JP6879167B2 - Document management system and document management method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a document management system and a document management method including an image forming apparatus, an image processing server, and a document management server.

In recent years, document data of a document scanned by using an image forming apparatus such as a copier or a multifunction device is stored in a document management server and can be viewed by a user via a network. It is desirable that access to the document data managed by the document management server is restricted from the viewpoint of privacy and security. Therefore, a technique has been proposed in which access is restricted to the document data to be managed to restrict viewing and printing (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-140958 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-003687 JP-A-2009-193164 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-084219

However, in the prior art, there is a problem that access restriction cannot be applied for each metadata acquired by character recognition of the document data to be managed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a technique capable of managing document data by character-recognizing the document data to be managed and restricting access to each of the acquired metadata. The purpose.

The document management system of the present invention is based on an image forming apparatus that acquires document data of a managed document to be managed, an image processing server that recognizes the document data as characters and acquires metadata, and the metadata. A document management system including a document management server that manages the document data. The image forming apparatus is prepared for each type of the management target document, and character recognition is performed from the character recognition target area and the character recognition target area. A device storage unit that stores a template in which a metadata name using the character string as the metadata is set, a concealment target identification unit that specifies the metadata to be concealed in the document data, and the concealment target. accept security settings of the meta data identified as confidential by the specifying unit, in association with said metadata name and the security settings to be concealed, security settings to be transmitted to the image processing server together with the document data The image processing server includes a reception unit, the server storage unit that stores the same template that the image forming device stores in the device storage unit, and the image forming device based on the template. a character recognition unit for extracting a character string sent the character recognition target area of the document data by character recognition, and obtains a character string extracted by the pre-Symbol character recognition unit as the metadata, the acquired metadata Attribute information is created by associating the coordinate information in the document data and the security setting transmitted from the image forming apparatus with the metadata, and the attribute information and the document data are sent to the document management server. The document management server is provided with a document data storage unit that restricts access to the hidden target metadata included in the document data based on the security setting. To do.
Further, the coordinate information of the metadata may include the page number of the page in which the metadata is described in the document data and the coordinate information of the rectangular region including the metadata in the page.
The document management method of the present invention is based on an image forming apparatus that acquires document data of a managed document to be managed, an image processing server that recognizes the document data as characters and acquires metadata, and the metadata. A document management method executed by a document management system including a document management server that manages the document data. The image forming apparatus is prepared for each type of the management target document, and is a character recognition target area, the said. A template in which a metadata name is set in which a character string recognized as a character from a character recognition target area is used as the metadata is stored, the metadata to be concealed is specified in the document data, and the data is concealed. accept security settings identified the meta data, in association with said metadata name and the security settings to be concealed, and transmitted to the image processing server, the image processing server, said image forming apparatus The same template as the one stored is stored, and based on the template, the character recognition target area of the document data transmitted from the image forming apparatus is character-recognized to extract a character string, and the extracted sentence. A character string is acquired as the metadata, and attribute information is created by associating the coordinate information in the document data of the acquired metadata with the security setting transmitted from the image forming apparatus to the metadata. , The attribute information and the document data are transmitted to the document management server, and the document management server restricts access to the confidential data included in the document data based on the security settings. Characterize .

According to the present invention, the document data can be managed by character-recognizing the document data to be managed and restricting access for each of the acquired metadata.

It is a system block diagram of the document management system of embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. It is an image diagram of the template shown in FIG. This is a display example of the security setting menu. This is an example of registration of security setting information by the security setting reception unit shown in FIG. It is a schematic block diagram of the image processing server shown in FIG. It is a schematic block diagram of the document management server shown in FIG. This is an example of registering user information shown in FIG. 7. It is an image diagram of the lock button displayed in the mask area. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the document data transmission processing of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the metadata acquisition processing of the image processing server shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the access restriction processing of the document management server shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, the same reference numerals are given to the configurations showing the same functions.

As shown in FIG. 1, the document management system X of the present embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 1, an image processing server 2, a document management server 3, and a plurality of user terminals 4, which are LANs. It is connected via a network 5 such as (Local Area Network) or the Internet. The image forming apparatus 1, the image processing server 2, and the document management server 3 may each function as Web servers. The user terminal 4 is an information processing device such as a personal computer or a tablet terminal.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus 1.

The image forming apparatus 1 is a copying machine, a multifunction device, or the like, and includes an operation unit 11, a document reading unit 12, a device storage unit 13, an image processing unit 14, a printing unit 15, a device communication unit 16, and a device. It includes a control unit 17.

The operation unit 11 is a user interface including a touch panel 111 that functions as a display unit and an input unit, and various operation keys 112 such as a numeric keypad, a reset key, a stop key, and a start key. Instead of the touch panel 111, it may be a display unit such as a liquid crystal display.

The document reading unit 12 includes a light source that irradiates the document set on the platen and the document supplied from the document feeding unit (not shown), and a CCD (CCD) that converts the reflected light from the document into image data of the document. It is equipped with a photoelectric conversion unit such as Charge Coupled Device), scans the document, and generates image data of the document.

The device storage unit 13 is a storage means such as a semiconductor memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and stores image data read by the document reading unit 12, document data received by the device communication unit 16, and the like. Further, the template 131 shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the device storage unit 13.

The template 131 is prepared for each type of document such as an invoice or slip to be managed by the document management server 3, and has a border position (layout) in the document, a character recognition target area 133, and a character recognition target area 133. The character type (kanji, number, alphabet, etc.), the metadata name 132, etc., whose metadata is the character string recognized by the character recognition target area 133, are set. The user can make various settings of the template 131 and edit the template 131 via the operation unit 11.

The image processing unit 14 is a means for performing predetermined image processing on image data, and performs image processing such as enlargement / reduction processing, density adjustment, and gradation adjustment, for example.

The printing unit 15 is a printing means for printing an image based on the image data read by the document reading unit 12 and the document data received by the device communication unit 16.

The device communication unit 16 has a function of transmitting and receiving various data to and from the image processing server 2, the document management server 3, and the user terminal 4 via a network 5 such as a LAN or the Internet.

The device control unit 17 is an information processing unit such as a microcomputer equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. A control program for controlling the operation of the image forming apparatus 1 is stored in the ROM. The CPU of the device control unit 17 reads the control program stored in the ROM and expands the control program in the RAM to control the entire device according to predetermined instruction information input from the operation unit 11.

Further, the device control unit 17 functions as a login processing unit 171, a document data acquisition unit 172, a concealment target identification unit 173, and a security setting reception unit 174.

When the user identification information input via the operation unit 11 or the like is registered in the user information 324 stored in advance, the login processing unit 171 executes the login process to allow the user to use the image forming apparatus 1. Allow. The user identification information is a user ID or the like, and may be input via a login screen displayed on the operation unit 11, or may be input using an IC card such as an employee ID card. For example, the login processing unit 171 transmits the input user identification information to the document management server 3 via the device communication unit 16, and the user identification information is registered in the user information 324 by the authentication unit 331 of the document management server 3. If it is determined that, the login process may be executed. The user information 324 may be stored in the device storage unit 13. In this case, the login processing unit 171 collates the user identification information with the user information 324 stored in the device storage unit 13 to authenticate the user. May be done.

The document data acquisition unit 172 acquires the document data to be managed by the document management server 3. The document data acquisition unit 172 may acquire image data such as slips and invoices scanned by the document reading unit 12 as document data, or obtains the image data converted into a PDF file or the like as document data. Alternatively, the image data or the like received via the device communication unit 16 may be used as the document data.

The concealment target identification unit 173 previews the document data acquired by the document data acquisition unit 172 as a management target on the touch panel 111, and identifies the metadata to be concealed. The metadata to be concealed is a character string in the document data, and can be specified by the user on the touch panel 111. Based on the template 131, the concealment target identification unit 173 grasps the metadata description position in the document data previewed, and identifies the metadata corresponding to the position touched by the user as the concealment target metadata. You may. For example, as the metadata corresponding to the touched position, the character string in the character recognition target area 133 corresponding to the touched position may be specified as the metadata to be concealed.

In addition, a character string to be concealed may be marked in advance on the document to be scanned by tracing it with a highlighter pen or the like or enclosing it in a circle. When the marked document is scanned and acquired as document data by the document data acquisition unit 172, the concealment target identification unit 173 detects the mark from the document data. Then, the concealment target identification unit 173 may refer to the template 131 and specify the metadata (character string) corresponding to the detected mark position as the concealment target metadata. Further, the concealment target identification unit 173 may specify both the metadata corresponding to the position of the mark and the metadata corresponding to the position touched by the user via the touch panel 111 as the concealment target.

The concealment target identification unit 173 identifies the description area (which may be the character recognition target area 133) 70 in the document data for the metadata specified as the concealment target based on the template 131, and as shown in FIG. The specified description area 70 may be combined and displayed with the document data previewed. Even if the user slides the finger on the touch panel 111, the concealment target identification unit 173 compositely displays the rectangular description area 70 whose diagonal line is from the start point to the end point of the finger with the document data displayed in the preview. Good. Further, the concealment target identification unit 173 may allow the user to adjust the position and size of the synthetically displayed description area 70 via the touch panel 111. Further, the concealment target identification unit 173 may specify the metadata included in the created description area 70 as a concealment target when the user creates the description area 70 on the touch panel 111.

When the security setting reception unit 174 specifies the metadata to be concealed by the concealment target identification unit 173, the security setting menu 71 is displayed on the touch panel 111, and the security setting for the metadata to be concealed is received.

In the security setting menu 71, there are main menus 71-1 of "Always mask", "Only me", "Only group", and "Cancel", and it is possible to set security when viewing and printing document data. it can. When "Always Mask" is selected, all users are set to be unable to view and print the hidden metadata. When each user browses and prints the document data, the description area 70 of the metadata to be concealed is masked unreadable by the mask area 80 (see FIG. 9) such as a solid black image, so that the browsing and printing can be performed. Be restricted. When "Only me" is selected, only the logged-in user can view and print the metadata to be kept secret. When another user browses and prints the document data, the description area 70 of the metadata to be concealed is masked, and the browsing and printing are restricted. When "Group only allowed" is selected, only users belonging to the group to which the logged-in user belongs are set to be able to view and print this metadata. When a user of another group browses and prints the document data, the description area 70 of the metadata to be concealed is masked, and the browsing and printing are restricted. It should be noted that the group name to which the logged-in user is allowed to access may be set, not limited to the group to which the logged-in user belongs. When "Cancel" is selected, the designation that the metadata is to be kept secret is canceled and the security setting menu 71 is closed.

When "Always mask", "Only me", or "Only group" is selected, submenu 71-2 is displayed, and the checked items are restricted among "View" and "Print" in the submenu. Set as a target. For the "view" and "print" items, only one of them may be checked, or both may be checked. When "Print" is checked, the submenu 71-3 is further displayed, and the number of printable times can be set. For example, in the submenu 71-3, a specific printable number of times can be set such as "1 time", "2 times", "3 times", "10 times", and "unlimited". For example, when it is necessary to print only a part of the invoice as the original, it is preferable to set it to "once". The user can specify a plurality of metadata to be concealed and set security for each of the specified metadata.

When the security setting reception unit 174 receives the security setting, as shown in FIG. 5, the security setting reception unit 174 indicates the metadata name 132 to be concealed, the coordinate information indicating the description area 70 of the metadata specified as the concealment target, the viewing authority, and printing. The security setting information 73 is created by associating the authority and the number of printable times.

For example, user A specifies "Chiyoda-ku Kasumigaseki 〇- △-×" as the metadata 72 to be concealed, sets "always mask" to "print" in the security setting menu 71, and sets "only group allowed". It is assumed that it is set to "view". In this case, in the security setting information 73, regarding the metadata 72 to be concealed, "Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku 〇- △-×", the metadata name 132 is "address 1", and the coordinate information is "Page1, Start (x1, "y1), End (x2, y2)", "user A's group" as the viewing authority, and "all not allowed" as the printing authority are registered. In this case, the number of printable times is not set, so it is blank.

Further, the user A includes "business trip expenses" and "personnel expenses" in one description area 70, designates each as the metadata 72 to be concealed, and sets "only me" in the security setting menu 71. It is assumed that "viewing" and "printing" are set, and "printable count" is set to "1 time". In this case, in the security setting information 73, each of "detail 1" and "detail 2" as the metadata name 132 is viewed as "Page1, Start (x5, y5), End (x10, y10)" as the coordinate information. "User A" is registered as the authority, "User A" is registered as the print authority, and "1 time" is registered as the printable number of times. In this way, by creating the description area 70 on the touch panel 111 so as to include a plurality of metadata to be concealed, a plurality of metadata can be designated as the metadata 72 to be concealed at once, and the same security can be collectively obtained. Settings can be set.

When the operation unit 11 receives the document data transmission instruction, the security setting reception unit 174 ends the preview display of the document data, and sends the security setting information 73 set by the user to the image processing server 2 together with the document data. Send. When the security setting is not made by the user for the document data displayed in the preview, the security setting reception unit 174 may transmit the default security setting information 73 together with the document data. The default security setting information 73 may be, for example, a security setting with no access restriction (no security) for each metadata, or a security setting for the metadata 72 to be concealed, which is specified in advance by the user. You may. Further, the user may set the name of the metadata to be concealed and the security setting thereof in the template 131 in advance via the operation unit 11.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of the image processing server 2. The image processing server 2 includes a server communication unit 21, a server storage unit 22, and a server control unit 23.

The server communication unit 21 transmits and receives various data to and from the image forming apparatus 1 and the document management server 3 via a network 5 such as a LAN or the Internet.

The server storage unit 22 is a storage means for a semiconductor memory, an HDD, or the like, and stores the template 131. The template 131 is the same as the template 131 stored in the image forming apparatus 1, and is used for the OCR process.

The server control unit 23 is an information processing unit such as a microcomputer equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like. A control program for controlling the operation of the image processing server 2 is stored in the ROM. The CPU of the server control unit 23 controls the entire server by reading the control program stored in the ROM and expanding the control program in the RAM. Further, the server control unit 23 functions as a character recognition unit 231 and an attribute information creation unit 232.

The character recognition unit 231 executes OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing on the document data transmitted from the image processing device based on the template 131, and extracts a character string from the document data. The character recognition unit 231 may extract the character string by the zone OCR that recognizes the character recognition target area 133. When the character string, the number of lines, etc. in the character recognition target area 133 in the document data is increased or decreased with respect to the character recognition target area 133 of the template 131, the character recognition unit 231 performs the character recognition target area 133 for the document data. Is automatically adjusted.

The attribute information creation unit 232 acquires the character string extracted by the character recognition unit 231 as metadata. At this time, the attribute information creation unit 232 arranges the data type and input rule of the metadata based on the metadata setting information (not shown). For the metadata setting information, a data type, an input rule, and the like for transmitting the character string extracted from the document data by the OCR process as metadata to the document management server 3 are registered.

Subsequently, the attribute information creation unit 232 acquires the coordinate information of the metadata in the document data based on the character recognition result of the character recognition unit 231. The coordinate information indicates a description position of metadata acquired from document data by character recognition, and is composed of, for example, a page number and start point coordinates and end point coordinates indicating a description area 70 of the metadata. The description area 70 can be the smallest rectangular area that includes the metadata acquired from the character recognition result. The description area 70 is formed for each acquired metadata. Further, the start point coordinates and the end point coordinates may be coordinates when, for example, the upper left corner of the page in the document data is used as a reference. With this coordinate information, it becomes possible to identify in which area of which page in the document data each metadata is described. When the acquired metadata is designated as a concealment target based on the security setting information 73 transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1 together with the document data, the attribute information creation unit 232 uses the coordinate information based on the character recognition result. Instead, the coordinate information included in the security setting information 73 may be acquired.

Subsequently, the attribute information creation unit 232 creates the attribute information 322 by associating the acquired metadata with the coordinate information and the security setting included in the security setting information 73. That is, the metadata 72 of the concealment target is associated with the coordinate information and the security setting with access restriction, and the metadata not designated as the concealment target is associated with the coordinate information and the security setting without access restriction. The attribute information creation unit 232 acquires the document data to which the character recognition result by the character recognition unit 231 is added as the document data 321 and transmits it to the document management server 3 together with the created attribute information 322. The document data (document data without the character recognition result) transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1 may be used as the document data 321.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of the document management server 3.

The document management server 3 includes a server communication unit 31, a server storage unit 32, and a server control unit 33.

The server communication unit 31 transmits and receives various data to and from the image forming apparatus 1, the image processing server 2, and the user terminal 4 via a network 5 such as a LAN or the Internet.

The server storage unit 32 is a storage means for a semiconductor memory, an HDD, or the like, and stores document data 321 and attribute information 322 transmitted from the image processing server 2. In addition, user information 324 is stored in the server storage unit 32.

As shown in FIG. 8, the user information 324 includes a user ID that identifies the user, a user name, and a group name such as a department or department to which the user belongs. Group names may be categorized by responsibilities such as section chiefs and department managers. Moreover, the same user may belong to a plurality of groups.

The server control unit 33 is an information processing unit such as a microcomputer equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like. A control program for controlling the operation of the document management server 3 is stored in the ROM. The CPU of the server control unit 33 reads the control program stored in the ROM and expands the control program in the RAM to control the entire server. Further, the server control unit 33 functions as an authentication unit 331 and a document data storage unit 332.

The authentication unit 331 executes user authentication by collating the user identification information transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1 or the user terminal 4 with the user information 324, and the transmitted user identification information is registered in the user information 324. If you allow the user to log in.

The document data storage unit 332 stores the document data 321 and the attribute information 322 transmitted from the image processing server 2 in the server storage unit 32 so that the user can access them. The document data storage unit 332 may manage the document data 321 based on the metadata included in the document data 321. When the document data storage unit 332 receives an access request from the user via the user terminal 4 or the image forming device 1 for the stored document data 321, the document data storage unit 332 documents the stored document data 321 based on the security setting included in the attribute information 322. It is determined whether or not the user has access authority to the metadata described in the data 321. The document data storage unit 332 does not mask the metadata having the access authority, but masks the metadata without the access authority to allow access to the document data 321.

For example, when the access request is a viewing request, the document data 321 whose metadata is masked according to the viewing authority of the user is displayed on the user terminal 4 or the image forming apparatus 1, and the access request is a printing request. In this case, the document data 321 whose metadata is masked according to the print authority of the user is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 1 and can be printed. In the same document data 321, the level of viewing authority and the level of access authority of the user may be different. In this case, for example, all the metadata can be displayed in browsing, but some metadata is masked in printing.

FIG. 9 is a display example of document data 321 in which metadata for which viewing authority is not authorized is masked in the mask area 80.

For example, it is assumed that the user A sets the security setting shown in FIG. 5 for the document data shown in FIG. In the security setting shown in FIG. 5, user B is not granted viewing or printing authority to this document data. When the user B requests to view this document data, the user B does not have the authority to view the metadata corresponding to the metadata name 132 of "address 1", "detail 1", and "detail 2", so that "address 1", The metadata corresponding to "Detail 1" and "Detail 2" are masked in the mask area 80 and displayed invisible. The document data storage unit 332 may arrange the lock button 81 on the mask area 80 to clearly indicate that the area is an access-restricted area.

The document data storage unit 332 may add an authentication function to the lock button 81. When a user who has displayed the restricted viewing document data 321 clicks or touches the lock button 81 via the user terminal 4 or the image forming apparatus 1, the document data storage unit 332 requests a password input. The input screen may be displayed. When the password is input via the password input screen, the document data storage unit 332 may output the authentication request of the input password to the authentication unit 331. That is, when the mask area 80 is released, the user is required to perform additional authentication in addition to the user authentication. When the authentication unit 331 authenticates that the specific password has been entered, the document data storage unit 332 may cancel the masking of the metadata for which the viewing authority is not permitted and display the metadata visually. In this case, the document data storage unit 332 may temporarily remove the restriction on viewing the metadata only for this viewing, or grants this user viewing authority to this metadata for subsequent viewing. It may be controlled so as not to be masked at any time. Further, the document data storage unit 332 may arrange the lock button 81 in any one of the mask areas 80. Further, when the authentication request via the lock button 81 is authenticated by the authentication unit 331, the document data storage unit 332 unmasks all the concealed metadata 72 in the document data 321 and all of them. The metadata 72 to be concealed may be made visible. According to this, since all the mask areas 80 can be released by one authentication request, usability can be improved.

Next, the flow of the document management process of the document management system X will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12.

First, the flow of the document data transmission process of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

The login processing unit 171 logs the user into the image forming apparatus 1 based on the user identification information input from the user (s11). Subsequently, when the document reading unit 12 scans a document (manuscript) to be managed such as a slip set by the user (s12), the document data acquisition unit 172 documents the image data generated by the document reading unit 12. Acquire as data (s13).

Subsequently, the confidential object identification unit 173 preview-displays the document data acquired by the document data acquisition unit 172 on the touch panel 111 (s14). Subsequently, the concealment target identification unit 173 determines whether or not the concealment target metadata 72 has been specified for the preview-displayed document data (s15). For example, the concealment target identification unit 173 may specify the metadata corresponding to the position touched by the user via the touch panel 111 as the concealment target, or conceal the metadata corresponding to the mark position detected from the document data. It may be specified as a target. If the metadata to be concealed is not specified (s15: No), the process proceeds to s19.

When the metadata 72 to be concealed is specified (s15: Yes), the security setting reception unit 174 displays the security setting menu 71 on the touch panel 111 and accepts the security setting (s16). With this security setting, the user can set access restrictions to the metadata 72 to be kept secret.

Subsequently, the security setting reception unit 174 acquires the coordinate information indicating the description position of the metadata 72 to be concealed in the document data (s17), and obtains the metadata name 132 of the metadata 72 to be concealed and the coordinate information. And the security setting set by the user are linked and registered in the security setting information 73 (s18).

Subsequently, the security setting reception unit 174 determines whether or not the user has issued an instruction to transmit the document data by, for example, pressing the start key (s19), and if there is no transmission instruction (s19: No), the object to be concealed. The process is returned to s15 that specifies the metadata of. That is, the user can repeatedly specify the metadata 72 to be concealed and set the security via the touch panel 111 until the transmission instruction is issued.

When there is a transmission instruction (s19: Yes), the security setting reception unit 174 determines whether or not the user has set the security for the document data previewed (s20). When the security setting is accepted in s16, the security setting reception unit 174 determines that the security setting has been made (s20: Yes), transmits the created security setting information 73 together with the document data (s21), and ends this process. ..

On the other hand, if the process of s16 that accepts the security setting from the user is not executed, the security setting reception unit 174 determines that there is no security setting (s20: No), and displays the default security setting information 73 registered in advance. It is transmitted together with the document data (s22), and this process is terminated.

Next, the flow of the metadata acquisition process of the image processing server 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

When the document data and the security setting information 73 are received from the image forming apparatus 1 by the server communication unit 21, the character recognition unit 231 executes OCR processing based on the template 131 to perform character recognition of the document data. Do (s31).

Subsequently, the attribute information creation unit 232 refers to the template 131 and acquires the character string extracted by the character recognition unit 231 as metadata (s32). Subsequently, the attribute information creation unit 232 acquires the coordinate information of the acquired metadata (s33). The coordinate information may be the coordinate information acquired based on the character recognition result, or may be the coordinate information designated by the user as the description area 70 of the metadata 72 to be concealed.

Subsequently, the attribute information creation unit 232 creates the attribute information 322 by associating the acquired metadata and the coordinate information with the security settings based on the security setting information 73 transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1 (s34). .. Subsequently, the attribute information creation unit 232 transmits the created attribute information 322 and the document data 321 to the document management server 3 (s35), and ends this process. As a result, the attribute information 322 and the document data 321 are transmitted to the document management server 3, and are stored in the server storage unit 32 by the document data storage unit 332. The document data 321 transmitted to the document management server 3 may be added with the character recognition result by the character recognition unit 231 or is the document data (no character recognition result) transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1. You may. Further, when the metadata 72 to be concealed is not specified by the user, the security setting reception unit 174 may transmit only the document data without adding the default security setting information 73. When the document data to which the security setting information 73 is not added is transmitted, the attribute information creation unit 232 may create the attribute information 322 by associating the metadata, the coordinate information, and the security setting without access restriction. ..

Next, with reference to FIG. 12, the flow of the access restriction processing of the document data 321 in the document management server 3 will be described. It is assumed that the document data 321 and the attribute information 322 are stored in the server storage unit 32.

First, the authentication unit 331 of the document management server 3 accepts a user login via the image forming device 1 or the user terminal 4 (s51). Subsequently, the document data storage unit 332 determines whether or not there is a viewing request from the user for the document data 321 (s52).

When there is a browsing request (s52: Yes), the document data storage unit 332 refers to the security setting included in the attribute information 322 of the document data 321 requested to be browsed, and is included in the document data 321 requested to be browsed. Confirm the user's viewing authority for the metadata of (s53). If you have permission to view the metadata (s54: Yes), the process proceeds to s56. When there is no viewing authority for the metadata (s54: No), the document data storage unit 332 masks the metadata for which the viewing authority is not authorized based on the coordinate information included in the attribute information 322 (s55). As a result, the metadata for which viewing authority is not authorized is masked in the mask area 80.

Subsequently, the document data storage unit 332 determines whether or not the confirmation of the viewing authority has been completed for all the metadata in the document data 321 (s56). If the confirmation is not completed (s56: No), the process returns to s53.

When the confirmation of all the metadata in the document data 321 is completed (s56: Yes), the document data storage unit 332 executes the display process of the document data 321 (s57) and returns the process to s52. As a result, the metadata with viewing authority is not masked, and the document data 321 with the metadata without viewing authority masked is displayed on the user terminal 4 or the image forming apparatus 1 via, for example, a browser.

In this display process, the document data storage unit 332 requests additional authentication such as a password when the lock button 81 shown in FIG. 9 arranged in the mask area 80 is operated, and operates when a specific password is input. The mask area 80 corresponding to the locked button 81 is released, and the metadata is displayed visibly.

On the other hand, if it is not a viewing request (s52: No), the document data storage unit 332 determines whether or not there is a print request for the document data 321 (s58). In the case of a print request (s58: Yes), the document data storage unit 332 confirms the user's print authority for the metadata in the document data 321 for which the print request is made by referring to the security setting included in the attribute information 322. (S59).

When there is no print authority for the metadata (s60: No), the document data storage unit 332 masks the metadata for which the print authority is not authorized (s61). As a result, the metadata for which printing authority is not authorized is masked in the mask area 80. Subsequently, the document data storage unit 332 determines whether or not the confirmation of the print authority for all the metadata in the document data 321 has been completed (s64). If the confirmation is not completed (s64: No), the process returns to s59.

On the other hand, when the metadata printing authority is granted (s60: Yes), the document data storage unit 332 determines whether or not it is within the printable number of times set in the security setting (s62). The document data storage unit 332 manages the number of times the user prints the document data 321 stored in the server storage unit 32, and whether the number of times the document data 321 is printed based on this print request is within the printable number of times. It is possible to judge whether or not. If it is within the printable number of times (s62: Yes), the process proceeds to s64. On the other hand, when the number of printable times is exceeded (s62: No), the document data storage unit 332 masks the metadata exceeding the printable number of times (s63) and proceeds to process in s64.

When the confirmation of all the metadata in the document data 321 is completed (s64: Yes), the document data storage unit 332 permits printing of the document data 321 (s65) and returns the process to s52. As a result, the metadata that has print authority and is within the printable number of times is not masked, and the metadata that does not have print authority and the metadata that has print authority and exceeds the printable number of times are masked. The data 321 is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 1 and printed.

If there is neither a viewing request nor a printing request for the document data 321 (s58: No), this process ends.

In this way, the document management system X acquires the document data based on the image forming device 1 that acquires the document data to be managed, the image processing server 2 that recognizes the document data as characters and acquires the metadata, and the document data. In the document management system X including the document management server 3 to be managed, the image forming apparatus 1 is composed of a concealment target identification unit 173 for specifying the metadata to be concealed in the document data and a concealment target identification unit 173. It is equipped with a security setting reception unit 174 that accepts the security settings of the metadata specified as the concealment target, associates the metadata name to be concealed with the security settings, and sends them to the image processing server 2 together with the document data. The image processing server 2 stores the server storage unit 22 that stores the template 131 in which the description position in the document data is set, and the document data transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1 for the metadata that recognizes and acquires the document data. Character strings are acquired as metadata from the character recognition unit 231 and the document data recognized by the character recognition unit 231, and the coordinate information in the document data of the acquired metadata is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1. The document management server 3 is provided with an attribute information creation unit 232 that creates attribute information 322 by associating the security settings with the metadata and sends the attribute information 322 and the document data 321 to the document management server 3. It is characterized by including a document data storage unit 332 that restricts access to the metadata to be concealed included in the document data based on the settings. As a result, it is possible to restrict access to the document data to be managed for viewing and printing for each metadata to be concealed. Further, since the metadata is associated with the coordinate information indicating the description position in the document data, the metadata can be masked based on the coordinate information when the access authority is not given.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

1 Image forming device 2 Image processing server 3 Document management server 4 User terminal 5 Network 11 Operation unit 12 Document reading unit 13 Device storage unit 14 Image processing unit 15 Printing unit 16 Device communication unit 17 Device control unit 21 Server communication unit 22 Server storage Part 23 Server control unit 31 Server communication unit 32 Server storage unit 33 Server control unit 70 Description area 71 Security setting menu 71-1 Main menu 71-2, 71-3 Submenu 72 Metadata to be concealed 73 Security setting information 80 Mask Area 81 Lock button 111 Touch panel 112 Operation key 131 Template 132 Metadata name 133 Character recognition target area 171 Login processing unit 172 Document data acquisition unit 173 Concealment target identification unit 174 Security setting reception unit 231 Character recognition unit 232 Attribute information creation unit 321 Document Data 322 Attribute information 324 User information 331 Authentication unit 332 Document data storage unit X Document management system

Claims (3)

An image forming device that acquires document data of a managed document to be managed, an image processing server that recognizes the document data in characters and acquires metadata, and document management that manages the document data based on the metadata. A document management system with a server
The image forming apparatus
A device storage unit that stores a template that is prepared for each type of the managed document and has a character recognition target area, a metadata name in which a character string recognized as a character from the character recognition target area is set as the metadata, and a device storage unit.
A concealment target identification unit that specifies the metadata to be concealed in the document data,
Wherein the confidential identification unit accepts security settings of the meta data identified as confidential, in association with said metadata name and the security settings to be concealed, sending to the image processing server together with the document data Equipped with a security setting reception unit
The image processing server
A server storage unit that stores the same template that the image forming device stores in the device storage unit, and a server storage unit.
Based on the template, a character recognition unit that recognizes the character recognition target area of the document data transmitted from the image forming apparatus and extracts a character string, and a character recognition unit.
Get the character string extracted by the pre-Symbol character recognition unit as the metadata, and the obtained coordinate information of the document data of the metadata, and the security setting transmitted from the image forming apparatus to the metadata It is provided with an attribute information creation unit that creates attribute information in association with each other and transmits the attribute information and the document data to the document management server.
The document management server
A document management system including a document data storage unit that restricts access to the metadata to be concealed contained in the document data based on the security settings. The coordinate information of the metadata is
The document management system according to claim 1, wherein the document data includes a page number of a page in which the metadata is described and coordinate information of a rectangular region containing the metadata in the page. .. An image forming device that acquires document data of a managed document to be managed, an image processing server that recognizes the document data as characters and acquires metadata, and document management that manages the document data based on the metadata. A document management method performed by a document management system equipped with a server.
The image forming apparatus
A template prepared for each type of the management target document and set with a character recognition target area and a metadata name having a character string recognized as a character from the character recognition target area as the metadata is stored.
Identify the metadata to be concealed in the document data and
Accept security settings of the meta data identified as confidential, in association with said metadata name and the security settings to be concealed, and transmitted to the image processing server,
The image processing server
Store the same template that the image forming apparatus stores,
Based on the template, the character recognition target area of the document data transmitted from the image forming apparatus is character-recognized and a character string is extracted .
Gets the extracted character string as the metadata, the acquired coordinate information in the document data, string attached with attribute information and the security settings that are transmitted from the image forming apparatus to the metadata of the metadata Is created, and the attribute information and the document data are transmitted to the document management server.
The document management server
A document management method comprising restricting access to the metadata to be concealed included in the document data based on the security settings.

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