JPH09185655A - System and method for managing work flow - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and method for managing work flow with which a document can be delivered to the circulation destination place (working place) of a worker according to the schedule of that worker even when that place is changed. SOLUTION: Based on word flow definition information 1-2, etc., a work flow manager 101 manages the state transition of flow data. A user manager 1-3 controls the distribution of flow data to users. A schedule manager 1-5 (such as time management 107 and destination management 1-8) manages the working places of respective workers while utilizing schedule information 1-6. A transmission tray manager 1-11 transfers document information, etc., to a designated server while referring to the information from the schedule manager 1-5. A reception tray manager 2-1 at the destination server 2 receives the transferred document information, etc., and distributes it to the trays of users. A time manager 2-2 manages the handling of tray information according to time information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a workflow management system and a management method for supporting a document circulation work executed by a plurality of workers in association with each other, and more particularly, to a document to a moving destination according to a schedule of workers. The present invention relates to a workflow management system and management method that can be transferred and distributed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, workflow management systems have been commercialized for the purpose of improving white-collar productivity. A workflow management system is a system that supports circulation work composed of multiple workers, shares electronic documents between multiple workers, automates state transitions of shared information, and It is a system that has the function of managing the progress status of. In these workflow management systems, circulation work is defined in advance, and is distributed to workers or groups (roles) of workers according to the defined information. In the circulation control in the workflow management system described above, the document is distributed to the worker according to the workflow definition information.
In this case, each operator's tray can be designated as acceptable / impossible, and if accepted, it is distributed to the operator's tray, and if accepted, it is distributed to other workers of the same role. Some products have the functions implemented. As a workflow management system, for example, "Hitachi Image & Workflow System TEAMSTER
TEAMSTER / AW User's Guide "(Heisei 7
Published by Hitachi, Ltd. in March 2013).

[0003]

In the above-mentioned prior art, when a predefined worker leaves his / her office when he / she is on a business trip, the documents distributed to the unattended worker are stored in the tray of the unattended worker. Can be stored in or transferred to another worker in the same roll. If it is accumulated in the out-of-worker's tray, the worker must log in to the destination machine, connect to the workflow server with his tray, and transfer the documents in his tray to the destination machine. . Therefore, there is a problem that an urgent matter cannot be processed immediately. Also, when transferring to another worker of the same role, there is a possibility that documents that can only be processed by workers who are out of the office will be distributed to other workers, There is a problem that the number of documents to be processed per person increases.

Further, as a mechanism for transferring a document,
There is a mail forwarding function, but there is no product that links this function with the document circulation control in the workflow. In addition, this forward function is a function to transfer mail to a pre-specified address, for example,
This is used when e-mail sent to the address before the transfer is permanently transferred to the address after the transfer because the office changes due to the transfer. In this way, the forward function is not changed in time once the transfer destination is specified. For example, when the location of oneself changes on a business trip, the document is transferred to the business trip destination. There was a problem that it could not be used for the transfer process. An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and, even when the worker's whereabouts (working place) at the circulation destination is changed, a document can be circulated to the whereabouts according to the worker's schedule. To provide a management system and a management method.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, The workflow management system of the present invention connects a plurality of department workflow systems (21-1 to 21-4) each having a workflow server (33) to a line (22).
A workflow management system (FIGS. 2 and 3) for connecting documents by using a document and circulating the document among a plurality of users, wherein the workflow server (33; FIG. 1) stores the document in a tray of the user according to predefined circulation information. A document distribution means (1-11) for distributing the information, a schedule information management means (1-5 to 1-8) for managing at least time and a work place in association with each user, a work place and a document circulation server. Server management means (1-12) for managing the address information of the above and the time generation means for generating time, and the document distribution means (1-11)) further includes the time generation means. Is searched for from the schedule information management means (1-5 to 1-8), and the server management means (1-1) is searched for.
According to 2), the address information of the workflow server is searched from the searched work place, and the document to be distributed to the user is transferred to the tray of the workflow server by using the searched address information. . Furthermore, all workflow servers manage user identification information that uniquely identifies all users registered in the workflow management system (1- (1)).
3) is provided, and it is possible to connect to an arbitrary workflow server by using the same user identification information. . Furthermore, if all workflow servers connect to a workflow server that does not have user identification information,
A means for transferring a document to a tray designated in advance corresponding to a user identifier connectable to any user, transferring the document transferred to the tray, and classifying the document transferred to the tray for each user It is characterized by having. . Further, the workflow server assigns a tray of an arbitrary user to any one workflow server (home server), and temporarily creates a tray of the user when the user connects to a workflow server other than the home server. It is characterized by having. . The workflow server manages user information including information on acceptance / non-acceptance of document distribution in the tray of the user, and another user when the user information in the means for managing the user information indicates acceptance is not possible. It is characterized by having means for transferring documents to the tray. . The department workflow system further includes a workflow definition client (31) that describes the business as a business process, a schedule definition client (32) that describes the schedule of each user, and a business based on the workflow definition information created by the workflow definition client. It is characterized by having a workflow server (33) for circulating documents between clients, a business client (34) for processing documents, and an operation management client (35) for managing the entire department workflow system. . A workflow management method of the present invention is a workflow management method for circulating a document between a plurality of users by connecting a plurality of department workflow systems, each including a workflow server, by a line. For a user whose home server is, hold user management information that manages the acceptance and the necessity of transfer at the home server for each user, and schedule information that manages the schedule for each user, and Then, referring to the user management information, it is checked whether or not the reception is possible and whether or not the transfer is necessary (steps 202 and 206). If the reception is impossible, the roll tray of the home server (step 204) or another user tray (step 205). ) Stores the document in the Storing the document in the user tray on the server (step 208), if the transfer is needed in Ready, with reference to at least the scheduling information, and transfers the document to the work location of the user (Step 2080
~ 2097). . Further, the schedule information is information in which time is associated with an organization name, and when reception is possible and transfer is required, the schedule information and the organization management table that associates the organization name with the work place are referred to, and The feature is that the work place is obtained and the document is transferred to the work place of the obtained user. . Further, it is characterized in that flag information for identifying the degree of urgency of circulation is added to the document to be circulated, and the priority of transferring the document is determined by referring to the flag information.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION As described above, in the present invention, it is possible to transfer a document to a work place where the worker is out, in cooperation with the schedule information of the worker. That is, the destination of the worker at a specific time is searched from the schedule information of the worker, and the workflow server to which the document is to be transferred is specified from the searched destination.
The document is transferred to the specified workflow server and stored in the user tray of the worker. When the worker logs in to the workflow server at the destination, he / she can access the documents distributed to his / her tray. According to the present invention, it is possible to search for a destination of a worker by using schedule information and automatically transfer a document distributed to the worker to a destination. Therefore, it becomes possible to process a document that cannot be processed by only the worker or a document that requires urgency, and the number of documents processed by the worker assigned to the role will not be increased.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the outline of the functional configuration of a workflow management system that realizes the document circulation method of the present invention. The workflow management system is roughly divided into functionally the home server 1,
It is classified into the destination server 2 and the business client 3. In the following description, "... information" refers to information stored in a disk (corresponding to the file 43 in FIG. 4) in the system, and "... management" is a processing device (see FIG. 4) in the system. (Corresponding to the CPU 44 of the above), the management performed by executing a predetermined program.

In the figure, reference numeral 1-1 is a workflow manager, which manages the state transition of the flow data based on the state of the workflow definition information 1-2 and the flow data (program). 1-3 is user management, referring to the user management information 1-4,
It controls distribution of flow data to users.
1-5 is schedule management, schedule information 1
With reference to -6, the work content, work place, etc. of each user are managed for each hour. The schedule management 1-5 is composed of a time management 1-7 and a destination management 1-8. The tray information 1-9 is information for managing the relationship between the document information 1-10 and the user. The transmission tray management 1-11 is schedule management 1-5 and server management information 1-5 when transfer to another destination server is designated in the user management 1-3.
12 is a management for transferring the tray information and the document information to the designated destination server 2 by referring to 12.

In the destination server 2, the inbox management 2-1
In the home server 1, the transmission tray management 1-11
The tray information and the document information transmitted by are received, and the process of distributing to the user's tray is executed. The time management 2-2 manages the handling of tray information according to the time information transmitted together with the tray information. This time information has the same content as the information managed by the schedule management 1-5. In addition, 3-1 and 2 in the figure are
Document information viewer (display device) on the business client
And provides a tool (business application) for processing the tray information and the document information.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a workflow management system for realizing the present invention. In the figure, reference numerals 21-1 to 21-4 denote department workflow systems, and the department workflow systems are interconnected via a line 22. The line 22 may be any line as long as it can transfer data, and may be an analog line via a modem or the like, a public line formed of a digital line, or a dedicated line.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the department workflow systems 21-1 to 21-4 in FIG. Each department workflow system includes a workflow definition client 31, a schedule definition client 3
2, workflow server 33, business client 34,
It is composed of the operation management client 35.

The workflow definition client 31 is a client that describes (defines) a business as a business process. The schedule definition client 32 is a client that describes (defines) schedule information of each user. The workflow server 33 executes a program called a workflow manager (1-1 in FIG. 1) and circulates document information between business clients based on the workflow definition information created by the workflow definition client. Is. The document circulation method described above is also realized as a part of the function of this workflow manager. Business client 34 (34-1)
34-3) are clients that process the circulated document information. The operation management client 35 is a client that monitors the progress of business processes and manages the entire workflow system. 36 is a LAN connecting the clients and servers to each other
It is.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the workflow server (33 in FIG. 3) for implementing the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 41 denotes a LAN adapter for connecting the workflow server 33 to the local network.
Reference numeral 2 is a line adapter for connecting the workflow server 33 and the off-premise network. Reference numeral 43 is a file (disk or the like) in which workflow definition information, tray information, document information and the like are stored. A processing unit (CPU) 44 controls the entire workflow server. Reference numeral 45 denotes a memory, which is composed of a ROM 45-1 and a RAM 45-2. The ROM 45-1 stores various programs for implementing the present invention, and the program for implementing the present document circulation method is also stored in the ROM 45-1. The RAM 45-2 stores various tables and data. The workflow manager that operates the workflow server 33 is stored in the ROM 45-1. In this embodiment, the ROM 45-1 and the RAM
45-2 is shown as a separate memory block ROM and RAM
However, it is not always necessary to use a read-only memory as the ROM, and the storage areas of the data to be stored in the ROM and the data to be stored in the RAM are separated in the memory having the same RAM configuration. You may do it.

In this workflow management system, information corresponding to one job is managed in units of business processes. The workflow definition information described (defined) in the workflow definition client 31 is also described in business process units. Further, in this embodiment, each user is managed so as to be unique in the workflow management system,
You can log in to all workflow servers.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of processing of the workflow server. In the figure, in step 100,
Get flow data attribute information. The flow data attribute information is the file 43 or R in the workflow server.
Although not shown in the figure, the file is stored in the AM 45-2 or the like, but is present at a position accessible by the workflow manager 1-1 like the workflow definition information in FIG. 6 and 7 show an example of the flow data attribute information used in this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the flow data attribute information table includes a matter ID, a matter name, a system attribute, and a pointer to the attribute for each piece of flow data. Here, the matter ID is an identifier (“001”, “002”, “003”, etc. in the example of FIG. 6) for uniquely determining the flow data in the workflow management system, and the matter name indicates the flow data by the user. The name is used for identification (“Case 1”, “Case 2”, “Case 3”, etc. in the example of FIG. 6). The system attribute is information indicating the state of the flow data in the workflow management system, and has states such as processing / transition / holding / cancellation. The pointer to the attribute has pointer information to a table (FIG. 7) that stores the flow data attribute. An example of the flow data attribute is shown in FIG. The flow data attribute is composed of an attribute name, an attribute type, and an attribute value. The attribute name (process results 1, 2, 3, etc.) and the attribute type (character type, etc.) are defined when the workflow is defined, and the attribute value (OK, (NG, approval, etc.) is filled in when the work is executed.

In step 101 of FIG. 5, step 10
The workflow definition information is interpreted using the flow data attribute information acquired in 0. FIG. 8 shows an example of the workflow definition information. The workflow definition information is provided as a script as shown in FIG. The script includes a field portion 61 that defines the attributes of the entire business process such as a business process name and a user key name, a field portion 62 that defines the attributes of flow data, and a field portion 63 that defines the attributes of the nodes that make up the business process. Composed of. In FIG. 8, “#flow” in the field part 61 is the name of the business process (“slip processing business” in the figure), “#user key” is the user key specification, and “#create” is the business process. The creator of
It specifies attributes such as creation date and time.

In the field 62, "#flowdata" is the name of the matter, "#attr" is the name of the attribute given to each matter,
It describes the type of attribute and the value of the attribute, and one or more attributes are given to one case. In the field portion 63, “#node” represents the node name (“start”, “slip writer” in the example of FIG. 8), “#type” represents the node type, and the source, sink, work, branch, split , And collection (“source node”, “work” in the example of FIG. 8). "#Role" is the role assigned to the node, "#proc" describes the processing procedure in the node. For example, in the case of a branch node, the branch condition described by the attribute of the matter, It is composed of executable statements.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a workflow description tool for creating workflow information. This workflow description tool is a menu section 65 of icon parts that become workflow description elements such as nodes and flow data.
And a chart part 6 that arranges icon parts and describes business
6 and an attribute input dialog section 67 for interactively inputting the attributes of the icon parts and the attributes related to the entire business process.

In step 102 of FIG. 5, it is checked whether or not the interpreted result is a start process, and if it is a start process (step 102; YES), the start process is executed in step 103, and then the process returns to step 100. The start process is a process of generating an instance of a business process. If it is not start processing (step 102; N)
0), after determining the next transition state in step 104, the process proceeds to step 105. In Step 105, Step 1
It is checked whether or not the next transition state determined in 04 is end processing. If it is end processing (step 105; YES), end processing is executed in step 106 and the processing ends. If it is not the end processing (step 105; NO), step 10
7 (details will be described with reference to FIG. 10), the document distribution process is executed based on the transition state determined in step 104, and then the process returns to step 100.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a detailed flow of document distribution processing. The distribution process is performed by using the user management information (1-
According to 4), it is a process of distributing the flow data to the user tray. The user ID is acquired in step 200, and the user management information corresponding to the user ID acquired in step 201 is acquired. Here, an example of the user management information of FIGS. 1-4 is shown in FIG. The user management information is a table that manages the acceptance / rejection of acceptance (acceptance acceptance) and the necessity / unnecessity of transfer (transfer flag) at the home server for each user ID. The user ID is information that uniquely determines the user in the entire workflow management system (in the example of FIG. 11, “aoshima”, “ito”, “sato”, “suzuk”).
i ”,“ watanabe ”, etc.). The acceptance permission is a flag that specifies (enabled / disabled) whether or not the user tray of the user can accept the flow data, and the transfer flag stores the flow data stored in the user tray of the user on the home server. Is a flag that specifies (necessary / unnecessary) whether or not to transfer from the destination server to the destination server. For example, in the example of FIG. 11, the user trays of the users having the user IDs “aosima”, “ito”, and “sato” are “acceptable” and “transfer required”. The user tray of the owning user indicates “acceptable” and “transfer unnecessary”, and the user tray of the user having the user ID “watanabe” indicates “acceptable”, respectively.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of tray information for realizing a user tray. The tray information is information for managing the flow data distributed to the user, and associates the user ID with the case ID that is the identifier of the flow data. For example, in the example of FIG. 12, the user ID “suzu
The case ID is “0000” in the user tray that has “ki”.
1 "," 00002 "," 00003 "," 00004 ",
This indicates that the flow data “00005” has been distributed.

In step 202 of FIG. 10, acceptance / non-acceptance check is performed by referring to the acquired user management information. If not, then it is checked whether or not all users of the role (group) are unacceptable. If all users cannot accept the request (step 203), it is stored in the roll tray (step 204). If not all the users cannot accept (step 203; NO), it is transferred to the user tray of another user (step 205). ).

If the result of the acceptance check in step 202 is that the acceptance is possible, the transfer flag in the user management information is referenced to check the necessity / unnecessity of the transfer (step 2
06) If the transfer is unnecessary, the document information is stored in the user tray of the home server (step 207). Also,
When the transfer is required, the processing of the following steps 208 to 211 is executed.

First step 2 to be performed when transfer is necessary
At 08, schedule information search processing is performed. The schedule information search process is a process of searching the work place of the user from the current date and time with reference to the schedule information (6 in FIG. 1). Here, an example of schedule information is shown in FIG. The schedule information is managed for each user (user ID), and the work name, work place, comment (omitted in FIG. 14) and the like are managed for each date and time. When the work place is the work place and there is no special work, the work name, work place, etc. are not described. FIG. 18 shows an example of the schedule information description tool. The schedule information is set by inputting date, time, work name, work place, comment, etc. using the dialog 70 which is an input screen. The set schedule information is shown as "budget meeting" shown as 71-1 by date and time, "business trip" shown as 71-2, and 71-3 as shown in FIG. 18, for example. It is displayed on the screen in the form of "section meeting".
In this example, the travel time and the work time at the destination are displayed together as the business trip time, but the travel time and the work time at the destination may be described separately. In this case, the transfer process is performed at a time in time for the work time at the destination.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a processing flow relating to the search processing of the schedule information (step 208 in FIG. 10). First, in step 2080, the above-mentioned schedule information is searched using the user ID, and the schedule information regarding the user ID is acquired. In the next step 2081, information on the current date and time is acquired by referring to an internal clock (not shown) of the workflow server. In the next step 2082, step 2081
It is checked whether or not a work name, a work place, etc. are described in the time of the schedule information of the user corresponding to the current date and date and time acquired in (3). When the work name, work place, etc. are not described in the time of the schedule information corresponding to the current date and time (no schedule. Step 208)
2; NO), the transfer flag is cleared in step 2083. Further, when the work name, work place, etc. are described in the time of the schedule information corresponding to the current date and time (planned. Step 2082; YES), in Step 2084, the server management information and the work place are set. By referring to the management information, it is checked whether the work place described as the schedule information is the home server area or the other workflow server area.

Here, the server management information referred to in step 2084 is shown in FIG. 15, and an example of the work management information is shown in FIG.
6 is shown. Server management information is information about the work location and workflow server (server name, IP address, etc.)
And the work management information is information that associates a server (work) with a user ID, and a server that manages the user (work place) when the user is determined. Work place) will be uniquely determined. FIG.
In the example of FIG. 5, the work place and the workflow server are directly associated with each other. However, for example, the organization information for managing the organizational structure such as “A business department accounting section is in branch 1” is converted into the work place, and the workflow server Means for identifying Further, here, the work place and the information on the workflow server are associated with each other on a one-to-one basis, but a plurality of work places may be associated with the information on one workflow server.

On the contrary, when a plurality of workflow servers are installed in one work place, information for identifying the work flow servers is added to the work place.
For example, in the case of the present embodiment, a branch name, a sales office name, etc. are described as the work place. However, if the work flow server cannot be uniquely specified in the work place, a subordinate such as a department or department name belonging to the work place is described. A method of identifying the workflow server by adding information such as the location and organization of the workflow server can be considered. In this case, when creating the schedule information, it is necessary to define the above-mentioned information such as location and organization.

As a result of the check in step 2084, if the work place is the area of the home server (work place or the like), the transfer flag is cleared in step 2083. If the work place described as the schedule information is the area (outgoing place) of another workflow server, the processes of steps 2085 to 2086 are executed. In step 2085, the transfer flag is set, and in step 2086, the work place is substituted for the transfer place. Note that the transfer flag and the transfer location information for managing the transfer location are the work area of the schedule search process (for example, RA
It is provided in M45-2 or file 43). An example of the transfer location information is shown in FIG.

Returning to FIG. 10 again, then step 209
Then, the transmission process is executed. FIG. 19 shows a detailed processing flow of the transmission processing. The transmission process is a process of transferring the tray information and the document information from the home server to another server.
First, in step 2090, it is checked whether or not the transfer flag is cleared by referring to the transfer location information of FIG. 17, and if it is cleared, step 2091.
Then, the flow data is stored in the user tray of the home server. On the other hand, if the transfer flag is set,
In step 2092, the server management information (see FIG. 15) corresponding to the transfer location is acquired. Next Step 209
In 3, the tray information (see FIG. 12) corresponding to the user ID is acquired. In the next step 2094, flow data (item information) corresponding to the flow data ID (item ID) is acquired. An example of the flow data is shown in FIG.
The flow data manages a document name and a pointer to the document for each case ID.

Next, in step 2095, the user ID
Get the time information corresponding to. Next Step 2096
Then, using the acquired flow data and time information, transmission information to be transmitted to another server is created. Next step 2
At 097, the transmission information is transferred to another server (destination server) corresponding to the transmission location, and then the process returns.

The destination server which has received the transmission information executes the receiving server process. The reception server process is activated each time the workflow server receives transmission information from another server. FIG. 21 shows a processing flow of the receiving server processing. In the figure, 300 is a reception process, 301 is a time information process, and 302 is a reply process. In step 300, a receiving process is executed. A detailed processing flow of the reception processing is shown in FIG. First, the transmission information is received in step 3000, and the transmission information received in step 3001 is analyzed. In the next step 3002, step 3001
The working time information is acquired from the analysis result in. In step 3003, the user ID is acquired from the login information or the like, and in step 3004, it is checked whether there is tray information corresponding to the user ID.

If there is tray information corresponding to the user ID, the process directly proceeds to step 3006. If there is no tray information corresponding to the user ID, the next step 300
At 5, tray information is created. Here, the presence / absence of tray information is checked, and the tray information is generated when there is no tray information. However, tray information of all users registered in the workflow system may be created in advance. Further, here, there is no processing for deleting the tray information once created, but processing for automatically deleting the tray information that is no longer used due to the user logging out may be added. In the next step 3006, the case information is acquired from the analysis result of the transmission information, and the next step 30
At 07, the acquired item information is stored in the tray information, and the process returns.

Returning to FIG. 21, in step 301, time information processing is executed. The time information processing is processing for managing the processing deadline in the destination server based on the schedule information managed in the home server. FIG. 23 shows a detailed processing flow of time information processing. First, step 3
At 010, the matter is transmitted to the business client connected to the destination server. The business client selectively processes Items based on the Item list display and the document list display. In step 3011, the current date and time are acquired. In step 3012, it is checked whether or not all the cases transferred to the destination server are completed, and if all the cases are completed, the process returns.

If all cases have not been completed, it is checked in step 3013 whether or not an instruction to suspend the case processing has been transmitted from the business client. When the business client gives an instruction to suspend, step 301
The interruption process is executed at 6 and the process returns. If the business client has not issued an interruption instruction, step 3
In 014, it is checked whether or not the schedule time has been exceeded. If the schedule time has not been exceeded, the processing of steps 3010 to 3014 is repeated. If the schedule time is exceeded, the business client is made to specify whether or not to suspend in step 3015. When the business client issues a suspension instruction, the suspension process is executed in step 3016 and the process returns. If no interruption instruction is issued, the above step 301
The processing of 0 to 3015 is repeated.

FIG. 25 shows an example of the matter list display in the business client, and FIG. 26 shows an example of the document list display. In the case list display of FIG. 25, information about flow data is displayed. For example, in the status field, system status information, in the case name field, the case name (“equipment order (7/31)” in the example of FIG. 25), arrival date and time (“95 in the example of FIG. 25”).
/ 8/1 ”), caller name, etc. are displayed. In the document list display of FIG. 26, the document information stored in the case selected in the case list display of FIG. 25 is displayed in a list. The contents to be displayed include the document name (“equipment slip” and “comment memo” in the example of FIG. 26) and the creation date and time of the document (“95/7/3 in the example of FIG. 26.
0 ”,“ 95/7/30 ”), creator name, etc.

Returning to FIG. 21 again, in step 302, a reply process is executed. The reply process is a process of transferring the item information processed by the business client connected to the destination server to the home server. FIG. 24 shows a detailed processing flow of the reply processing. In step 3020, transmission information is created from the processed item information and the like, and in step 3021 the created transmission information is returned to the home server and the process returns. As described above, the transmission process 20 in FIG.
The description of 9 ends.

Returning to FIG. 10 again, in step 210,
The home server waits for the end of the receiving server process in the destination server, and in step 211, executes the reply information receiving process for receiving the reply information for the receiving server process executed in the destination server.

FIG. 27 shows a detailed processing flow of the reply information reception processing (step 211). First, step 211
At 0, the transmission information transmitted from the destination server is acquired (received). In the next step 2111, the transmission information transmitted from the destination server is analyzed and decomposed into information such as case information and user ID. In the next step 2112, the case information is stored in the tray information corresponding to the user ID, the management information of the case information is updated, and then the process returns and ends.

In this embodiment, the user has been explained as being uniquely managed by the workflow management system and able to log in to all workflow servers. If users are managed for each department workflow system, a guest account (user ID, user tray) is prepared in advance, and the flow data is transferred to the guest user tray to transfer the user data. Divide into units. The worker logs in using the user ID prepared for the guest and processes the flow data distributed to himself / herself.

Further, in the above embodiment, the urgency of the flow data to be circulated is not distinguished, but the flow data is provided with flag information for identifying the urgency of the circulation, such as urgent / normal, so that the urgency of the flow data can be changed according to the urgency. It is also possible to classify documents so that only documents of a specified urgency level or only documents of a specified urgency level or higher are transferred. Factors that determine the degree of urgency of circulation include the document processing deadline, the document creation date and time, and the document importance.

[0041]

As described in the above embodiment, by using the schedule information to search the destination of the worker, the document to be distributed to the worker can be automatically transferred to the destination. Therefore, it becomes possible to process a document that cannot be processed by only the worker or a document that requires urgency, and the number of documents processed by the worker assigned to the role will not be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a document circulation system.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a workflow management system.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a department workflow system.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a workflow server.

FIG. 5 is a workflow manager processing flow diagram.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow data attribute information table.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing flow data attributes.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing workflow definition information.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a workflow definition.

FIG. 10 is a distribution processing flowchart.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing user management information.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing tray information.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a schedule search.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing schedule information.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing server management information.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing work management information.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing transfer location information.

FIG. 18 is a schedule description tool diagram.

FIG. 19 is a transmission processing flowchart.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing flow data.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart of a receiving server process.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of reception processing.

FIG. 23 is a time information processing flowchart.

FIG. 24 is a reply processing flowchart.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an item list display.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a document list display.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart of a transmission information reception process.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Home server, 2: Delivery server, 3: Business client, 1-1: Workflow manager, 1-2: Workflow definition information, 1-3: User management, 1-4: User management information, 1-5: Schedule Management, 1-6: Schedule information, 1-7: Time management, 1-8: Destination management 1
-8, 1-9: Tray information, 1-10: Document information, 1-
11: Outbox management, 2-1: Inbox management, 2-
2: Time management 2-2, 3-1 to 3-2: Document information viewer, 21-1 to 21-4: Department WF (workflow) system, 22: Line, 31: WF definition client, 3
2: Schedule definition client, 33: WF server, 34: Business client, 41: LAN adapter,
42: line adapter, 43: file, 44: CPU,
45: memory, 45-1, ROM, 45-2: RAM

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tomoko Suzaki 12 890 Kashimada, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 12 Hitachi, Ltd. Information & Communication Development Division

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A workflow management system that circulates a document between a plurality of users by connecting a plurality of department workflow systems each having a workflow server by a line, wherein the workflow server is in accordance with predefined circulation information. , A document distribution means for distributing a document to a user's tray, a schedule information management means for managing at least time and a work place in association with each user, and a work place and address information of a document circulation server in association with each other. The document distribution means further includes a server management means for managing the time and a time generation means for generating time, and the document distribution means further refers to the time when the time generation means occurs to notify the user of the time at the time from the schedule information management means. The work place is searched, and the server management means causes the work place to be searched from the found work place. Server address information,
A workflow management system, wherein a document to be distributed to the user is transferred to a tray of a workflow server by using the searched address information. 2. The workflow management system according to claim 1, wherein all the workflow servers further include user management means for managing user identification information that uniquely identifies all users registered in the workflow management system. A workflow management system, wherein the same user identification information can be used to connect to an arbitrary workflow server. 3. The workflow management system according to claim 1, further comprising: when all the workflow servers are connected to a workflow server in which the user identification information does not exist, a user identifier that can be connected by any user. A workflow management system comprising: means for transferring a document to a corresponding predesignated tray and for classifying the document transferred to the tray for each user. 4. The workflow management system according to claim 1, wherein the workflow server makes a tray of an arbitrary user belong to any one workflow server (home server), A workflow management system comprising means for temporarily creating a tray of the user when connecting to a workflow server other than the home server. 5. The workflow management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the workflow server manages user information including information on acceptance / disapproval of document distribution in a tray of a user. A workflow management system having means for transferring a document to the tray of another user when the user information in the means for managing the user information indicates that the user information cannot be accepted. 6. The workflow management system according to claim 1, wherein the department workflow system further includes a workflow definition client that describes a business as a business process, and a schedule that describes a schedule of each user. Definition client,
A workflow management system having a business client for processing documents and an operation management client for managing the entire department workflow system. 7. A workflow management method for circulating a document among a plurality of users by connecting a plurality of department workflow systems each including a workflow server by a line, wherein the workflow server is a home server. For the user, the user management information for managing the acceptance / rejection of the home server and the necessity of transfer for each user and the schedule information for managing the schedule for each user are held, and the user management is performed when the document is circulated. Refer to the information, check acceptance / non-acceptance and necessity of transfer, store the document in the roll tray of the home server or another user tray when the acceptance is not possible, and when the acceptance is possible and the transfer is not necessary, the relevant home server If the document is stored in the user tray and is acceptable and needs to be transferred, at least the schedule A workflow management method characterized in that the document is transferred to the work place of the user by referring to the rule information. 8. The workflow management method according to claim 7, wherein the schedule information is such that time and an organization name are associated with each other. A workflow management method characterized in that a work place of a user is obtained by referring to an organization management table that correlates with, and a document is transferred to the obtained work place of the user. 9. The workflow management method according to claim 7, wherein flag information for identifying the degree of urgency of circulation is added to the document to be circulated, and the priority of transferring the document by referring to the flag information. A workflow management method characterized by determining.