JPH10143583A - Work flow management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To utilize a system using an existing data base and a work flow system in coexistence by providing a replicator for copying data required for a work flow management processing between a user data base and a flow data base. SOLUTION: This system is provided with the replicator 22 for copying the data required for the work flow management processing between the user data base DB10 for storing user data 8 and the flow data base DB20 for storing flow data 14 which are data for controlling circulation and a flow definition 12 which is the order of the circulation. The replicator 22 copies the corresponding data item of the user data 8 and the flow data 14 at an appropriate time interval. Thus, the system using the existing data base and the work flow system operated in different data base systems are utilized in the coexistence.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for circulating digitized documents by an electronic mail system or the like for circulating digitized documents between computers connected by a communication line, and more particularly to a workflow management system having two different databases. Pertaining to the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various methods using computers have been devised to increase the efficiency of office work performed by a group. As one of them, there is a workflow management system that digitizes documents such as slips and circulates the digitized documents to users according to preset rules. For the concept of the workflow management system, see, for example, Shunsuke Akito, Hirotoshi Ise, and Hiroshi Majima, “Trends in Workflow Management System”, Systems / Control / Information, Vol. 40, No. 5, pages 203 to 20.
Page 8 (May 1996).

However, there is a case where a business system is developed by introducing a database system different from the database system used by the workflow management system before introducing the workflow management system. In this case, while using the database system conventionally used, the data stored therein, and the operation user interface that the user is familiar with,
It is desirable to be able to introduce a workflow system.

[0004] As a technique for achieving such a demand, Swinger V1.
1 are provided. Swinger V1.1 is compatible with workflow management systems Stuffware and Lotu.
s Notes (registered trademark) is a tool for application developers to cooperate with client PCs.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned prior art, since the data exchange between the Stuffware database system and the Notes database system, which are different databases, is performed by the client PC, the data is temporarily stored in the Stuffware database which is the workflow management system. Is entered, the progress is not reflected in the database on the Notes side until the processing of the workflow such as circulation to a plurality of users is completed, so that the Notes function cannot be utilized. That is, the function of the existing application cannot be used for data that is being processed in the workflow.

An object of the present invention is to provide a workflow management system that can use the functions of an existing application even for data that is being processed in a workflow.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a user database for storing user data, a flow database for storing flow data as data for controlling circulation, and a flow definition as an order of circulation. And a replicator for copying data necessary for the workflow management processing between them.

In order to achieve the above object, in the workflow management system according to the present invention, each user data stored in the user database has access authority information for identifying that both data can be referred to and changed for each user. The replicator refers to the flow definition and changes the access authority information of the user data.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the workflow management system of the present invention, when a replicator copies flow data of a flow database to user data of a user database, the replicator copies the flow data to a user who has an access right to the user data by e-mail. Send notification.

In order to achieve the above object, in the workflow management system according to the present invention, the replicator refers to the flow definition stored in the flow database and determines a field of the database to be copied.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, in the workflow management system according to the present invention, when a user database and a flow database exist in two or more locations in the workflow management system, the user data is mutually copied between the user databases. A user database replicator, and the user database replicator refers to the flow definition stored in the flow database and the correspondence table representing the relationship between the user and the user database,
This is for determining the user database to be copied.

In order to achieve the above object, in the workflow management system according to the present invention, when the consistency between the user database and the flow database does not match, the flow data in the flow database is changed from the user data in the user database. .

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. In the workflow management system according to the present embodiment, the order of the business processing is described in a predetermined format, which is interpreted by the workflow manager, circulated to an appropriate business clerk, and performs the business processing efficiently. Further, in the workflow management system according to the present embodiment, the replicator provided between the user database that stores the data input by the user and the flow database that is referenced and updated by the workflow manager appropriately matches the corresponding data items in the user database and the flow database. The feature is that a system using an existing database operated by a different database system and a workflow system are mixedly used by copying at an appropriate time interval.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a workflow management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numerals 2 and 4 denote terminals used by users u01 and u02, respectively, who perform office work, and include, for example, groupware software. It consists of a personal computer. 6 is terminal 2 and terminal 4
This is a user data access server that receives user data update and reference commands from, and responds with user data. 8
Is user data whose data is changed by the data update command from the access server 6 and is referred to by the data reference command. 10 is a user data database (user data DB) storing user data 8;
Reference numeral 2 denotes a flow definition that stores a workflow process, and reference numeral 14 denotes flow data that is data for advancing the workflow process. Reference numeral 16 denotes a workflow manager that performs a workflow process stored in the flow definition 12 and a workflow process based on the flow data 14. 20 is a flow definition 12 and flow data 14
Flow data database (flow data D)
B). 22 is the user data 8 and the flow data 1
4 is a replicator for copying the corresponding data. Reference numeral 24 denotes an e-mail that issues a notification e-mail according to an instruction from the replicator 22. 26 is a user data DB that stores user data of another workflow management system, and 28 is a user database correspondence table that stores the correspondence between the user and the user database that stores the user data to be referred / updated by the user, Reference numeral 30 denotes a user data replicator for mutually copying user data between the user data DBs.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a processing flow of the replicator, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a processing flow of the workflow manager. 3 and 4 will be described later.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the format of user data. The data name storage area 400 is an area for storing data names for identifying user data. The flow definition name storage area 402 is an area for storing the name of a flow definition used in a workflow. User name storage area 40
Reference numeral 4 denotes an area for storing names of users to be circulated. The update time storage area 406 is an area for storing the time at which the user data was updated by the user or the replicator. The attribute name storage areas 408, 410, and 412 are areas for storing attributes of data to be stored in user data. For example, in FIG.
Indicates the amount of money 412 and each attribute of approval. , Attribute value storage areas 414, 416, and 418 are areas for storing data input by the user corresponding to the attribute names stored in the attribute name storage areas 408, 410, and 412, respectively. The flow step storage area 420 is an area for storing flow steps described below.

The data name stored in the data name storage area 400 is unique in the user database, and the flow definition name stored in the flow definition name storage area 402 is the flow definition stored in the flow data DB described below. And attribute name storage areas 408, 410, 41
It is assumed that the user sets the attribute name stored in 2 before starting the workflow using the flow definition.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the format of a flow definition. The flow definition name storage area 500 is an area for storing the name of a flow definition used in a workflow. The flow steps 502, 504, 506, 508, and 510 describe the processing performed by the workflow manager 16, respectively. The numbers on the left indicate the order of the flow steps, and the character strings on the right indicate the instructions executed by the workflow manager 16. Is shown.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the format of the flow data. The data name storage area 600 is an area for storing data names for identifying user data. The flow definition name storage area 602 is an area for storing the name of the flow definition used in the workflow. The flow step storage area 604 is an area for storing a flow step immediately before execution of the workflow manager. The update time storage area 606 is an area for storing the time updated by the workflow manager or the replicator. The user name storage area 608 is an area for storing names of users to circulate. Attribute value storage areas 610, 612, 614
Is an area for storing user data sent from the replicator.

Hereinafter, the processing of each processing block of FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIG. 2 and FIG.

First, it is assumed that the user u01 creates user data 8 shown in FIG. 4 from the terminal 2 and stores it in the user data DB. Here, an appropriate attribute name is stored in advance in the attribute name storage area, and the user u01
Sends a user data update command from the terminal 2, and receives the user data update command from the user data access server 6.
Writes the data name, the flow definition name, the user name, and the attribute value to the data name storage area 400, the flow definition name storage area 402, the user name storage area 404, and the attribute value storage areas 414 to 418, respectively. The time is stored in the update time storage area. Here, the data name is made unique in the user data DB as described above.

Here, the attribute name storage areas 408 to 41
2, a city in which “article name”, “amount”, and “approval” are stored, respectively, and the user u01 has “d” as a data name.
001, "f01" as the flow definition name, "u01" as the user name, and "A" and "100" in the attribute value storage areas 414 and 416, respectively. It is assumed that the value is 01. The flow step is set to 0.

Next, the processing of the replicator 22 will be described. When the processing is started by the replicator 22 (100),
User data D by the user data access server 6
Collect user data whose data has been changed in B10 (10
1) In step 102, if there is a change in the user data, proceed to step 104; otherwise, go to step 11
Proceed to 1. When the process proceeds to step 104, the changed user data is read (104), a flow database for copying the data is determined (106), and the flow data stored in the flow database corresponds to the user data. Is changed to the same value as the user data (108), and the process proceeds to step 110. Step 110
Then, it is checked whether or not the processing of steps 104 to 108 has been performed on all the data collected in step 101. If the processing has not been completed, the processing returns to step 104, and the processing of steps 104 to 110 is repeated. Is completed, the process proceeds to step 111.

When the process proceeds to step 111, the flow data changed by the workflow manager 16 is collected in the flow data DB 20 (111). In step 112, if there is a change in the flow data, the process proceeds to step 114.
If not, the process proceeds to step 126, in which the process is stopped for a predetermined time, and the process returns to step 101. When proceeding to step 114, the changed flow data is read out (11
4), a user database for copying data is determined (116), and the user data corresponding to the flow data is changed to the same value as the flow data with the user data stored in the user database (118). The data access authority is changed so that the next user can refer to and update the data (120), and an instruction to send an e-mail to the user is sent to the e-mail 24 (122), and step 124
Proceed to. In step 124, it is checked whether or not the processing of steps 114 to 122 has been performed on all the data collected in step 111. If the processing has not been completed, the processing returns to step 114, and the processing of steps 114 to 122 described above is repeated. If the processing is completed, step 12
Then, the process is stopped for a predetermined time, and
Return to and repeat the above processing.

In step 101, the user data access server 6 collects the user data whose data has been changed in the user data DB 10, and in step 111, the workflow manager 16 in the flow data DB 20.
The process of collecting the changed flow data is performed by comparing the times of the user data and the flow data update time storage areas 406 and 406 with the times at which the replicator 22 performed the process of immediately collecting the user data and the flow data, respectively,
This is performed by collecting user data and flow data whose respective update times are after the time when the processing of collecting immediately before was performed.

Here, it is assumed that the changed user data is only the data shown in FIG. 4 and that the flow data has not been changed, and the time when the processing for collecting the user data was performed immediately before and the processing for collecting the flow data are performed. It is assumed that both times are 0:00 and the current time is 0:02. Then, since the update time of the user data is 0:01, only the user data of FIG. 4 is collected in step 101, and in step 104, the data name storage area 400, the flow definition name storage area 402, the user name storage area 404 The data input to the attribute value storage areas 414 and 418 and the value stored in the flow step 420 are read, and in step 106 a flow database to be copied is determined.

Here, it is assumed that the flow database to be copied is the flow data DB 20, and step 108
Then, in the flow data stored in the flow database DB 20, the user data corresponding to the user data is changed to the same value as the user data. In step 108, when there is no flow data in the flow data DB 20, a new one is created and data is written.

Here, the flow data shown in FIG. 6 is created, and the data name storage area 400 is stored in the data name storage area 600.
Is written to the flow definition name storage area 602, and the value "f01" stored in the flow definition name storage area 402 is written to the flow definition name storage area 602, and is stored in the flow step storage area 420 to the flow step storage area 604. Then, the low at value “0” is written, the value “u01” stored in the user name storage area 404 is written in the user name storage area 608, and the attribute value storage areas 414, 416, and 418 are stored in the attribute value storage areas 610 and 612. Write the values “A”, “100” and blank “” stored in Here, when newly creating flow data, the flow step is set to 0, and “0” is written in the flow step storage area 604. It is also assumed that time 0:03 is stored in the update time storage area.

Next, in step 110, step 10
It is checked whether the processing of steps 104 to 108 has been performed on all the data collected in step 1. Since the processing has been completed this time, the process proceeds to step 111. In step 111, the flow data changed by the workflow manager 16 in the flow data DB 20 is collected. However, since the flow data does not exist as described above, the process proceeds to step 126. It is assumed that the time when the process of collecting the flow data at this time is 0:04.
Next, in step 126, the processing is stopped for a certain time,
Proceeding to step 101 again, the above processing is repeated.

Next, the processing of the workflow manager 16 will be described. When the process starts (300), the workflow manager 16 collects flow data that has not been processed yet (302), and proceeds to step 304. If there is no flow data that needs to be processed by the workflow manager, the process is performed for a certain period of time. Is stopped (312), the process proceeds to step 302, and the processes of steps 302 to 312 are repeated. In step 304, if there is flow data, the flow definition is read (306), and the process described in the flow definition is executed only for one step (30).
8), write the flow data into the flow data DB 20 (310), proceed to step 304, and repeat the processing of steps 304 to 310.

Here, as a result of the processing of the replicator 22, only the flow data shown in FIG.
Assume that it exists at 0.

The process of collecting unprocessed flow data in step 302 is performed in the same manner as in step 101, and
It is assumed that only the flow data shown in FIG. Then, in step 304, since there is flow data, the flow proceeds to step 306, where the flow definition stored in the flow definition name storage area 602 of the flow data 14 is read out, and in step 308, the process described in the flow definition is executed. Flow step storage area 60 for flow data 14
4 is executed by adding one step to the step stored in step 4, the flow data changed in step 310 is written in the flow data DB 20, and the process proceeds to step 304. Since there is no flow data this time, step 312
Then, the process is stopped for a certain period of time, and the process proceeds to step 302, where the processes of steps 302 to 312 are repeated.

Here, it is assumed that the operation when the workflow manager 16 executes the instruction shown in each flow step of FIG. 5 is the following (1) to (5).

(1) If the instruction is "start", do nothing.

(2) When the command is a user name such as "u02", circulation to the user is performed. Specifically, a new user name is written in the user name storage area 608.

(3) The instruction is "if X then Y"
If the format is "else Z", an operation corresponding to X is performed. If the operation is true, the process proceeds to a flow step indicated by Y. If the operation is false, the process proceeds to a flow step indicated by Z. Here, X Is an expression composed of an attribute name, an equal sign or an inequality sign, and a constant.

(4) If the instruction is in the form of "X;Y", execute the X instruction and then execute the Y instruction.
X and Y are user names or flow steps. In the case of a user name, it is the same as (2), and in the case of a flow step, it is the same as (3).

(5) When the instruction is "end", the workflow manager 16 is not set as a processing target thereafter.

Here, the flow definition stored in the flow definition name storage area 602 of the flow data 14 is “f01”, and the step stored in the flow step storage area 604 is “0”. “U02” stored in the flow step 504 of the flow definition is executed, the user name storage area 608 is changed to “u02”, and the time is 0:
05, the update time storage area 606 is set to “0: 0”.
5 ", and the flow data changed in step 310 is written in the flow data DB 20.

Here, it is assumed that the replicator 22 starts processing again. This time, it is assumed that the time at which the replicator 22 collects the user data is “0:06”. The collection times of the immediately preceding user data and flow data are 0:02 and 0:04, respectively, and the change time of the user data is “0:01”. Since it is not after 0:02, step 1
01, user data is not collected, and the process proceeds from step 102 to step 111. In step 111, the change time of the flow data is 0:06 and the time immediately before the flow data was collected is 0:04, so only this flow data is collected. And proceeds to step 112. Since there is changed flow data in step 112, the process proceeds to step 114,
The flow data is read, and in step 116, a user database for copying the data is determined. Here, it is assumed that the user database to be copied is the user data DB 10, and the user data stored in the user database, the user data corresponding to the flow data is the user data shown in FIG. The corresponding area is changed to the same value as the flow data, and the access right of the user data is changed in step 120 so that the next user can refer and update. In step 118, the data name storage area 600 and the flow definition name storage area 602
And the flow step storage area 604, the user name storage area 608, and the data name storage area 400 of the user data, respectively, so as to have the same values as those stored in the attribute value storage areas 610, 612, and 614. Flow definition name storage area 402, flow step storage area 420, user name storage area 404, and attribute value storage areas 414 and 41.
6, 418 are changed, and the access right is changed to "u02" in step 120. Next, in step 122, a command to send an e-mail to the user “u02” is sent to the e-mail 24, and the process proceeds to step 124.

In step 124, it is checked whether the processing in steps 114 to 122 has been performed on all the data collected in step 111. Since the process has been completed this time,
Proceeding to step 126, after stopping the processing for a certain period of time, returning to step 101, the above processing is repeated.

As described above, the replicator 22 and the workflow manager 16 repeat the processing flow shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively.

According to the above embodiment, the user data DB 10 for storing the user data 8 input by the user and the flow data 1 to be referenced and updated by the workflow manager 16
Since the replicator 22 provided between the flow data DBs 20 for storing the data items 4 and 4 copies the corresponding data items of the user data and the flow data at appropriate time intervals, a system using an existing database operated by a different database system can be used. Workflow systems can be used together.

Since the user name in the user name storage area 400 of the user data 8 is changed, the user data access server allows only the user stored in the user name storage area to refer to and change the user data 8. , It is possible to prohibit the user data from being referred to or changed by another user.

Further, at step 122, the replicator 2
2 automatically copies an area from the flow data to the user data, and then automatically sends an e-mail to the user who needs to refer to the user data 8, so that the user has user data that he / she needs to process. It is easy to see.

In this embodiment, in step 101, the user data access server 6 collects the user data whose data has been changed in the user data DB 10, and in step 111, the flow data changed by the workflow manager 16 in the flow data DB 20. The process of collecting
The time of the update time storage areas 406 and 606 of the user data and the flow data are compared with the time when the replicator 22 performed the process of immediately collecting the user data and the flow data, respectively. The collection was performed by collecting the user data and the flow data after the time when the collection was performed. However, an area for storing the collection processing was provided in the user data 8 and the flow data 14, and the replicator 22 performed the processing of collecting the processing. At that time, “processed” is stored in the area, and when the user data access server 6 and the workflow manager 16 change data, “unprocessed” is stored.
2 may collect "unprocessed" user data and flow data. In this case, do not compare with the time,
The processing becomes simple because it is only necessary to collect the user data and the flow data in which "unprocessed" is stored.

Further, in this embodiment, the flow data DB
When a part or all of the flow data 14 stored in the storage unit 20 is destroyed for some reason and becomes inconsistent with the user data 8, the replicator 22 and the workflow manager 16 are temporarily stopped, and the destroyed flow data Is deleted and the replicator 22 is started, the user data is copied to the flow data, so that the flow data can be normally recovered. In the above embodiment, steps 104 and 10 are performed.
8. Regardless of the change in steps 114 and 118,
Although the user data and the flow data are read and written, only the changed area may be read and written. In this case, the replicator 22 copies only the area that has been changed between the user data and the flow data. Therefore, in a case where the user data DB 10 and the flow data DB 20 are in different computers and both are connected by a communication line, Data transfer amount can be reduced.

Further, in steps 104 and 108, only the value of the attribute value storage area corresponding to the attribute name storage area referred to in the user name storage area 404, the flow step 420, and the flow step of the flow definition 12, is used as flow data. You may make it memorize | store. However, when the flow data does not exist in the flow data DB, the values stored in the data name storage area 400, the flow definition name storage area 402, and the flow step storage area 420 are copied to the flow data in addition to the above. In this case, all data necessary for the instruction executed by the workflow manager 16 is copied, and unnecessary data is not copied, so that the data transfer amount can be further reduced.

Next, another embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 are the same as those in the above embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of the user database replicator.

First, the processing performed by the user data replicator 30 will be described. When the process starts (700), user data that has not been copied is collected (702), and the process proceeds to step 704. If there is no user data, the process is stopped for a predetermined time (716), and the process proceeds to step 702. , The processing of steps 702 to 716 is repeated. If there is user data in step 704, the user data to be processed is read (706), the flow definition is read (708), the user database correspondence table is read (710), and another user data DB to be copied is determined. (712), the user data read in step 706 is written into the user data DB (714), and it is determined in step 716 whether the above processing has been performed on all the user data collected in step 702, and the process ends. If not, the process returns to step 706, and steps 706 to 71
6 is repeated, and if the processing has been completed, step 71
Proceed to step 8, stop the processing for a fixed time,
02, and repeats the processing of steps 702 to 718.

Here, the determination of the user data DB to be copied in step 712 is performed as follows.

First, all of the user names included in the command which is a circulation to the user by the command included in the flow definition 12 are extracted. Next, the name of the user DB correspondence table 28 or the name of the user data DB is obtained for all the extracted user names, and this is set as the DB to be copied.

According to this embodiment, even when a plurality of user databases for storing user data are set, the user database copied by the user data replicator is limited to the user data DB accessed by the user who needs to send the user data in the workflow. Therefore, the data transfer amount can be reduced as compared with the case where copying is performed to all the user data DBs.

In the above embodiment, one flow data DB is associated with one user data DB, but a plurality of flow data DBs can be associated with one user data DB. Hereinafter, the embodiment in this case will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 8, 6, 10, 16, 20, 2,
Reference numerals 2 and 30 denote the user data access server 6, the user data DB 10, the workflow manager 16, the flow data DB 20, the replicator 22, and the user data replicator 30 shown in FIG. 1, respectively, and 800 denotes the above user data access server. , 802 is the above-described replicator, 804 is the above-mentioned workflow manager, and 806 and 808 register the names of user data and the names of flow data DBs in which flow data corresponding to the user data exists. It is a flow DB identification table.

In order to make the figure easier to see, each part in FIG. 1 is omitted, but it is assumed that each part is present.

In this embodiment, the replicators 22 and 802
Determines the replica DB in step 106, determines the flow data DB corresponding to the name of the user data by referring to the flow DB identification tables 806 and 808, respectively.
Write data to B.

Further, the replicator 22 executes the processing in step 11
1, the data name storage area 40 of the user data registered in the flow DB identification table of the replicator
When only the flow data in which the same data name as 0 is stored in the data name storage area 600 is selected and the user data DB corresponding to the flow data is determined in step 116, each of the replicators DB
Select

Here, it is assumed that the replicator 22 corresponds to the user data DB 10, and the replicator 802 corresponds to the user data DB 26. The flow DB identification table 806 includes a set of user data “d1” and a flow data DB “WFDB1”, and a user data “d”.
2 and a flow data DB “WFDB2” are registered, and the user data “d” is stored in the flow identification table 808.
3 and a set of flow data DB “WFDB1”, and a set of user data “d4” and flow data DB “WFDB2” are registered, where “WFDB1” and “WFDB2” are flow data, respectively. These are the names of the DB 20 and the flow data DB 28.

When the process of the replicator 22 starts, the flow data DB corresponding to the user data “d1” is “WFDB1” at step 106, and the selected flow data DB is the flow data corresponding to “WFDB1”. The data DB 20 becomes the data DB 20, and the flow data DB corresponding to the user data "d2" is "WFDB2".
The flow data DB to be selected is the flow data DB 28 corresponding to “WFDB2”.

The replicator 802 performs the same processing as described above, and in step 106, selects the flow data DB 20 as the flow data DB corresponding to the user data "d3", and selects the flow data DB 20 corresponding to the user data "d2".
As B, the flow data DB 28 is selected.

Further, the replicator 22 executes step 11
1 to collect the flow data, the flow DB identification table 806 of the replicator 22 stores the user data “d”.
Since only "1" and "d2" are registered, only the user data "d1" and "d2" are selected from the flow data stored in the flow data DB 20 and the flow data DB 28, and in step 116, the replicator 22 is selected. Is the user data DB 10, the user data DB 10 is selected.

The replicator 802 performs the same processing as described above, and selects the user data “d3” from the flow data stored in the flow data DB 20 and the flow data DB 28.
And only “d4” are selected, and in step 116, the user data DB 26 corresponding to the replicator 802 is selected.

The workflow managers 16 and 804
Each of the processes shown in FIG. 3 is repeated, and the user data replicator 30 repeats the processes shown in FIG.

According to the above embodiment, since a plurality of flow data DBs can be connected to one user data DB, when a large amount of user data is required and the processing performance of the workflow manager is insufficient, a plurality of workflow managers are connected. It can be easily added and the scalability of the system can be increased.

[0066]

According to the present invention, the replicator provided between the user data DB for storing the user data 8 input by the user and the flow data DB for storing the flow data to be referenced and updated by the workflow manager is used for storing the user data and the flow data. Since corresponding data items are copied at appropriate time intervals, a system using an existing database operated by a different database system and a workflow system can be used in a mixed manner.

Further, in the present invention, since the user name in the user name storage area of the user data is changed, only the user stored in the user name storage area can refer to and change the user data in the user data access server. By doing so, it is possible to prohibit the user data from being referenced or changed by another user.

Further, according to the present invention, after the replicator copies an area from the flow data to the user data, the replicator automatically sends an e-mail to the user who needs to refer to the user data next time. It is easy to see that there is user data that needs to be done.

Further, according to the present invention, when part or all of the flow data stored in the flow data DB is destroyed for some reason and becomes inconsistent with the user data, the replicator and the workflow manager are temporarily stopped. Then, if the destroyed flow data is deleted and the replicator is started, the user data is copied to the flow data, so that the flow data can be recovered normally.Further, in the present invention, the replicator uses the user data and the flow data. Since only the changed area is copied, the data transfer amount can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, only the value of the attribute value storage area corresponding to the attribute name storage area referenced in the user name storage area, the flow step, and the flow step of the flow definition is stored in the flow data. Data is not copied, and the data transfer amount can be further reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, even when a plurality of user databases for storing user data are set, the user database copied by the user data replicator is limited to the user data DB accessed by the user who needs to send the user data in the workflow. Therefore, the data transfer amount can be reduced as compared with the case where copying is performed to all the user data DBs.

Further, according to the present invention, since a plurality of flow data DBs can be connected to one user data DB, a plurality of workflow managers can be connected when there is a large amount of user data and the processing performance of the workflow manager is insufficient. It can be easily added and the scalability of the system can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a workflow management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a replicator.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a workflow manager.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format of user data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a format of a flow definition.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a format of flow data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a user database replicator.

FIG. 8 is a system configuration diagram of a workflow management system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

2, 4, terminal, 6: user data access server, 8
... User data, 10 ... User data DB, 12 ... Flow definition, 14 ... Flow data, 16 ... Workflow manager, 18 ... Change history, 20 ... Flow data DB, 2
2: Replicator, 24: E-mail, 26: User data DB, 28: Flow data DB, 30: User data replicator, 400: Data name storage area, 402:
Flow definition name storage area, 404 ... user name storage area, 4
06: update time storage area, 408, 410, 412: attribute name storage area, 414, 416, 418: attribute value storage area, 420: flow step storage area, 500: flow definition name storage area, 502, 504, 506, 508, 5
10: Flow step, 600: Data name storage area, 6
02: Flow definition name storage area, 604: Flow step storage area, 606: Update time storage area, 608: User name storage area, 610, 612, 614: Attribute value storage area, 800: User data access server, 802 ...
Replicator, 804 ... Workflow manager, 80
6, 808... Flow DB identification table.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Saito 1099 Ozenji Temple, Aso-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A user database for storing user data as user data, a flow database for storing flow data as data for controlling circulation and a flow definition as an order of circulation, and a workflow management process between the two. A workflow management system comprising a replicator for copying necessary data. 2. The workflow management system according to claim 1, wherein each user data stored in the user database has access authority information for identifying that both reference and change of data are possible for each user, The workflow management system according to claim 1, wherein the replicator refers to the flow definition and changes access authority information of the user data. 3. The workflow management system according to claim 1, wherein when the replicator copies the flow data of the flow database to the user data of the user database, the replicator copies the flow data to the user having the access authority of the user data by e-mail. A workflow management system for sending a notification. 4. The workflow management system according to claim 1, wherein the replicator refers to a flow definition stored in the flow database and determines a field of the database to be copied. system. 5. In the workflow management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, when a user database and a flow database exist at two or more locations in the workflow management system, user data is exchanged between the user databases. It has a user database replicator to copy, and the user database replicator is
A workflow management system characterized by referring to a flow definition stored in a flow database and a correspondence table representing a relationship between a user and a user database, and determining a user database to be copied. 6. The workflow management system according to claim 1, wherein when the consistency between the user database and the flow database does not match, the flow data in the flow database is changed from the user data in the user database. A workflow management system characterized by: