JPH0855162A - Information processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable plural users in charge to perform a process of one step while maintaining one-to-one correspondence between steps and users in charge. CONSTITUTION:A holding means 17M holds step identifiers for identifying respective steps of a defined work flow uniquely and person-in-charge specification information specifying the persons in charge of the steps so that they correspond to each other one to one, and also holds information for specifying the order relation of the respective steps. A person-in-charge specifying means 32 specifies the persons in charge who should process the respective steps on the basis of the person-in-charge specifying information. Then this system is provided with an adding means 33 which adds (number of persons in charge minus one) steps having the same operation contents with one step for which plural persons in charge are specified to the step in parallel when the persons in charge are specified are specified for the step and adds information regarding the added steps in the holding means so that one person in charge corresponds to one step. Then operation is transferred to the persons in charge of one step and all the added steps.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention defines the order of a plurality of work processes and the processing contents of each work process for a work (referred to as a workflow) which is composed of a plurality of work processes that cooperate with each other through information. The present invention relates to an information processing system that supports work processing such as passing information between work processes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, so-called office automation using a computer has been proposed in order to improve work efficiency of business processing. However, conventionally, only the individual work processes themselves in the business process have been automated. In other words, the cooperation between works has not been considered in conventional office automation.

Workflow automation has been proposed as an attempt to automate the linking portion between the works to achieve total efficiency and speed of work processing. In workflow automation, a plurality of work processes that cooperate with each other through information to be worked is called a workflow, and an information processing system as a support system for automating this workflow is called a workflow system. In the workflow,
The information obtained as a result of the execution of a certain work process becomes the information necessary for the execution of another work process, and a plurality of work processes are linked.

[0004] A workflow system, for example, in a processing environment such as a networked distributed processing environment, passes information between persons in charge of a plurality of work processes in business processing and from receiving the information to the next work process. It is an information processing system that automates business processing by designing and defining in advance the work to be processed during the period.

This workflow system is composed of the following processing functions. Editing function to define the flow of work processing, work content of each work process, and rules (contracts) in each work process Function to manage defined workflow (hereinafter, defined workflow is called template) Function to be processed Notification function to notify the person in charge that the information has been delivered Database function to manage the delivered information Routing function to pass the information to the next work process according to the set work flow, rules, etc. To manage the status of work Progress management function System management function to maintain and manage the workflow being executed This workflow system is outlined in the Nikkei Information Strategy magazine, Nikkei Information Strategy, August 1993, Michael D. Kahn, Makoto Yasuda , “Workflow management technology and its possibilities” P123 to P130

Further, it has been conventionally known that a plurality of various types of data are sandwiched in one logical folder and various data are collectively passed by this folder. A general description of this folder is described in "Nikkei Computer Graphics", October 1992 issue of Nikkei BP, "PDM that revolutionizes the design environment" P70 to P85.

The concept of the folder can be applied to a workflow. In that case, in the workflow, for example, a plurality of documents, drawings, and
It becomes possible to register a reference pointer to information such as data in a folder and circulate it according to a predefined business flow. This is to automate what was conventionally realized by the operation of an operator using an electronic mail and a filing system.

[0008]

In order to automate the business process by the workflow system, the business process to be executed needs to be defined in advance as a workflow. A workflow is generally composed of one to a plurality of work processes (hereinafter referred to as steps), which is a unit of work, and the definition items of this workflow include the order of a plurality of steps, processing contents of each step, and charge of each step. Are included.

When defining this workflow, it is usual that the actual person in charge of work is directly assigned as the person in charge of the step, but not the name of the person in charge of work, but the processing content of each step. Attribute name representing the corresponding work authority (for example, "designer""approver" for steps such as "design""approval"),"developmentdepartment""designdepartment"
It is considered that a person in charge is defined by a worker attribute name (hereinafter, referred to as role) represented by an organization name such as.

When the person in charge is defined by a role, a correspondence table between the actual worker (hereinafter referred to as user) and the role is prepared, and the workflow system evaluates the role set in the step at the time of execution. By referring to the correspondence table, the user who actually takes charge of the step is determined. Therefore, when the workflow is defined by using the role, the versatility of the person in charge can be improved. In this case, one user can have a plurality of roles, and different users can also have the same role.

FIG. 14 is an example of a workflow defined by using roles, and the workflow of the workflow is represented by a graph structure. In FIG. 14, each node surrounded by a square represents a work process, that is, a step, which is a unit of work. Each arc (arrow) defines the flow of work (connection, work order and causal relationship), and the fact that there is a step after a certain step means that if the previous step is not completed, the next step will start. It means you can't. Conversely, it means that when the previous step is completed, the subsequent step will automatically start.

In the workflow, humans perform the actual work at each step, but the workflow system manages all the above work flow. That is, the workflow system is based on the defined workflow,
When the work of each step is completed, the work of the next step is appropriately started to manage the flow of the whole work. Note that the start step and the end step are all managed by the workflow system and need not be defined in particular.

By the way, in the workflow system, it is important to maintain the principle that a step and a user in charge thereof have a one-to-one correspondence. Because providing a mechanism that can manage multiple users in one step makes it necessary to judge whether there are multiple users or one user during the processing of the step, which complicates the structure of the step and
This is because it increases the amount of data that must be managed. In addition, most steps in the workflow system are often handled by one user, which is also wasteful.

However, in a workflow defined by roles, when a role is evaluated, a plurality of users may correspond to one step as described above. In this case, in order to maintain the principle of one-to-one correspondence between steps and users, a method of selecting one user from a plurality of users can be considered. It is conceivable that the user who first delivers the work and gets the work first carries out the work of the step.

However, in this method, when a plurality of users want to execute the same step in parallel, it is necessary to describe all the steps executed by the user to define the workflow. For example, in the design workflow including the three steps of “design”, “review”, and “approval” in FIG. 14, in order to perform the “review” step by two users, user A and user B, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a workflow for inserting two “review” steps in parallel between the “design” step and the “approval” step must be defined.

However, the workflow defined in this way is not versatile because the step of "review" is always performed by the user A and the user B.

In view of the above points, the present invention can comply with the principle of maintaining a one-to-one correspondence between a step and a person in charge even when the person in charge of the step is plural. The definition of the workflow is intended to provide an information processing system that can be performed in the form of a highly versatile workflow with a simple flow as shown in FIG.

[0018]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the information processing system according to the present invention makes the information obtained as a result of the execution of a certain work process different when the reference numerals of the embodiments described later are made to correspond to each other. A work flow consisting of a plurality of work processes that are linked as information necessary for executing the work processes is defined by defining at least the order of the plurality of work processes and the processing content of each work process, and the defined work is defined. An information processing system that supports the work by exchanging information with a person in charge of each work process via a user interface according to the flow of the above, and uniquely identifies each work process in the defined work flow. The work process identification information for identification and the person identification information for specifying the person in charge of the work process are held in association with each other, and the relationship between the work process and the flow of work is held. Holding means 17M for holding the relationship specifying information for determining, and a person-in-charge specifying means 32 for specifying a person in charge of processing each of the work steps based on the person-in-charge specifying information held in the holding means, When a plurality of persons in charge is identified for one work process by the person in charge identifying means, the contents held in the holding means are changed so that one person in charge for one work step Correspondingly, the changing means 33 for increasing the number of work steps of the defined work flow is provided.

[0019]

In the present invention having the above-described structure, the work process to be started is uniquely identified by the work process identification information during execution of the defined work flow. And
Based on the correspondence between the work process identification information held in the holding means and the person in charge specifying information, the person in charge specifying means specifies the person in charge who should actually process the work step. For example, when the person in charge is defined by the role, the person in charge registered to perform the role is searched for.

Then, for example, when a plurality of persons in charge of the work process S are specified, the contents of the holding means are changed by the changing means, and the number of the work persons S is (the number of the person in charge-1). A work process having the same processing content as is added so as to be provided in parallel with the work process S. At this time, the changing means, so that one person in charge is responsible for one work process,
The contents of the holding means are changed.

In this way, the work process S is simultaneously executed in parallel by a plurality of persons specified as the persons in charge of the work process. Moreover, the one-to-one correspondence between the work process and the person in charge is maintained.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an information processing system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of the entire information processing system of this example, and its functions are shown as blocks. This information processing system has the configuration of the workflow system described above, and manages the transition of work processes and the passing of information to the person in charge of the work processes (users) according to the data of the work flow to perform work processes. It includes a system unit 10 for supporting and a user interface unit 20 for providing a work environment for supporting processing by a person in charge of each work process (hereinafter, the work process is referred to as a step).

In this example, the system unit 10 has a structure of, for example, a server device that incorporates a file management device. Further, the user interface unit 20 can be configured by an information processing terminal device such as a workstation, can display the work environment of each work process on its display, and the user can perform work processing while viewing the display screen. And an operation input for notification to the system unit 10.

The user interface section 20 can be configured so that a plurality of persons in charge share and use a common one, but in this example, the user interface section 20 is provided for each person in charge. The system unit 10 and the user interface unit 20 are connected by a communication means such as a LAN (Local Area Network) 30 and are constructed as a distributed processing environment.

The system unit 10 and the user interface unit 20 can be configured in the same device.

The system unit 10 includes a template management function unit 11, a routing function unit 12, a notification management function unit 13, a progress information management function unit 14, a user management function unit 15, and a reference information management function unit 16. , And a system management function unit 17. In addition, the user interface unit 2
0 indicates an editing unit 21, a notification unit 22, and a progress management unit 23.
And an interface control unit 24.

Editing unit 2 of user interface unit 20
In step 1, a template and a workflow to be executed (this workflow to be executed is hereinafter referred to as an execution flow) are edited according to the operation input of the user.

The notification unit 22 receives a notification from the system unit 10 to notify the user, or sends an instruction or notification to the system unit 10 in response to a user's operation instruction. In addition, the progress management unit 23 uses the user interface unit 20.
Manage the work transition state in.

The template management function unit 11 of the system unit 10 stores and manages a template that is a defined workflow. In the execution flow, the routing management function unit 12 determines whether or not to start the work of the subsequent step when the work of a certain step is completed according to a set work flow or a predefined rule. To do. When the work of a certain step is completed, starting the work of the subsequent step is called routing to the subsequent step. If the work of the subsequent step is not started, the routing is performed. Not said.

The notification management function unit 13 of the system unit 10 is
Manages notification to users of delivery of information to be processed.
The notification to the user is performed by the notification unit 22 of the user interface unit 20. The progress information management function unit 14 manages information for managing the work status and work history. The progress management unit 23 of the user interface unit 20 manages the work status using this information.

The user management function section 15 manages the user in charge of each step. The system management function unit 17
It manages the entire system unit 10.

The reference information management function unit 16 manages the information required for the work given to the person in charge of each step. The reference information management function unit 16 also performs a process of storing the information of the processing result obtained from the user in the storage unit 16M. As described above, the information exchanged between the user and the workflow system is registered in a folder and circulated along the flow of the workflow. The information registered in this folder and exchanged is hereinafter referred to as a packet. .

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram in which, in the information processing system of this example, the functions of the part relating to the management of the workflow flow are extracted.

The system management function unit 17 stores the defined data regarding the execution flow in the storage unit 17M.
The execution flow can be selected from the defined workflows registered in advance in the template management function unit 11, or the selected workflows can be modified and registered in the storage unit 17M of the system management function unit 17. Of course, it is also possible to create and define all the execution flows from the beginning and register them in the storage unit 17M.

As described above, the workflow is represented by a graph structure including steps, which are units of work, and arcs (arrows) connecting the steps. Therefore, the data related to the defined execution flow (hereinafter referred to as workflow data) includes a step table that indicates what kind of steps the workflow is composed of, and a table of the execution order of the steps that is the arc-related data (execution order table). (Hereinafter referred to as)) is included.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the data structure of workflow data. That is, the execution order table O
T is composed of a column of a pre-process (pre-step) connected before each arc and a column of a post-process (post-step) connected after each arc. The pre-process and the post-process are each expressed by a step identifier for uniquely identifying each step in one workflow. In order to manage a plurality of workflows, a workflow identifier column for uniquely identifying each workflow is provided.

The step table ST is a correspondence table of a step identifier that uniquely identifies each step, a step name of the step represented by the step identifier, a person in charge, and a broadcast flag. In this example, the step identifier is represented by a unique number in one workflow. The step name is expressed by a character string, which allows the processing content of each step to be recognized.

In the column of person in charge, the user identifier or the above-mentioned role name is described. Even if there is only one person in charge, the role name may be described in the person in charge field,
In this example, when there are a plurality of persons in charge, only the role name is described in the column of person in charge. In the case of the example in the figure, the role name is described in the column of person in charge of the step table. The step table ST also includes a workflow identifier column for identifying the workflow.

The broadcast flag indicates that when the routing function unit 12 has a plurality of users identified as persons in charge of the step, the step of the step identifier is
It is for setting whether or not all of the specified users are steps to execute the work, and the truth value is described in this broadcast flag column when the execution flow is defined. . Then, for example, the broadcast flag is set to “true” when all of the identified users are steps to perform the work, and is set to “false” otherwise. To be done.

The user management function unit 15 manages user data for determining the user who actually takes charge of each step. The user data is normally registered and stored in the storage unit 15M before the execution of the execution flow. It is also possible to change the content of the user data during execution of the execution flow.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the data structure of the user data. In this example, the step table ST
In the column of person in charge of, not the actual user name in charge is described, but the role name is described. Therefore, the user data is the user who actually takes charge of each step through this role name. Is data for deciding, and in this example, it comprises a user table UT and a roll table RT.

As shown in FIG. 4, the user table UT is a correspondence table between a user identifier for uniquely identifying a user in the workflow system and a user name having the user identifier. The roll table RT is a correspondence table between the user identifier and the roll name. As the user identifier, for example, a unique number in the workflow system is used.

In the case of this example, the routing function unit 12 functionally has a step state management unit 31, a routing processing unit 32, and a step addition unit 3 as a changing means.
3 and a packet transmission / reception unit 34.

The routing processing unit 32 determines the actual routing based on the workflow data.

The step addition unit 33 requests the step addition from the routing processing unit 32 when the next processing person in the routing processing unit 32 is a plurality of users and the broadcast flag is "true". Then, in parallel with the next step, the process of adding one less number of steps than the number of users in charge of the next step, the step in which multiple users are identified as persons in charge, and the actual number of added steps Set the user in charge of.

The packet transmission / reception unit 34 generates a packet to be given to the user in charge, sends the packet to the user in charge through the user interface 20, and a packet in which the processing result in the step by the user in charge is reflected. Is received from the responsible user via the user interface 20. The packet is the reference information management function unit 1.
6, the reference information management function unit 16 has a storage unit 16M for this packet. Packet transmitting / receiving unit 34
Forms a packet to be routed next using the information managed by the reference information management function unit 16.

The routing function unit 12 manages the state of each step of the workflow according to the following four types of states to manage the flow of the workflow. The step state management unit 31 includes a state data storage unit 31M for each step of the execution flow.

A non-startable state in which a step cannot start work yet (hereinafter, this state is referred to as "not re
"Ady") The step is ready to start and waiting for the person in charge to start work (hereinafter, this state is called "read").
Execution state in which the person in charge is working (hereinafter, this state is referred to as "run") Work end state in which the person in charge has finished work (hereinafter, this state is referred to as "complete").

The routing function unit 12 basically performs the following operation according to the state transition of the above steps, and the workflow proceeds by repeating this operation for each step.

When there is only one user in charge of the step to be routed, the workflow proceeds by the basic operation of the following operations, but there are multiple users in charge, and the broadcast flag is "true". Occasionally, a step having the same processing content as a step in which the user in charge is plural is added in parallel with the step to be routed by (the number of user in charge-1), and the step to be routed and the added step are added. A process of assigning one responsible user to each of the plurality of responsible users and simultaneously delivering packets required for work processing to the plurality of responsible users is added to the basic operation.

First, the basic operation when there is one person in charge of each step will be described. At the initial stage, the state of each step of the storage unit 31M of the step state management unit 31 is "not ready". When the person in charge starts the workflow, the routing processing unit 32, which receives the instruction from the system management function unit 17, determines the first step as the next step. Also,
As will be described later, when steps other than the start step are completed (when the state becomes "complete")
Then, the routing processing unit 32 determines the next step. The next step determined is that its state is "re
ady ”.

The step status management unit 31 issues a notification request to the notification management function unit 13 when the step status changes from "not ready" to "ready". The notification management function unit 13 notifies the person in charge of the next step in accordance with this notification request, and prompts the person in charge to start the work.

In response to this notification, the person in charge gives a signal to the workflow system to start it, and the notification management function unit 13 receives this signal and notifies the step state management unit 31 of this. In response to this, the step state management unit 31 changes the step state from "ready" to "run".

Then, the step state management unit 31 issues a packet transmission request to the packet transmission / reception unit 34, and the packet transmission / reception unit 34 provides information such as documents, drawings, data, etc., necessary for the person in charge to perform the work. A packet, which is a group of data, is sent to the user in charge.

The user in charge executes the work based on the packet delivered from the workflow system. When the designated work is completed, the user in charge sends a completion signal to the workflow system together with the packet in which the work content is reflected. At this time, the step status management unit 31 changes the status of the step from “run” to “complete”.

The step status management unit 31 issues a processing request to the routing processing unit 32 when the status of the step changes from "run" to "complete". The routing processing unit 32 determines the actual routing. That is, the next step for routing is determined, and the user in charge is determined. When the user in charge is one, the determined step and the user in charge are
The step status management unit 31 is notified as described above.

The step status management unit 31 changes the status of the step for performing routing according to the notification from the routing processing unit 32 from "not ready" to "read."
y ”. Hereinafter, the same processing as described above is repeated to advance the workflow, and when there are no subsequent steps, the processing of the workflow ends.

When the routing processing unit 32 receives the processing request from the step state management unit 31 when the state of the previous step changes from "run" to "complete", it determines the next step. When it is determined that there are a plurality of users in charge of step, the following processing operation is performed.

The routing processing unit 32 has a plurality of users in charge of the next step, and the broadcast flag is "falses".
In the case of “e”, the notification including the information of the plurality of responsible users is sent to the step state management unit 31, and the state of the next step is changed from “not ready” to “read”.
y ”. The step status management unit 31 requests the notification management function unit 13 to notify all of the plurality of users in charge of the next step designated by the routing processing unit 32. The notification management function unit 13 notifies all of the plurality of responsible users.

When the broadcast flag is "false" and a notification is sent to a plurality of users in charge in the next step, the notification management function unit 13 first signals the start of work among the plurality of users. The step status management unit 31 is notified of the user in charge who sent the message. Step status management unit 31
Correspondingly changes the state of that step to "read
Change "y" to "run".

Then, the step state management unit 31 issues a packet transmission request to the packet transmission / reception unit 34, and the packet transmission / reception unit 34 outputs information such as documents, drawings, and data necessary for the person in charge to perform the work. A packet, which is a collection of data, is sent to the user who sent the start signal. The subsequent operation is similar to the basic operation described above.

Next, in the routing processing unit 32, the person in charge is a role, and as a result of the role evaluation in the user management function unit 15, there are a plurality of users in charge of the step determined to be next routed. , The broadcast flag is "t
When it is “rue”, the routing processing unit 32
Issues a step addition processing request to the step addition unit 33. At the time of this additional processing request, the identifier of the step determined as the next step and the plurality of users in charge thereof are passed to the step adding unit 33 as input data.

Then, assuming that the number of users in charge of the next step is M, the step adding section 33 determines (M-1) steps having the same processing contents as the next step.
Each step is additionally registered as workflow data so that it is executed in parallel with the determined next step. That is, the step adding unit 33 adds the workflow data to the execution order table OT of the workflow data and the step table ST in the storage unit 17M.
Then, each of the plurality of users determined as the user in charge of the next step is set as the user in charge of the next step and the added (M-1) steps.

In this way, when (M-1) steps are added in parallel to the next step and registered, M steps, which is the number of users in charge of the step determined as the next step, are added to the previous step. It will be in a state of existing in parallel. The routing processing unit 32 notifies the step state management unit 31 of all of these M steps as the next steps in order to perform routing to all of these M parallel steps.

The step state management section 31 changes the states of these M steps from "not ready" to "rea.
dy ”and requests the notification management function unit 13 to notify each person in charge of the M steps. The notification management function unit 13 notifies the user in charge of all M steps in accordance with this request. Then, when the step status management unit 31 receives a start signal from the user in charge of each step via the notification management function unit 13, the step status management unit 31 transfers the necessary packet to the user in charge of the step. In this way, each user in charge of the M steps receives the packet necessary for the work and executes the work of the same content in parallel.

The routing of these M parallel steps to the next step is performed when all of the M steps are "complete" in this example. Hereinafter, the workflow is executed by repeating the above process.

Next, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 which is a continuation of FIG.
The routing processing unit 32 of the routing management function unit 12
5 is an example of a flowchart of a work transfer processing routine of FIG. In the transfer processing routine, as described above, the state of the previous step changes from "run" to "compl".
When it becomes “ete”, it is activated by a processing request given from the step status management unit 31 to the routing processing unit 32. When the workflow is started, the start step is automatically set to “ru” by the system management function unit 17.
“N” is changed to “complete”.

For this work transfer processing routine, the step status management unit 31 informs the routing processing unit 32 of the workflow identifier of the workflow currently being executed and the completed step (the previous step when the status becomes "complete"). ) Identifier is given as input data. At the start of the workflow, the start step identifier “0” is given as the input data as the step identifier.

In this transfer processing routine, first,
In process 101, the next step after the completed step is determined. In determining the next step, the workflow data execution order table OT is referred to. That is, the step identifier which is the value of the column of the subsequent process of the record (the registered data for each row of the table is called a record) which is the step identifier of the step whose value of the column of the previous process of the execution order table OT has ended The step represented is the next step. As a result, there may be a plurality of next steps.

In the next judgment 102, it is judged whether or not the workflow is completed. If the result of this determination is that there is no next step, this work transfer processing routine ends. If there is a next step, the process proceeds to step 103.

The process 103 includes the following determinations 104 to 1
14 is a process for preparing a repeating process in which 14 is repeated for a plurality of steps determined as the next step, the number of repetitions, that is, the number of next steps is set in a variable S, and an initial value “1” is set in a variable N To set.

Next, proceeding to decision 104, the step table ST is searched based on the identifier of the Nth step, the value of the person in charge column of the record containing the step identifier is taken out, and whether it is a roll or not. Judge whether or not. In the case of this example, if it is a role, the value of the person in charge column of the step table ST is a character string, and if it is not a role, the value of the person in charge column is a user identifier, that is, a number. The decision is made.

As a result of the judgment in this judgment 104, if the value in the column of the person in charge is not the role but the user identifier, the user in charge is one, and therefore the process 11 for the iterative process is repeated.
3. The process proceeds to the decision 114 in sequence, and when the decisions 104 to 114 are completed for all the next steps, the process 115
Then, the execution order table OT is searched again to determine the next step.
A request is issued to notify the user in charge of all steps determined as the next step, and this work transfer processing routine is ended.

On the other hand, as a result of the judgment in judgment 104, when the value in the column of the person in charge is the role, the processing proceeds to step 105, the role is evaluated by referring to the user data, and the actual user in charge is decided. . In this case, the roll evaluation is
Requested by the user management function unit 15, roll table RT
Is performed by searching for a user identifier whose value in the role column is equal to the role in the person column of the step table ST. Then, the routing processing unit 32 obtains the information of the user in charge of the user identifier of the search result from the user management function unit 15, sets the list of user identifiers of the result of the role evaluation in the variable UL, and sets the number of the users in charge in the variable M. To do.

Next, the process proceeds to decision 106, where it is determined whether the broadcast flag of the step table ST is "true (= true)". As a result of the determination, when the broadcast flag is “true”, the process proceeds to determination 107, and it is determined whether or not there are a plurality of users in charge as a result of evaluating the role. If the user is not a plurality of users but one user, the process proceeds to step 112, and the user in charge obtained from the user management function unit 15 as the actual person in charge of the next step in which the person in charge column of the step table ST is a role Of the list UL (in this case, only one user in charge is in the list UL).

If it is determined in the decision 107 that there are a plurality of users in charge, the process 108 when there are a plurality of users in charge, the broadcast step addition process 109, the process 110, and the process 111 are sequentially executed. Then, the broadcast step addition process 109 is executed (the number of responsible users M−1) times.

In the broadcast step addition processing 109, records of the steps (the number of users in charge M-1) connected in parallel to the step determined as the next step are added to the workflow data execution order table OT and step table ST. Perform the process. At this time, in the step table ST, in the column of the person in charge of the record of the next step to be added and the column of the person in charge of the record of the added (M-1) steps, from the user management function unit 15. The assigned user identifiers of the obtained assigned user list UL are sequentially set one by one.

However, as will be described later, the user list U
The first user of L is set as the user in charge of the step defined by the role name as the person in charge determined as the next step, so for the added step,
The second and subsequent users of the user list UL are sequentially assigned.

The detailed routine of the broadcast step addition processing 109 will be described later.

When it is judged in the judgment 111 that the step addition process of (the number of users in charge-1) -1 is completed, the process proceeds to the process 112, and the column of the person in charge of the step table ST is a roll and the addition target. As the actual person in charge of the next step, the first user identifier of the list UL of the in-charge users obtained from the user management function unit 15 is set.

Then, the processing 11 for the repeated processing
3. The process proceeds to the determination 114 in sequence, and when the determinations 104 to 114 are completed for all the next steps determined in the process 101, the process proceeds to the process 115. Then, as described above, in the process 115, the updated execution order table OT
Search again to determine the next step. Then, if there are a plurality of determined next steps, a request is issued to the step status management unit 31 so as to notify the users in charge of all the next steps, and this work transfer processing routine is ended.

As a result of the judgment in judgment 106, if the broadcast flag is "false (= false)", judgment 106
To jump to processing 113 and determination 114 for repeated processing. When the determinations 104 to 114 are completed for all the next steps determined in the process 101, the process proceeds to the process 115, and as described above, the step state management unit 31 determines all the steps determined as the next steps. , A request is made to notify all the users in charge, and this work transfer processing routine is ended.
As described above, at this time, only the user who first started the work among all the users in charge to whom the notification is sent is given the license of the work.

FIG. 7 shows the above-mentioned broadcast step addition processing 1
09 is a detailed routine. The input data of this broadcast step addition processing 109 is the step determined as the next step in the work transfer processing routine, and the step in which the person in charge is a role and is judged to be plural persons (hereinafter referred to as the broadcast step). Identifier SID and responsible user list UL
It is one of the user identifiers UID. As described above, since the user at the top of the assigned user list UL is set as the user of the broadcast step, the user identifier UID as the input data is the identifiers of the second and subsequent users of the list UL. It is sequentially set every time the broadcast step addition process is called.

In this broadcast step addition processing routine, first, in step 201, the subsequent step is the identifier SID.
The execution order table O
Search from T. That is, all the steps before the broadcast step of the identifier SID are searched. Then, the list PRE of the identifiers of the previous step of the search result is created.

Next, proceeding to the process 202, a step in which the previous step is the broadcast step of the identifier SID is searched from the execution order table OT. That is, all steps after the broadcast step of the identifier SID are searched. Then, the list POST of the identifiers of the subsequent step of the search result is created.

Next, in step 203, an actual step addition process using the list PRE of the previous step and the list POST of the subsequent step is performed. 8 and 9
Shows a part of the detailed processing routine of the step addition processing 203 and its continuation. Detailed processing of the step addition processing 203 will be described below.

First, in step 301, a new step identifier NewID is set. Next, in process 302, the number of steps registered in the list PRE of the previous step is set to C, and the initial value N = 1 is set to the numerical value N for the iterative process. Then, the process proceeds to step 303, where the record of the workflow order value OT [workflow identifier value pre-process / post-process] is [N-th step identifier NewI of workflow identifier value list PRE.
D] is added.

Then, the process 304 and the determination 305 for the iterative process for all the step identifiers listed in the list PRE are performed, and the record adding process 303 is performed for all the step identifiers listed in the list PRE. The process proceeds to the next process 306.

In this processing 306, the number of steps in the list POST of the subsequent step is set to C, and the initial value N = 1 is set to the numerical value N for the repeated processing. Then, the processing proceeds to step 307, and a record [Nth step identifier NewID of workflow identifier value list POST] is added to the execution order table OT as a record [workflow identifier previous step / post step].

Then, the process 308 and the determination 309 for the iterative process for all the step identifiers listed in the list POST are performed, and the record adding process 307 is performed for all the step identifiers listed in the list POST. The process proceeds to the next process 310.

In process 310, the step table ST
As the record [workflow identifier step identifier step name person in charge broadcast flag], [workflow identifier value NewID NULL NULL fa
lse] is added.

When the process 310 is completed, the return value is New.
As the ID, the process returns to the broadcast step addition processing routine of FIG. 7, and shifts to the processing 204.

In this process 204, the record Z of the step whose step identifier is the broadcast step identifier SID
From the step table ST. Next, process 205
In the step table ST, in the step name column, the person in charge column, and the broadcast flag column of the record of the step whose step identifier is NewID,
The value of the corresponding column of the record Z searched in the process 204 is set. This is the end of the broadcast step addition process.

Next, as described above, the work transfer processing described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 9 is performed in three steps of “design”, “review”, and “approval” as in the conventional example of FIG. A more specific description will be given by taking an example of the case where the "design workflow" consisting of is the execution flow.

FIG. 10 shows an example of workflow data when the execution flow is started in this example. In the execution order table OT of this example, the workflow identifier “100
“0” indicates “design workflow” which is an execution flow. The step number "0" indicates the start step, and the step number "NULL" indicates the end step. These start step and end step are steps automatically defined by the workflow system.

In the step table ST of this example, "designer", "examiner", and "approver" which are attribute values representing the work authority of each step are adopted as the role names in the column of the person in charge. Then, in this example, the broadcast flag is set to "tr" for the "review" step with the step identifier "2" and the "approval" step with the step identifier "3".
Since there are multiple users in charge of each of these steps, it is defined that all of the multiple users in charge of these steps execute the steps of “Review” and “Approval”, respectively. ing.

Next, FIG. 11 shows an example of user data prepared in the case of this example. User table U of FIG.
As can be seen from T and the roll table RT, in this example, the step “review” is set so that the users “Ben” and “John” having the user identifiers “2” and “3” can be in charge. ing. Then, as described above, the broadcast flag of the step "review" is "true", so the step "review" is defined so that "Ben" and "John" work in parallel at the same time. Has been done.

Therefore, the step "design" is completed, the state becomes "complete", the workflow identifier "1000" and the step identifier "1" are given as input data, and the above-mentioned work transfer processing routine is executed. Then, in the broadcast step addition processing 109, the step addition processing shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 is performed, and the record is added to the execution order table OT and the step table ST as shown in FIG. .
The input data for the work transfer process at this time is the step identifier “2”.

In this case, the step in charge of "John" is added, and the step identifier is shown in FIG.
In process 301, NewID = “4” is set. The input data list PRE of the step addition process of FIG. 8 is made up of only the step identifier “1”,
The OST consists only of the step identifier “3”. And
By the process 303 and the process 307, in the execution order table OT, a record in which the preceding process has the step identifier “1” and the succeeding process has the step identifier “4”, the preceding process has the step identifier “4”, and the succeeding process has the step identifier “3”. And the record of "" are added.

Further, in the process 310 shown in FIG.
In the step table ST, the step name is "Review"
Then, a record regarding a new step of the step identifier “4” in which the person in charge is set to “John” of the user identifier “3” is added.

Further, in this step table ST, the column of the person in charge of the record of the step of the step identifier "2" is changed from the role name "examiner" to the user identifier "2" in the process 112 of FIG. , The person in charge of this step is specified as "Ben".

Thereafter, in the processing 115 of FIG. 6, the person in charge of the steps of these step identifiers "2" and "4" is notified, the packet is transferred, and the step of "review" is changed to "Ben". Performed simultaneously by two people, "John".

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the states at the time of definition and at the time of execution of the execution flow of this example by a graph structure. Specifically, the work transfer process of the execution flow of this example is sequentially performed as follows.

First, when the workflow is started, the work transfer process is performed with the workflow identifier “1000” and the step identifier “0” (starting step) as input. In this case, the next step 1 is "design" and the person in charge is the role "designer". When the role "design" is evaluated by the user data, the user "jack"
Since the person in charge of this step 1 is the user “Jack”, the notification of the start of work is sent.

When the step “design” is completed, the work transfer process is executed by inputting the workflow identifier “1000” and the step identifier “1”. At this time, the next step is “review” (step identifier “2”). The person in charge is the role "examiner". The users corresponding to the role "Examiner" are "Ben" and "John".
There are two people.

Therefore, the step addition process is performed, and the record relating to the new step "Review" with the identifier "4" is added to the execution order table OT and the step table ST as described above. And
A work start notification is sent to two persons with the person in charge of the step “review” with the identifier “2” as “Ben” and the person in charge of the step “review” with the identifier “4” as “John”.

Next, at the time when both the steps "Review" of the step identifiers "2" and "4" are completed, the work transfer process is performed with the step identifiers "2" and "4" as input data. In this case, the next step is identifier "3".
Since the person in charge is only one user “Smith”, the person in charge is “Smith” and the notification of the start of work is sent.

Next, the work transfer process is performed when the step "approval" of the identifier "3" is completed. However, since there is no next step, the execution flow of the identifier "1000" is completed.

As described above, when there are a plurality of persons in charge of the next step to perform routing,
The next step is added in parallel so that the number of steps is equal to the number of persons in charge, and each person in charge is set as a person in charge of each of the plurality of next steps. This makes it possible to allow a plurality of users in charge to simultaneously perform the work of one step while maintaining the one-to-one correspondence between the steps and the users in charge.

Further, in the above embodiment, the number of persons in charge of the next step is checked during the work transfer process to generate the subflow. Therefore, the user data is rewritten during the execution of the workflow. It is also possible to cope with the increase in the number of users.

However, when the workflow is started, the user data and the workflow data are checked, the step addition processing is executed in advance for the step in which the user in charge is plural, and the data of the additional step is converted into the workflow data. You may add it.

Further, in the above embodiment, since the workflow using the role name can be defined as the person in charge of each step, a highly versatile workflow can be defined.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, when there are a plurality of users in charge of steps, it is assumed that all the steps executed in parallel have the same weight, and when all the steps are completed, Although the work transfer process for the next step is performed, by weighting the route of the added step, it is possible to preferentially process the work route having a higher degree of importance.

For example, the three users A, B, who are in charge of the step "review" in the workflow of the above-mentioned example,
When C is set, even if the users B and C do not finish the work, when the user A finishes the work, the work can be advanced if the approval of the user A is obtained. It is also possible to define a workflow.

Further, in the above embodiment, whether or not there are a plurality of persons in charge of the step is detected from the user data via the role name. It is also possible to describe the name and the user identifier, and directly detect from the step table whether or not there are a plurality of persons in charge of the step.

[0117]

As described above, according to the present invention, when there are a plurality of persons in charge of the next step of transferring the work, the next step is the number of steps corresponding to the number of persons in charge. As described above, steps are added in parallel, and each person in charge is set as the person in charge of each of the next steps, so the principle of one-to-one correspondence between steps and users in charge is maintained. As it is, multiple people can simultaneously perform the work of one step.
Therefore, when defining a workflow to be executed, the definition work becomes easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a main part of an embodiment of an information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of an embodiment of an information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a structure of workflow data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a structure of user data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart of a process of a main part of an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a continuation of the flowchart of the processing of the main part of the embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

7 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example of detailed processing contents of processing 109 in FIG.

8 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart of an example of detailed processing contents of processing 203 in FIG. 7. FIG.

9 is a diagram illustrating a continuation of the flowchart of an example of the detailed processing content of processing 203 in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of workflow data at the time of starting an execution flow in the embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of user data used in an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of workflow data when a step is added.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram showing a workflow of an embodiment of an information processing system according to the present invention in a graph structure.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a workflow represented by a graph structure.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing another example of a workflow represented by a graph structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 system unit 11 template management function unit 12 routing function unit 13 notification management function unit 14 progress information management function unit 15 user management function unit 15M user data storage unit 16 reference information management unit 17 system management function unit 17M workflow data storage unit 20 user interface unit 31 step state management unit 31M step state storage unit 32 routing processing unit 33 step addition unit 34 packet transmission / reception unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A work flow consisting of a plurality of work processes in which the information obtained as a result of the execution of a work process becomes information necessary for the execution of another work process and is linked to at least a plurality of work processes. An information processing system that supports the work by defining and defining the order and the processing contents of each work process and exchanging information with the person in charge of each work process through a user interface according to the defined work flow. The work process identification information for uniquely identifying each work process in the defined work flow and the person-in-charge identification information for specifying the person in charge of the work process are held in association with each other. And holding means for holding relationship specifying information for specifying the relationship between the work process and the work flow, and each work based on the person specifying information held by the holding means. A person in charge specifying means for specifying a person in charge of processing a process, and when a plurality of persons in charge for one work process are specified by the person in charge specifying means, the contents are held in the holding means. In addition, the information processing system further comprises a changing means for increasing the number of work steps in the work flow defined so that one person in charge corresponds to one work step. 2. The changing means generates a set of the work process identification information and the person-in-charge specifying information capable of uniquely specifying the person in charge of the work step for the specified number of persons in charge, The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the person in charge is replaced with a set of work process identification information of the work process in which the person in charge is specified, and the person specifying information.