JPH0785079A - Device for managing information file - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the device for managing information files capable of easily retrieving files based on a given attribute. CONSTITUTION:Plural information files A to J with hierarchical structures defined mutually are preserved with directories having system information required to make an access to them. Each information file is made accessed by referring to the directory. The tag information showing the prescribed attribute (for example, the one indicating that a maker is 'A') on each information file is set separately from the directory. Based on the tag information, the information files are retrieved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information file management device, and more particularly to an information file management device suitable for managing a plurality of information files having a hierarchical structure in a personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the performance of computers has been remarkably improved, and even personal computers have been able to perform various information processing using various application software. As the computer becomes multifunctional in this way, it becomes necessary to manage the information file by a method corresponding thereto. When a number of application software programs are used by a single personal computer or a plurality of personal computers connected by a network, a great number of miscellaneous information files are created accordingly. In order to manage such a large number of information files, a hierarchical structure is usually defined between the information files. By defining such a hierarchical structure, it becomes possible to systematically manage each information file for each so-called “branch”.

Normally, one directory is created for one information file. This directory stores the system information required to access the information files (for example, file name, file start address, file size, etc.). Be seen.
Information about the hierarchical structure defined between the information files is also stored in this directory.

[0004]

As described above, in a computer which is currently generally used, information files are managed by directories having a hierarchical structure. Such a hierarchical structure is very convenient for systematically searching for a desired information file. However, a file search according to such a hierarchical structure is not always performed. The file search may be performed based on any attribute that is convenient for the user. For example, consider a case where a file search is performed based on the attribute "creator". More specifically, consider the work of extracting only the information files created by a particular creator. In this case, there is no problem if a hierarchical structure based on the systematic classification of the creator is constructed, but if a hierarchical structure based on another systematic classification is constructed, it will be a very laborious task. Will be required. That is, since the arbitrary attribute "creator" has nothing to do with the hierarchical structure, "information files created by a certain creator" exist in a distributed manner regardless of the hierarchical structure. . Therefore, it is necessary to read each information file indiscriminately, and to read and check the information about the creator. As described above, the conventional information file management device has a problem that it is difficult to search for a file based on an arbitrary attribute.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information file management apparatus which can easily perform a file search based on an arbitrary attribute.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

(1) In the first invention of the present application, a plurality of information files whose hierarchical structure is defined are stored together with a directory having system information necessary for accessing them, and the information is referred by referring to this directory. In the information file management device that accesses the file,
For each information file, tag information indicating a predetermined attribute is set separately from the directory, and the information file is searched based on this tag information.

(2) The second invention of the present application has a first storage area for storing a plurality of information files whose hierarchical structures are mutually defined, and system information necessary for accessing each information file. In a device for managing an information file, comprising: a storage unit having a second storage area for storing a directory; and a file management unit having a function of accessing an information file based on the directory, a predetermined branch in a hierarchical structure. Target file specifying means having a function of extracting system information about each target file by inputting an instruction to specify, specifying the information file belonging to the specified branch as the target file, and searching the directory. And setting tag information indicating a predetermined attribute for the target file specified by the target file specifying means, A management table is created in which system information and tag information for each target file are recorded in record units, and this management table is set as tag information and tag information setting means for storing the management table in a third storage area in the storage means. By inputting an instruction to specify a specific attribute and referring to the management table, the target file in which the tag information indicating the specific attribute is set is searched, and the desired information in the management table for the searched target file is searched. And a table creating means for displaying on the screen in the form of a table.

[0008]

[Operation] A feature of the present invention is that tag information indicating a predetermined attribute is set for each information file. This tag information indicates an attribute defined by the user, and the user can define any attribute according to convenience. Since this tag information is set separately from the directory,
It can be set regardless of the hierarchical structure of the directory. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to an existing file management system that has been conventionally used without making a significant change. By using such tag information, it becomes possible to easily perform a file search based on an arbitrary attribute.

Further, by designating a predetermined branch in the hierarchical structure, it is possible to specify a file which is the object of file management according to the present invention. Furthermore, if you create a management table that records system information and tag information for each target file in record units, you can search based on this management table and display the results in a table format on the screen. Will be able to.

[0010]

The present invention will be described below based on illustrated embodiments. First, for convenience of description, a method of managing an information file having a hierarchical structure that has been generally used conventionally will be described. Here, a specific example will be given of a file management method in a finder program of a general-purpose personal computer "Macintosh (registered trademark)" manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a hierarchy having a "tree structure" defined for a plurality of information files AJ. In this system, a "folder" is defined as a container for storing an "information file", and an "information file" or another "folder" is defined one layer below this "folder". At the highest level, level 0, the volume name given to the hard disk is "Volu
"me 1" is added, and the "folder" or the "information file" is defined in the levels 1 to 4 which are the lower layers thereof. The "information file" in this specification is not limited to the so-called "data file",
The "application program file" is also included.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the operation of searching these information files on the display screen along the hierarchical structure. The icon labeled "Volume 1" at the top right of the screen indicates the hard disk, and you can point this icon with the mouse and click (press the mouse button).
Window W1 is displayed. This window W1 shows members belonging to one level below the hard disk, and specifically, three folders belonging to level 1 are displayed as icons. Here, for example, if the icon of the folder is designated with the mouse and clicked, the window W2 is displayed. This window W2 shows members belonging to one level below the folder. Specifically, the folders belonging to level 2 and the information file A are displayed as icons. In this way, by pointing the icon with the mouse and clicking it, the members belonging to one level below are displayed, so that the desired information file can be reached along the hierarchical structure.

When the icon of the desired information file is displayed in this way, the information file can be read by pointing this icon with the mouse and double-clicking (the operation of pressing the mouse button twice in succession). That is, if the information file is an application program file, a process of executing this application program is performed, and if the information file is a data file, after executing the application program that created this data file, The reading process of this data file is performed.

By performing file management based on such a hierarchical structure, it is possible to easily carry out the work of systematically searching for a desired information file along the hierarchical structure. However, it becomes difficult to find a specific information file based on an arbitrary attribute defined by the user. For example, among the information files A to J, the files B, E, G,
It is assumed that the four files of I are files created by "Kou". In this case, it is possible to search for an information file with the attribute "creator: A" if some information indicating that the creator is A is included in these information files. is there. However, such attributes are independent of the hierarchical structure, so
It is necessary to read each information file indiscriminately, and to read and check the information regarding the creator. This is a laborious task as the number of files increases.

The main object of the present invention is to facilitate a file search based on an arbitrary attribute set by the user. The basic concept will be explained based on FIG. The hierarchical structure shown in FIG. 3 is the same as that shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that the creators of the four files B, E, G, and I hatched are instep A. Therefore, the tag information "creator: A" is set for these four files.
So to speak, about these four files, "creator: Ko"
It can be thought of as having a tag (shipping tag) marked with. Similarly, for other files, paste tags with "Creator: Otsu" and "Creator: 丙". In this way, the tag information indicating the attribute "creator" is set. If the tag information is set in this way, a desired file can be searched based on the tag information. For example, to search for a file having an attribute of "creator: instep", it is sufficient to extract a file to which a tag with "creator: instep" is attached.

It should be noted that such a retrieval process can be performed only on a part of the hierarchical tree structure. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, by designating a folder, it is possible to select all the members defined in the lower hierarchy of this folder as a search target and perform the search only for this search target. In other words, only files that belong to the branch specified by the folder are searched. For such a search target, "Author:
When a file having an attribute of "A" is searched, three files B, G, and I are searched. The apparatus of the present invention creates a table as shown in FIG. 5 based on such a search result and displays it on the display screen. In this example, the creator names (attributes used in the search) are displayed for the three searched files B, G, and I, and the icon of each file is displayed. The icon is displayed so that the file can be read by pointing this icon with the mouse and double-clicking. Note that instead of the icon, a so-called thumbnail (a visually reduced representation of the data content in the file. For example, if the image data file is the reduced image, if the document data file is the first page of the document A reduced image) may be displayed.

To set the tag information, a management table as shown in FIG. 6 may be created. This management table is intended only for members in the lower hierarchy of the folder, and two types of tag information are set.
That is, the tag information of "creator" as the tag 1 and "project" as the tag 2 is set. Therefore, it is possible to perform a search based on the attribute of “creator” and a search based on the attribute of “project”.

The basic concept of the present invention has been described above. Next, the present invention will be described based on concrete examples. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the information file management apparatus according to the present invention. The main constituent elements of this device are a storage unit 10, an information processing unit 20, an input unit 30,
The display 40. Here, the storage means 10 is composed of a memory, a disk device, or the like built in the personal computer or connected from the outside,
Three storage areas are defined here. The information processing means 20 is realized by the CPU of this personal computer and the software executed by this CPU. Further, the input means 30 is composed of an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse connected to the computer, and the display 40 is composed of an information display connected to the computer.

The file managing means 21, the target file specifying means 22, the tag information setting means 23, and the table creating means 24 shown in the information processing means 20 are the information processing means 2.
The processing contents that can be executed by 0 are shown as functional blocks, and these functions are actually realized by software. Here, the file management means 21
Is equivalent to an existing file management system in a conventional personal computer, and defines a first storage area 11 and a second storage area 12 in the storage means 10 to perform file management. Specifically, the information file to be stored is stored in the first storage area 11, and the system information necessary for accessing this information file (for example, file name, file start address, file size, A directory having hierarchical information (information indicating a position on the hierarchical tree structure) is stored in the second storage area 1
Store in 2. The information file is accessed by referring to this directory. In the example of “Macintosh (registered trademark)” manufactured by Apple Computer Co., Ltd., the function of the file management means 21 is realized by the “finder program”. When various application programs are executed by this computer, specific processing means corresponding to the respective application programs are further added to the information processing means 20, but here, these application programs are added. For the corresponding functional elements, the display by the functional block is omitted.

As described above, in the system shown in FIG.
The first storage area 11, the second storage area 12, the file management means 21, the input means 30 and the display 40 are components generally used in a conventional computer. A feature of the present invention is that such a conventional system is further provided with new functional elements such as a target file specifying means 22, a tag information setting means 23, and a table creating means 24, and a third means in the storage means 10.
The storage area 13 is secured and the management table described later is stored in the third storage area 13. These new functional elements are actually realized by newly prepared software.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example of an information file stored in the first storage area 11 and a directory stored in the second storage area 12. here,
Six variable-length information files A to D, α, and β, and six fixed-length directories corresponding to these one-to-one are shown. The information files A to D are data files, and the information files α and β are application program files. Information (information indicating α or β) indicating by which application program the data file was created is recorded at the beginning of each of the data files A to D. On the other hand, the file ID (a to f) given to the file corresponding to the directory is recorded at the beginning of the directory. The file names (A, B, C, D, α, β) of each information file may be changed, but the file IDs (a to f) are always constant regardless of the file name change. In each directory, system information necessary for accessing the corresponding information file is stored. In this embodiment, as indicated by balloons for the directory of the file β, system information such as a file name, a creation date, a start address, a size, and layer information is prepared. The file management means 21 manages each information file based on such system information.

In the "Finder program" of "Macintosh" (registered trademark), when a specific application program file is selected and an execution command is given, the selected application program is executed and a specific data file is selected and executed. When a command is given, first, the application program that created the selected data file is automatically executed, and then the selected data file is read in the program. The information indicating by which application program the data file was created is recorded at the beginning of each data file A to D in order to enable such application program to be automatically executed.

In such a system, the search based on the information stored in the directory can be relatively easily performed by the file management means 21. For example, if a file whose creation date is set to a specific value is searched for, a process of reading a predetermined recording location in each directory may be performed. However, a file search based on an arbitrary attribute set by the user cannot be performed by the file management means 21. In the conventional system, if an arbitrary attribute such as "creator" or "project" is set, such attribute information has to be recorded in each information file. In order to search, it is necessary to read each information file one by one. Therefore, in the present invention, the target file specifying means 22 and the tag information setting means 2
3. The table creating means 24 is provided as a new functional element to enable a search based on an arbitrary attribute. One of the features of the present invention is that the search process based on an arbitrary attribute can be performed only by adding these functional elements to the existing system. The operation of each of these functional elements will be described below in order.

The target file specifying means 22 inputs an instruction to specify a predetermined branch in the hierarchical structure, specifies an information file belonging to the specified branch as a target file,
It has a function of extracting system information about each target file by searching a directory. Here, the target file is an information file to be searched based on an arbitrary attribute. For example, of the information files having the hierarchical structure shown in FIG. 1, if a file below the folder is designated as a target file, the window W1 shown in FIG. 2 is displayed and the folder is designated. It suffices to give a specific instruction of the target file. Upon receiving such an instruction input, the target file specifying means 22 searches the directory stored in the second storage area 12 and the information files B, C, F, G, which belong to the specified branch. H, I, and J are specified as target files, and system information about these target files is extracted. As a result, information such as the table shown in FIG. 9 is extracted. The information extracted here is information indicating the file ID of each target file and the file name and size of the system information.
As described above, in this embodiment, as the system information,
The file name, creation date, start address, size, and hierarchy information are recorded in the directory, but in the example shown in FIG. 9, only the file name and size are extracted. Which of the system information is to be extracted may be determined in advance or may be designated by the user.

The tag information setting means 23 sets tag information indicating a predetermined attribute for the target file specified by the target file specifying means 22 and records system information and tag information for each target file in record units. It has the function of creating a management table. The created management table is stored in the third storage area 13 in the storage means 10.
Stored in. In the above example, as shown in FIG. 9, seven target files are specified, so that tag information indicating a predetermined attribute is set for each of them. Figure 1
0 indicates a management table created by setting an attribute of "creator" and an attribute of "project" as tag information. As concrete data of the tag information, any one of "Kou, Otsu, Hei" for the attribute "creator" and "P" for the attribute "project"
1, P2, P3 "is set. Here, the user can arbitrarily decide what kind of attribute is selected as the tag information and what kind of data is specifically set. For such tag information setting work, for example, a table as shown in FIG. 9 is first displayed on the screen of the display 40, and the user is allowed to input attributes such as “creator” and “project”. Accordingly, the creator column and the project column as shown in the table of FIG. 10 may be displayed and specific data such as “Kou, Otsu, Hei” may be input in the blank.

The management table created in this way is the third
Is stored in the storage area 13 of. This management table is, so to speak, a database for performing a search based on tag information. That is, if the file ID in the management table of FIG. 10 is recognized as a record number, this table is a database in which one row corresponds to one record. Therefore, each information file can be searched based on this database. For example, it is possible to recognize that there are three files B, G, and I by searching this management table for the "information file whose attribute" creator "is" A "". Further, it is possible to perform a search based on a search condition including a logical expression such as "information file in which the attribute" creator "is" A "and the attribute" project "is" P1 "". . The table creating means 24 has a function of performing such a search and displaying the result on the display 40 in the form of a table. Moreover, it is possible to display all the items of the corresponding record in the management table, or it is possible to selectively display only the desired items among them. For example, search for "information file whose attribute" creator "is" Kou "", and retrieve only the items of file ID (record number), creator, and file name from the information of the corresponding record,
By giving an instruction to display a table to which an icon is added, a table as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the screen of the display 40. The user can arbitrarily set items such as what item is displayed at which position. The table creating means 24 creates a table as shown in FIG. 11 on the basis of such settings, and displays the table.

The table creating means 24 also has a function of performing a search with a limited range. For example, an "information file whose attribute" creator "is" instep "" is searched with the branches under the folder as search targets, and the file ID (record number), creator, and If an instruction to create a table by taking out only the items of project and file name is given, a table as shown in FIG. 12 will be displayed on the screen of the display 40. When the search is limited to a specific part within the hierarchical tree structure as described above, the hierarchical information may be included in the system information in the management table.

In this embodiment, the table creating means 24 is thus provided.
The tag information can be reset (corrected) by the tag information setting means 23 by using the table created and displayed. For example, in the state in which the table as shown in FIG. 12 is displayed, the user corrects the item “project” for the information file whose file ID is “i” from P3 to P4, and changes the “file name”. When it is intended to correct the item I to X, such a correction may be made on the display screen. As a result, FIG.
The table shown in FIG. 13 will be modified as shown in FIG.
The tag information setting means 23 rewrites the data in the storage means 10 in response to such correction. Here, since the item "project" is an item of tag information, in order to correct this item, the corresponding portion is written in the management table (FIG. 10) stored in the third storage area 13. You can change it. On the other hand, since the item “file name” is an item of system information, in order to correct this item, the corresponding portion of the management table (FIG. 10) stored in the third storage area 13 In addition to rewriting, the corresponding portion is also rewritten in the directory stored in the second storage area 12. On the contrary, when the file management means 21 performs a process such as changing the file name, it is necessary to rewrite the relevant part in the management table.

As described above, the information file management apparatus according to the present invention has a function of constructing a database for many information files. However,
The database system realized by the present invention has a unique feature that is different from the database system commercially available as an application program for a normal personal computer. That is, the main body of the database according to the present invention is the information stored as the management table in the third storage area 13, and the actual data itself is not included here. In other words, the individual data that make up the built database are
Each of them is stored as an independent information file in the first storage area 11. In a general database system that has hitherto been commercially available, the main body of the database is composed of a set of actual data, and this entire set of actual data is handled as one information file. Therefore, in the conventional database system,
It was always necessary to access individual data through the database application program. On the other hand, in the system of the present invention, since each individual data is stored as an individual information file, it becomes possible to directly access the individual data from various application programs. For example, in FIG. 8, six information files are stored in the first storage area 11, and the data files A and B in these are:
The data files C and D are accessed from the application program α, and the data files C and D are accessed from the application program β.

As described above, since each data forming the database is stored as one information file, it is possible to execute a specific file based on the search result of the database. For example, when the table as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed as a search result, a process such as executing a file corresponding to the icon by pointing a predetermined icon with the mouse and performing a double-click operation is possible. become. Specifically, in the table shown in FIG. 11, the file ID "b"
When the icon in the column is double-clicked, the file management means 21 may refer to the directory having the file ID “b” and read the data file B corresponding to this directory. Data file B
Since the information indicating that this data file was created by the application program α is recorded at the beginning of, the file management means 21 first reads and executes the application program file α, and the data is stored in this application program α. The file B can be read.

Although the present invention has been described above based on the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and can be implemented in various modes other than this. In particular, in the above-described embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to the "Macintosh" system is described as an example, but the present invention can be applied to other computers as well. Further, although each directory in the above-described embodiment has information for accessing an individual information file, it may be provided with information for accessing another directory. By thus making it possible to refer to another directory depending on the directory, it is possible to give the directory a hierarchical structure. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the directory is stored as fixed length data in the second storage area, but the directory can be stored as variable length data.

[0032]

As described above, according to the information file management apparatus of the present invention, the tag information indicating a predetermined attribute is set for each information file separately from the directory, and the information file management is performed based on this tag information. Since the search is performed, the file search based on an arbitrary attribute can be easily performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a hierarchical structure defined for a plurality of information files AJ.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation for searching an information file along a hierarchical structure on a display screen.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a state in which tag information, which is a feature of the present invention, is added to a plurality of information files in which a hierarchical structure is defined.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a state in which a part of the hierarchical structure shown in FIG. 3 is designated as a search target.

5 is a diagram showing a table of search results of information files whose creator is A in the hierarchical structure shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a management table used as a main body of a database in the information file management apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram showing a basic configuration of an information file management device according to the present invention.

8 is an information file stored in a first storage area 11 in the information file management apparatus shown in FIG. 7, and a second information file;
3 is a diagram showing a specific example of a directory stored in the storage area 12 of FIG.

9 is a diagram showing an example of system information extracted by a target file identification unit 22 in the information file management device shown in FIG.

10 is a diagram showing an example of a management table created by tag information setting means 23 in the information file management device shown in FIG.

11 is a diagram showing an example of a table created and displayed based on the management table shown in FIG.

12 is a diagram showing another example of a table created and displayed based on the management table shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a state in which the table shown in FIG. 12 is modified.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Storage means 11 ... First storage area 12 ... Second storage area 13 ... Third storage area 20 ... Information processing means 21 ... File management means 22 ... Target file specifying means 23 ... Tag information setting means 24 ... Table Creating means 30 ... Input means (keyboard / mouse) 40 ... Display

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of information files having mutually defined hierarchical structures are stored together with a directory having system information necessary for accessing them, and the information files are accessed by referring to the directories. In the management device of the information file to be performed, the tag information indicating a predetermined attribute for each information file is set separately from the directory, and the information file is searched based on this tag information. Management device. 2. A first storage area for storing a plurality of information files whose hierarchical structures are mutually defined, and a second storage area for storing a directory having system information necessary to access each of the information files. An information file management device comprising: a storage unit having a storage area; and a file management unit having a function of accessing the information file based on the directory, and an instruction for designating a predetermined branch in a hierarchical structure. Target file specifying means having a function of inputting, specifying an information file belonging to the specified branch as a target file, and searching a directory to extract system information about each of the target files; Set tag information indicating a predetermined attribute for the target file identified by the file identifying means, A tag information setting unit that creates a management table in which system information and tag information about the target file are recorded in record units and stores the management table in a third storage area in the storage unit, and sets as the tag information. By inputting an instruction to specify the specified attribute, and referring to the management table, the target file in which the tag information indicating the specific attribute is set is searched, and the searched target file is stored in the management table. An information file management apparatus, further comprising: a table creating means for displaying desired information in the form of a table on a screen.