JPH10260891A - Workflow system using www, client local file registering method in the system, and recording medium programmed and recored with the method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a workflow system using a WWW that can put a document file which has been prepared by a local file system on workflow, by constructing a mechanism that registers a local file on a server by using a client applet and a client local file registering method in the system and to construct a memory medium in which the method is programmed and stored. SOLUTION: A registration file preparing mechanism (electronic mail) 23 is provided on a client 2 and performs the transmission of a created file, and a transfer document file converting mechanism 13, which performs the file receiving and expands it into document and attributes, and a communication mechanism 12, which registers an expanded file on a workflow server are provided on a server 1. Through this, the preparation of document is carried out without communicating with a server.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a workflow system using WWW, a method for registering a client local file in the system, and a memory medium on which the method is programmed and recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a workflow management system, information (document) transferred between work bases is put in a predefined work flow (flow), so that the work can be rationally advanced. Software that can be.

[0003] The workflow management system takes the form of a client server, and the documents in the flow are collectively managed by the server. This system is called WWW (Wo
When implemented on ld Wide Web), client programs can be implemented in Java applets. Thereby, the workflow system can be used from all machines on the WWW. Ja
va applet is a US Sun Microsystem
ems Inc. Language for creating WWW (Ja
Java created using va) and independent of OS
A program that depends only on supported browsers. It has excellent security in terms of language specifications and does not make any changes to the OS or applications, so there is very little risk of virus infection through applets. By the way, when registering a document in the workflow system from the client applet, a procedure is performed in which a document file is created on the server from the applet, and the created file is registered. According to the specification of the Java language, a client local file access is not possible. This is because, as described above, security is considered at the language level so that the virus does not spread on the WWW.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As described above, WWW
Conventionally, a document created in a client-local file system cannot be directly registered in a workflow. That is, according to the Java language specification, the system user is restricted from directly accessing the local file. However, in actual operation, it is necessary to register the file of the local file system as a document on the workflow server, and therefore,
A connection with the workflow server was required from the time of document creation, resulting in inconveniences such as poor usability and extra communication costs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. By constructing a mechanism for registering a local file in a server using a client applet, document creation is performed without communication with the server. Provided is a workflow system using WWW that can load a document file created in a file system into a workflow, a method for registering a client local file in the system, and a recording medium on which the method is programmed and recorded. With the goal.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a workflow system using WWW, which launches an electronic mail using a client applet, attaches a document to be registered in a workflow server to a file, creates a mail document, Means for adding a destination and flow management information to the mail document and transferring the file to the workflow server; receiving a file transferred from the client and expanding the attached file in the server file system based on the flow management information; Means for registering the expanded file in the workflow server. Also,
A workflow system realized on the WWW is configured by a client server system, and the server is a workflow server including a document file management mechanism and a flow information management mechanism, and a workflow that communicates with the workflow server via an interface provided by the workflow server. A server communication mechanism and a document file conversion mechanism that expands a file transferred from the client and converts it into a file format to be registered in the workflow server. The client operates a desktop input / output mechanism that operates information related to the workflow through a desktop screen. And started by the desktop I / O mechanism,
It consists of a registration file creation mechanism that creates a mail document in a format that can register a document to be registered in the system, a file transmission mechanism that transmits the registration file, and a communication mechanism that communicates flow management information between the client and server. It is also characterized.

Further, according to the method of registering a client local file in a workflow system using WWW of the present invention, a workflow system realized on WWW is configured by a client server system, and documents in a flow are collectively managed by a workflow server. In addition, a mail document in a format in which a document on a system created in advance using a client applet can be registered in the system is created and registered in a server. In addition, the client uses the client applet to launch an e-mail, attaches a document to be registered to the workflow system to a file, creates a mail document in a format that can be registered in the system, and sends the destination and flow management information to this file. The server is programmed to receive the transfer file from the client, acquire the flow management information, expand the attached file in the server's file system, and register the expanded file. It is also characterized by providing a recording medium to be recorded.

[0008] Thus, the document can be created without communication with the server, and the document file created by the local file system can be loaded in the workflow.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a server, and 2 denotes a client, which is connected via a communication line 3 and forms a client-server system. Reference numeral 11 denotes a workflow server which manages various information related to the workflow,
The document file management mechanism 111 and the flow information management mechanism 112 are included in this. Reference numeral 12 denotes a workflow server communication mechanism. The workflow server communication mechanism 12 communicates with the workflow server 11 via an interface provided by the workflow server 11. Reference numeral 13 denotes a transfer document file conversion mechanism. The transfer document file conversion mechanism 13 expands the file transferred from the client 2 and converts it into a file format to be registered in the workflow server. Reference numeral 14 denotes a file receiving mechanism. The file receiving mechanism 14 is a client 2
The file transmitted from is received. Reference numeral 15 denotes a communication mechanism. The communication mechanism 15 communicates flow management information between client servers.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a file transmission mechanism. The file transmission mechanism 21 transmits the local file generated by the client to the server 1. 22 is a server communication mechanism. The server communication mechanism 22 communicates flow management information with the client communication mechanism 15. 23 is a registration file creation mechanism. The registration file creation mechanism 23 combines the files to be registered in the workflow server 11 and the registration information into one file. Reference numeral 24 denotes a desktop input / output mechanism (applet). The desktop input / output mechanism 24 operates information on a workflow through a desktop screen of each client.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of file registration according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, S1 is a step of creating a transfer file, in which document information is loaded on a rule system, which is a file transfer mechanism, and a document file of a local file system to be registered is attached. S2
Is a step of sending the created transfer file,
The transfer file (mail document) created in S1 is transmitted to the registration destination server 1. S3 is a step of converting the received file. The file received as mail is expanded into registration information and a document file.
The information is supplied to the flow information management mechanism 112 and the document file management mechanism 111. S4 is a document registration step in which a document file is registered in the workflow server 11 based on the registration information.

Hereinafter, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Now, it is assumed that a workflow client program is activated on the client machine. That is, the client 2 creates a workflow and registers it in the server 1. The communication between the client and the server so far uses the client communication mechanism 15 and the server communication mechanism 22. Next, the client 2 is in the stage of registering the document file of the local file system created in advance in the workflow.

At this time, the registration file creation mechanism 23, that is, the electronic mail is started from the applet by the desktop input / output mechanism 24 of the client 2. In the registration file creation mechanism 23, the user attaches and sends a document file of the local file system. The transmission destination and document information are automatically generated and added by the registration file creation mechanism 23. The transfer file is stored in the file transmission mechanism 21,
The transfer document file conversion mechanism 13 is notified via the file reception mechanism 14. The transfer document file conversion mechanism 13 acquires the document information from the transfer file and expands the attached file in the file system of the server 1. Then, the file developed on the workflow server 11 through the workflow server communication mechanism 12 is registered.

In the above-described embodiment, only the workflow system has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable to all systems that require local file access among client server systems on the WWW. Applicable.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, a registration file creation mechanism (electronic mail) is provided on a client to transmit a created file, and the server receives the file to receive a document and attributes. By providing a transfer document file conversion mechanism to expand and a communication mechanism to register the expanded file to the workflow server, documents can be created without communication with the server, and documents created with the local file system Files can be included in the workflow. As a result, the communication cost can be reduced and the usability can be improved as compared with the conventional example that requires connection to the workflow server from the time of document creation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of file registration according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... server, 2 ... client, 3 ... communication line, 11 ...
Workflow server, 12: Workflow server communication mechanism, 13: Transfer document file conversion mechanism, 14 ...
File receiving mechanism, 15 Client communication mechanism, 21
... File transmission mechanism, 22 ... Server communication mechanism, 23 ... Registration file creation mechanism, 24 ... Desktop input / output mechanism, 111 ... Document file management mechanism, 112 ...
Flow information management mechanism.

Claims (5)

[Claims] An electronic mail is activated using a client applet, a document to be registered in a workflow server is attached to a file to create a local file, and a destination and flow management information are added to the file to the workflow server. Means for receiving the file transferred from the client, expanding the attached file in the file system of the server based on the flow management information, and registering the expanded file in the workflow server. A workflow system that uses WWW as a feature. 2. A workflow system realized on the WWW is constituted by a client server system. The server is a workflow server including a document file management mechanism and a flow information management mechanism, and a workflow server via an interface prepared by the workflow server. It consists of a workflow server communication mechanism that communicates with the client, and a document file conversion mechanism that expands the file transferred from the client and converts it into a file format to be registered in the workflow server. The client operates workflow-related information through the desktop screen. File input / output mechanism, a registration file creation mechanism that is started by the desktop input / output mechanism and creates a local file to be registered in the system, and a file that transmits the registration file. A workflow system using WWW, comprising a communication mechanism for communicating flow management information between a client server and a communication mechanism. 3. The registration file creation mechanism activates an electronic mail from a client applet via a desktop input / output mechanism, attaches a file created by a local file system, and adds destination and flow management information. 3. The workflow system using WWW according to claim 2, wherein the workflow is transmitted to a workflow server. 4. A workflow system realized on the WWW is constituted by a client server system, documents in a flow are collectively managed by a workflow server, and a local file created in advance is created by using a client applet. A method of registering a client local file in a workflow system using WWW, wherein the method is performed by registering the file in a server. 5. In a client-server system for realizing a workflow system on the WWW, a client activates an electronic mail using a client applet and creates a mail document by attaching a document to be registered in the workflow system to a file. The destination and the flow management information are added to the mail document and transferred to the workflow server. The server receives the transfer file from the client, acquires the flow management information, expands the attached file in the file system of the server, A recording medium which is programmed and recorded so as to register the developed file.