is premised on the distribution of keys, it has no effect on the above problems such as the burden of providing keys and the burden of collecting keys.

  Examples of a network form for connecting host devices such as computers to each other include a client / server (C / S) system in which a master-slave relationship between a client and a server is fixed, and a peer-to-peer (P2P) system in which each peer is equal. In the latter P2P system, a dedicated server is basically not provided, and each peer connected to the network operates like a server that provides a service at one time, and is provided by another peer at another time. Acts like a client using a service. It is relatively easy to maintain position independence in a P2P system. For example, a user can use a workspace that belongs to one or more “workgroups” and shares information within each workgroup. Since the information exchanged on the workspace is replicated by a plurality of peers, the workspace can be accessed from a peer device at a different location if it can be connected to any peer device.

  For example, a system for realizing file sharing in a P2P group shared space has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 4). According to the system, it is possible to suitably control the simultaneous access or the like that occurs in the joint work on the shared space, but there is no particular proposal for an approach of creating an encrypted document through the joint work.

JP 2005-115479 A JP 2000-99385 A JP 2006-268574 A, paragraphs 0002-0005 JP 2005-129061 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent electronic document processing system and electronic document processing capable of suitably sharing electronic documents and collaborating electronic documents among a plurality of users via a workspace constructed on a network. It is to provide a method and a computer program.

  A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent electronic document processing system, electronic document processing method, and computer program capable of securely sharing an electronic document only between specific users on a workspace. .

  A further object of the present invention is to eliminate the burden of providing or collecting a public key when an electronic document is securely shared only between specific users on a workspace by applying a PKI encryption technique. The present invention provides an excellent electronic document processing system, electronic document processing method, and computer program.

  A further object of the present invention is to provide a user with an intuitive PKI protection setting for an electronic document when the electronic document is securely shared only between specific users on the workspace by applying an encryption technique based on the PKI method. It is an object to provide an excellent electronic document processing system, electronic document processing method, and computer program that can be carried out automatically.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and a first aspect thereof is an electronic document processing system for sharing an electronic document between specific users on a network,
A display control unit for controlling a display window on a shared workspace constructed on a network, which is shared among specific users;
A user ID confirmation unit for confirming the ID of each user on the shared workspace;
An electronic document protection control unit that performs protection settings for electronic documents handled by each user on a shared workspace,
The display control unit controls display of a workspace display window on a display screen of each user terminal, and an electronic document dragged by a user on the shared workspace is displayed in a workspace display window of another user terminal. But let me show you,
The user ID confirmation unit responds to the drag operation of the electronic document in the workspace display window on any of the user terminals, and the user dragging the electronic document and the dragged electronic Determine the document,
This is an electronic document processing system.

  Recently, a shared workspace has been constructed on a network, and a team composed of a plurality of users using such a platform has been able to perform information sharing and electronic document collaboration. In order to securely share an electronic document only with a specific user, it is common to perform protection settings using PKI or the like.

  Conventionally, a user who performs protection setting by PKI has to go through a procedure of collecting the public key of each user to be shared and protecting the document with the collected public key. For this reason, there is a burden of providing a public key for a user to be shared, and a burden of collecting a public key and a burden of performing protection setting for each document for a user who performs protection setting. Also, due to the complexity of the PKI mechanism, there is a problem that the user lacks intuition when creating a protected document.

  On the other hand, in the electronic document processing system according to the present invention, each user drags and drops an electronic document into the workspace display window on his / her terminal, and a plurality of users are shared on the shared workspace on the network. The user can drag and move the electronic document into one. Then, a public key is obtained from each of the other user terminals that participated in the operation of bundling the electronic documents, and the document resulting from the bundling is encrypted using the obtained public key. Process.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, through intuitive and easy user interface operation of “bundling documents” between users, complicated settings for protection document can be made without making the user aware of it. The electronic document can be safely shared among the users. In addition, an encrypted document can be decrypted only by a bundled user.

  The above encryption process is hidden from the user, and the user is not aware of the process at all.

  In addition, it is assumed that the document bundled as described above is once converted into a protected document, and then another new user is to be added to the members of the shared workspace in addition to the initially set user.

  Therefore, for example, all users who share the original electronic document bundled together and a new user perform a new bundle operation, or some users who share the original electronic document bundled together and a new user perform a new bundle operation. As a trigger, a user may be newly added as a member of the shared workspace.

  When a new user is added as a member, the already encrypted document is decrypted, and each electronic document is returned to a bundled state. Performing decryption in the shared workspace is problematic in terms of security, so decryption is performed on the user terminal that is the main body that encrypts the bundled documents.

  Subsequently, in addition to the existing user public key that can be acquired from the document, the user terminal that is the main user terminal also has the public key that the user holds in the system from the user terminal that newly participates in the sharing of the electronic document. Is acquired by network communication. Then, on the user terminal that is the main body, the obtained public key (users A, B, C, D, and E) is used to encrypt the resulting bundled document.

  The above encryption process is hidden from the user, and the user is not aware of the process at all.

The second aspect of the present invention is a computer program described in a computer-readable format so that a process for sharing an electronic document between specific users on a network is executed on a computer. Computer
Display control means for controlling a display window on a shared workspace constructed on a network, which is shared among specific users;
User ID confirmation means for confirming the ID of each user on the shared workspace;
It functions as an electronic document protection control means for setting protection for electronic documents handled by each user on the shared workspace,
The display control means controls display of a workspace display window on a display screen of each user terminal, and an electronic document dragged by a user on the shared workspace is displayed in a workspace display window of another user terminal. But let me show you,
The user ID confirmation means responds to the drag operation of the electronic document in the workspace display window on any of the user terminals, and the user dragging the electronic document and the dragged electronic Identify the document,
The electronic document protection control unit bundles a plurality of electronic documents that are dragged and dropped into the workspace display window via each user terminal, and any user who has performed the drag and drop operation. The terminal is determined to be the subject, the public keys of all user terminals for which the drag-and-drop operation has been performed are obtained at the subject user terminal, and the public key obtained on the subject user terminal is used. Encrypting bundled electronic documents,
This is a computer program characterized by the above.

  The computer program according to the second aspect of the present invention defines a computer program described in a computer-readable format so as to realize predetermined processing on the computer. In other words, by installing the computer program according to the second aspect of the present invention on the computer, a cooperative action is exhibited on the computer, and is the same as the electronic document processing system according to the first aspect of the present invention. The effect of this can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, an excellent electronic document processing system and electronic document processing capable of suitably sharing electronic documents and collaborating electronic documents among a plurality of users via a workspace constructed on a network. Methods and computer programs can be provided.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an excellent electronic document processing system, electronic document processing method, and computer program capable of safely sharing an electronic document only between specific users on a workspace. it can.

  In addition, according to the present invention, the burden of the user providing or collecting the public key when the electronic document is securely shared only between specific users on the workspace by applying the encryption technology based on the PKI method. An excellent electronic document processing system, electronic document processing method, and computer program that can be eliminated can be provided.

  Further, according to the present invention, when the electronic document is securely shared only between specific users on the workspace by applying the encryption technology based on the PKI method, the user sets the protection setting for the electronic document by the PKI. An excellent electronic document processing system, electronic document processing method, and computer program that can be performed intuitively can be provided.

  According to the present invention, through intuitive and easy user interface operation of “bundling documents” between users, it is possible to perform complicated protection document setting without making the user aware of it. Electronic documents can be safely shared between them.

  Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from more detailed description based on embodiments of the present invention described later and the accompanying drawings.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows a configuration of an electronic document processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic document processing system 10 shown in the figure basically includes a terminal for each user having a user interface including a display and a keyboard and a mouse, and a workspace shared between users who operate the user terminals.

  The display control unit 11 controls a display window on the workspace shared between specific users on the network. Specifically, the display of the workspace display window is controlled on the display screen of each user terminal, and the electronic document (its icon) dragged by the user on the shared workspace is transferred to the workspace of other user terminals. Move to show in the display window.

  The user ID confirmation unit 12 is means for confirming the ID of each user on the shared workspace. For example, when an electronic document is dragged in the above workspace display window on any user terminal, the user ID confirmation unit 12 can determine who is dragging and moving which electronic document. it can.

  The electronic document protection control unit 13 performs protection setting for the electronic document handled by each user on the shared workspace by, for example, the PKI method.

  However, the electronic document processing system 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a logical configuration, and is either a client / server (C / S) system or a peer-to-peer (P2P) system in which the master-slave relationship between the client and the server is fixed. It can be realized even in the form of a network worm. The display control unit 11, the user ID confirmation unit 12, and the electronic document protection control unit 13 described above are constructed on a specific server, or equivalent functions are appropriately provided in each peer (user terminal). There is.

  When an electronic document is handled on a network, it is one of important technical issues to share safely only between specific users. In the electronic document processing system 10 shown in FIG. 1, the protection setting of the electronic document in the workspace is performed by the PKI method.

  Conventionally, a user who performs protection setting by PKI has to go through a procedure of collecting the public key of each user to be shared and protecting the document with the collected public key. For this reason, there is a burden of providing a public key for a user to be shared, and a burden of collecting a public key and a burden of performing protection setting for each document for a user who performs protection setting. Also, due to the complexity of the PKI mechanism, there is a problem that the user lacks intuition when creating a protected document.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the electronic document protection control unit 13 selects the electronic document bundled as one on the shared workspace, and the document as a result of being bundled mainly by any user terminal. The encryption process is performed using the public key of each user who participated in the bundling operation. In such a case, through intuitive and easy user interface operation of “bundling documents” between users, complicated settings for document protection can be made without the user being conscious. Can securely share electronic documents. In addition, an encrypted document can be decrypted only by a bundled user.

  The flow of protection setting by the electronic document protection control unit 13 will be specifically described.

  When three users A, B, and C jointly bundle a plurality of electronic documents on the shared workspace, one of the user terminals becomes the main subject of encryption, and the user terminals are bundled by the PKI method. The resulting document is encrypted.

  Here, the condition in which the user is the subject is arbitrary. For example, the main user can be determined according to the order in which the operations for bundling electronic documents are performed, or the user who dragged and dropped the electronic document at the bottom when bundling is used as the main It may be determined.

  The user terminal that is the main user first acquires the public key that each user holds in the system from the terminal of another user through network communication. Subsequently, the bundled document is encrypted using the acquired public key on the terminal of the main user. The above encryption process is hidden from the user, and the user is not aware of the process at all.

  In addition, it is assumed that the document bundled as described above is once converted into a protected document, and then another new user is to be added to the members of the shared workspace in addition to the initially set user. For example, all users who share the bundled original electronic document and the new user perform a bundle operation again, or some users who share the bundled original electronic document and the new user perform a bundle operation again. With this as a trigger, a new user may be added as a member of the shared workspace.

  The flow of adding a new user to the shared workspace after once converting the bundled documents into a protected document will be specifically described.

  As described above, when a new user D or E is added as a safe shared member to a document that is safely shared by the three users A, B, and C, any of the existing users A, B, and C Such a user terminal is a main body for decrypting and encrypting the bundled electronic documents. Here, the subject condition is arbitrary. For example, the subject condition may be random, or the user may be set in the document to be the subject.

  Performing decryption in a shared workspace is a security problem. For this reason, the decryption is performed on the main user terminal of any of the users A, B, and C. Subsequently, in addition to the public keys of the users A, B, and C that can be acquired from within the document, the user terminal that has been the subject user has entered the system from the terminals of the users D and E that are newly added to share the electronic document. Obtain the public key that is held by network communication. Then, on the user terminal that is the main body, the obtained public key (users A, B, C, D, and E) is used to encrypt the resulting bundled document.

  The above encryption process is hidden from the user, and the user is not aware of the process at all.

  FIG. 2 shows a processing procedure executed in the electronic document processing system according to the present embodiment in the form of a flowchart.

  First, a workspace is defined (step S1). A workspace display window is assigned to the defined workspace, and the workspace display window is displayed on the display screen of each user terminal.

The electronic document (its icon) dragged by the user on the shared workspace is moved and displayed in the workspace display window of other user terminals. Then, when the icon of the electronic document is superimposed in the workspace display window (Yes in step S3), the plurality of superimposed electronic documents are bundled (step S4). At this time, the main user terminal is determined according to the order in which the electronic document is dragged and dropped into the workspace display window.

  When the user terminal that drags and drops the electronic document in the workspace display window is a new terminal (Yes in step S5), the main user terminal acquires a public key from the new user terminal ( Step S6). Also, when there is a bundle of electronic documents that have already been encrypted, the encryption process is performed on the main user terminal.

  Then, the user terminal as the main body adds the bundled electronic documents, and performs an encryption process using the public key of each user who participated in the bundle operation (step S7). As a result, the electronic document is securely shared among specific users on the shared workspace (step S8).

  The present invention has been described in detail above with reference to specific embodiments. However, it is obvious that those skilled in the art can make modifications and substitutions of the embodiment without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, in addition to an electronic document created or edited on a personal computer in a network workspace, an electronic document obtained by scanning an actual paper document with a scanner or the like can be safely shared between specific users. In addition, the electronic document can be encrypted with an intuitive operation with less burden on the user.

  The gist of the present invention is not limited to a specific network form, and is applicable to either a client / server (C / S) system or a peer-to-peer (P2P) system in which a master-slave relationship between a client and a server is fixed. Can be applied similarly.

  In short, the present invention has been disclosed in the form of exemplification, and the description of the present specification should not be interpreted in a limited manner. In order to determine the gist of the present invention, the claims should be taken into consideration.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of an electronic document processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed in the electronic document processing system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Electronic document processing system 11 ... Display control part 12 ... User ID confirmation part 13 ... Electronic document protection control part

Claims (7)

An electronic document processing system for sharing electronic documents between specific users on a network,
A display control unit for controlling a display window on a shared workspace constructed on a network, which is shared among specific users;
A user ID confirmation unit for confirming the ID of each user on the shared workspace;
A plurality of electronic documents that are dragged and dropped in the workspace display window via each user terminal are bundled, and the user terminal on which the drag and drop operation is performed is mainly determined, An electronic document protection control unit configured to perform protection settings for an electronic document handled by each user on the shared workspace;
With
The display control unit controls display of a workspace display window on a display screen of each user terminal, and an electronic document dragged by a user on the shared workspace is displayed in a workspace display window of another user terminal. But let me show you,
The user ID confirmation unit responds to the drag operation of the electronic document in the workspace display window on any of the user terminals, and the user dragging the electronic document and the dragged electronic Determine the document,
An electronic document processing system characterized by that. The electronic document protection control unit determines a main user terminal according to the order in which operations for bundling electronic documents are performed, or drags and drops the electronic document at the bottom when bundling Determine the user terminal as the subject,
The electronic document processing system according to claim 1. The electronic document protection control unit adds another new user's terminal to the shared workspace in addition to the user's terminal set initially.
The electronic document processing system according to claim 1. The electronic document protection control unit newly adds a user terminal to the shared workspace by performing a new bundling operation on all user terminals that share the original electronic document and a new user terminal.
The electronic document processing system according to claim 3. The electronic document protection control unit newly adds a user terminal to the shared workspace by performing a binding operation again with a part of users who share the original electronic document bundled and a new user.
The electronic document processing system according to claim 3. An electronic document processing method for sharing an electronic document between specific users on a network,
On the display screen of each user terminal, the display of the workspace display window of the shared workspace constructed on the network is controlled, and the electronic document dragged by the user terminal on the shared workspace is transferred to the other user terminals. Display control steps to move and show in the workspace display window of
A user who confirms the ID of each user on the shared workspace and drags the electronic document in response to the drag operation of the electronic document in the workspace display window on any user terminal. And a user ID confirmation step for discriminating the dragged electronic document;
A plurality of electronic documents that are dragged and dropped in the workspace display window via each user terminal are bundled, and the user terminal on which the drag and drop operation is performed is mainly determined, An electronic document protection setting step for setting protection for an electronic document handled by each user on the shared workspace;
An electronic document processing method comprising: A computer program written in a computer-readable format so that processing for sharing an electronic document between specific users on a network is executed on the computer, the computer comprising:
Display control means for controlling a display window on a shared workspace constructed on a network, which is shared among specific users,
User ID confirmation means for confirming the ID of each user on the shared workspace;
A plurality of dragged and dropped electronic documents are bundled in the workspace display window via each user terminal, and one of the user terminals on which the drag and drop operation is performed is determined and shared. Electronic document protection control means for setting protection for electronic documents handled by each user on the workspace,
Function as
The display control means controls display of a workspace display window on a display screen of each user terminal, and an electronic document dragged by a user on the shared workspace is displayed in a workspace display window of another user terminal. But let me show you,
The user ID confirmation means responds to the drag operation of the electronic document in the workspace display window on any of the user terminals, and the user dragging the electronic document and the dragged electronic Determine the document,
A computer program characterized by the above.

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