JPH11134225A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To give the notice of the state change of an appropriate work space at timing appropriate for a user. SOLUTION: A change detection part 3 detects the state change of the work space based on state information of a history holding part 2. A change indication part 11 indicates the state change on the other work space associated with the work space being the object of an operation by associated information of the history holding part 2 to the user executing the operation based on the detection of the prescribed operation by the user for an input/output part 6, which is set for indicating the state change of the associated work space, by an operation monitoring part 10, or based on the detection of the state change to the user executing the operation. The state change of the other work space associated with the work space being the operation object of the user can be indicated to the user when the work of the user is not interrupted or when matching with the other work space is required in the work of the user or on a real time basis.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus provided with a work space for holding a data object such as an electronic document in an accessible manner, and more particularly to a work space based on a user operation or in real time. The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for presenting a state change of a user to a user who is performing an operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a workspace system has been proposed which saves and manages an environment (workspace) of a work performed by a user using a computer, and supports a plurality of tasks in parallel by switching the environment. Yes,
Such systems include Xerox's Room
s (product name) and an information processing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-295930.

However, since these workspace systems do not assume that a plurality of users work in cooperation, it is possible to know how the state of the workspace has been changed by another user. Have difficulty. For example, in terms of Rooms,
Since there is no history of past activities, in order to know the state change of the workspace of another user, it is necessary to rely on the memory of the previous reference. Further, regarding the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-295930, in order to know a change in the state of the workspace by another user, it is necessary to trace the history and confirm the difference with one's own eyes. There was a problem that it was easy to overlook important workspace state changes.

As a system for solving the above-mentioned problem,
There are some systems that allow a user to be notified of an event for a workspace caused by another user. For example, in a system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-292902 (hereinafter referred to as Document 1), a user is notified when an event of a preset interest range occurs. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication
In the system described in Japanese Patent No. 35821 (hereinafter referred to as Document 2), a method such as immediate, accumulation, or mail can be selected as a method of notifying the user of the occurrence of an operation.

Further, GMD (German National Research)
Center for Information Technology) Group D
esk (Ludwin Fuchs, Uta Pankoke-Babatz, Wolfgang
Prinz, "Supporting Cooperative Awareness with Loc
al Event Mechanisms: The GroupDesk Sysytem ", ECSCW
'95, 1995. Hereinafter, this is referred to as Document 3. ), The user wakes up in a preset workspace (or
You can receive notifications of events (which have been propagated). Here, the event is propagated by tracing the hierarchical relationship, operation relationship, and semantic relationship of the object. For example, when an event that changes a document occurs, the event is transmitted to a workspace in a higher hierarchy of the document, A notification is given to a user having an operational relationship that the workspace is open. In this way, the user can be informed of a change in the state of the workspace associated with the currently active workspace or the workspace of interest. In other words, the user can always receive the event related to the job currently being performed and the event related to the job in which the user is interested.

[0006]

In actual office work, a plurality of users carry out work while holding a plurality of jobs, and other users who are working in cooperation with each other are always involved simultaneously. Is not necessarily doing business. Therefore, the user needs to know the state change related to his / her work asynchronously and at the necessary timing. However, in the systems of the above-mentioned Documents 1 and 3, when an event of another user occurs, the notification is made without inevitability. That is, the notification is performed at a timing that is not always necessary for the user. In this way, when information is transmitted in response to the activity of another person, not only is his activity disrupted, but he does not remember or lose the information when he or she needs it. Such a situation may occur. Furthermore,
When information is transmitted each time another person's activity is performed, it is necessary to monitor all the information transmitted in order to understand changes in the situation.

In the system of the above-mentioned document 2, the occurrence of the operation can be stored and displayed when the user gives an instruction, but all the stored notifications are displayed simultaneously. In other words, a situation occurs in which a user is given a notification that is completely unrelated to work.

[0008] Even if there is important information for oneself and the folder in which the information is stored is monitored, the necessary information for oneself is not always stored in the folder. However, since necessary information may have already been moved to another folder, the necessary notification for the user is not always made appropriately. It is to be noted that such necessary information is transferred to another inevitably occurs in irregular jobs. Also, the only information notified is the change at that time, and if you try to share the situation continuously,
Each needed to keep track of the other's activities.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional circumstances, and has as its object to provide an information processing apparatus capable of notifying a user of an appropriate change in the state of a workspace at an appropriate timing. . In addition, the present invention not only notifies a newly generated state change, but also presents a workspace in which the state change is reflected, thereby synchronizing with another related workspace. The purpose is to provide a function to continuously share the work status.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus having a plurality of workspaces for holding data objects in a processable manner. State history holding means for holding the state information of the data object as history in association with the workspace, related holding means for holding related information for associating the workspaces, and a state change of the workspace based on the state information Detecting means for detecting, monitoring means for monitoring a user's operation on the information processing apparatus, and a predetermined operation set to present a change in the state of the associated workspace is detected based on detection by the monitoring means. Other work associated with the workspace to be operated by the related information The state change of pace, characterized in that and a presentation means for presenting to the user who performed the operation.

Here, the predetermined operation set to present a change in the state of the related workspace includes, for example, an operation of newly creating a workspace, an operation of opening another workspace, and data in the workspace. Operations that reference objects, move data objects,
This refers to an operation performed at a point in time when the user's work such as an operation set in advance by the user is not disturbed, or at a point in time necessary for matching with another workspace in the user's work.

In the above information processing apparatus, the detecting means detects a state change of the workspace based on the state information of the state history holding means, and a predetermined operation set to present a related state change of the workspace is performed. Based on the detection by the monitoring unit, the presentation unit notifies the user who has performed the operation of the state change of the other workspace associated with the workspace of the operation by the relevant information of the association holding unit. Present. Therefore, at an appropriate time such as a time when the user's work is not hindered or a time necessary for matching the user's work with another workspace, the other workspace related to the workspace to be operated by the user is The state change can be presented to the user.

Further, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention stores related information for associating the corresponding workspaces with each other based on detection of a predetermined operation set for associating the workspaces by the monitoring means. Storage means for storing in the means. Here, the predetermined operation set for associating the workspaces is, for example, an operation of generating a new workspace that inherits the state of the workspace as it is when the workspace is opened, and an operation of creating a new data object. This refers to an operation that is considered to indicate that there is a relationship between workspaces, such as an operation of copying or moving between spaces, an operation of giving an instruction to associate a workspace by a user, and the like.

In the above information processing apparatus, the storage means stores the related information for associating the corresponding workspaces with the associated holding means based on the detection of the predetermined operation set to associate the workspaces by the monitoring means. To be stored. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately associate the workspaces according to the operation of the user.

Further, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in an information processing apparatus having a work space for holding a data object in a processable manner, a state history holding means for holding a history of state information relating to the state of the work space;
Detecting means for detecting a change in the state of the workspace based on the state information; monitoring means for monitoring a user operation on the information processing apparatus; and monitoring means for performing a predetermined operation set to present the change in the state of the workspace. And a presenting means for presenting, to the user who performed the operation, the state change of the workspace specified by the operation based on the detection by the user.

Here, the predetermined operation set to present the state change of the workspace includes, for example, an operation in which the user explicitly instructs the state change to be presented, and a data object created by another user. This operation refers to an operation performed at a time required by the user, such as an operation of opening a workspace used by another user, or an operation suitable for allowing the user to grasp a change in the state of the workspace.

In the information processing apparatus described above, the detecting means detects a state change of the workspace based on the state information of the state history holding means, and the predetermined operation set to present the state change of the workspace is performed by the monitoring means. The presenting means presents a change in the state of the workspace specified by the operation to the user who has performed the operation, based on the detection by the user. Therefore, at an appropriate timing, such as when the user needs it, or when it is appropriate to make the user grasp the change in the state of the workspace,
A change in the state of the workspace specified by the operation can be presented to the user.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus for simultaneously providing a plurality of workspaces for processing a data object to a plurality of users, the state information of the data object stored in the workspace. A state history holding unit that holds the history in association with the workspace, a related holding unit that holds related information that associates the workspaces, and a detecting unit that detects a state change of the workspace based on the state information, Based on the detection of the state change of the workspace by the detection means, the state change is presented to a user operating another workspace associated with the workspace whose state has been changed by the related information. Presentation means.

In the information processing apparatus described above, the detecting means detects a change in the state of the workspace based on the state information of the state history holding means, and based on the detection of the state change, the presenting means detects the change in the workspace. The status change is presented to another workspace associated with the related information of the related holding means. Therefore, it is possible to notify a user of a state change between workspaces related to each other in real time and present it to the user.

Further, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention performs a calculation based on the state information of the data objects held by the plurality of workspaces associated with the related information, and synchronizes the state of these workspaces with a new one. State information calculating means for generating state information, wherein when the detecting means detects a state change of the workspace, the state change is performed for another workspace associated with the workspace. The new information is generated with respect to the workspace in which is detected, and the status information of the other workspace is updated. As a result, the status can be synchronized between the workspaces related to each other, and in reality, a plurality of independent workspaces can be virtually used as shared workspaces.

Further, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention has a monitoring means for monitoring a user's operation on a plurality of workspaces used simultaneously, and a user selecting means for selecting a user of the workspace presenting a state change. When,
The presenting means notifies the user of a change in the state of another workspace to the user only when the user detected by the monitoring means matches the user selected by the selecting means. Thus, among a plurality of workspaces associated with each other, the workspace state can be shared only with the specified user.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The information processing apparatus includes a server 1 and a client 5 connected via a network 4. Each of the server 1 and the client 5 is configured by a computer such as a workstation or a personal computer.
In this embodiment, the embodiment is implemented by a client server. However, such an embodiment is not required. For example, an information processing apparatus may be configured in one computer without using a network. You may.

The server 1 has a history holding unit 2 and a change detecting unit 3. The server 1 manages information commonly used by a plurality of users (clients). The history holding unit 2 manages a workspace and holds a history of the workspace. Then, in response to the date and time input from the client 5, information for restoring the workspace saved at the closest date and time is returned as an output.

In this embodiment, the state of the workspace is
It is expressed as a snapshot (hereinafter, referred to as a snap) holding a set of anchors (reference objects for referring to documents, other workspaces, etc.), and the history holding unit 2 chronologically displays the snap. The history of the workspace is managed by saving.

More specifically, the history holding unit 2 is constituted by a relational database and has a database schema such as a workspace, a snap, an anchor, and a user. A workspace is an object representing a place where a work is performed. As shown in FIG. 2, a workspace identifier (workspace id), a workspace name (workspace name), and a workspace are created. The date and time (creation date and time), the user who created the workspace (created user), the identifier of the highest workspace in the hierarchy one level lower (the eldest son workspace), and the same hierarchy in the hierarchy relationship And an identifier of the next lower workspace (a brother workspace). In this embodiment, with respect to a certain workspace, the highest workspace in the hierarchy immediately below it is the eldest son workspace, the lowest workspace is the youngest workspace, and the workspace one hierarchy lower in the same hierarchy. I will call it my brother's workspace.

According to the database schema such as the eldest son workspace and the younger brother workspace, it is possible to express the hierarchical relationship between the workspaces. For example, in the hierarchical structure shown in FIG. 3, the eldest workspace of the “patent creation” workspace is “patent search”, the younger workspace is “null (nonexistent)”, and the “patent search” workspace is The eldest son's space is "null"
By setting the workspace of the eldest son and the workspace of the younger brother in each workspace such that the younger brother workspace is "organizing ideas", a hierarchical relationship can be expressed.

A snap is an object representing a state of a workspace at a certain point in time. As shown in FIG. 4, a snap identifier (snap id), the date and time when the snap was created (date and time of creation), and the snap And the set of anchors (anchor set) held by the workspace at the time when the snap was created, the user (creating user) at the time of creating the snap, the identifier of the workspace represented by the snap (workspace), , In pairs.

An anchor is a document (data object)
Or a reference object indicating a snap of another workspace (ie, a related workspace) for which a state change is to be monitored. As shown in FIG. 5, the identifier of the anchor (anchor id) The name of the anchor (anchor name), the date and time when the anchor was created (creation date and time), the user who created the anchor (creating user), the identifier of the document pointed to by the anchor (reference destination), and the A flag indicating a type (watch flag), an identifier of a snap for monitoring a state change (reference snap), and a display position (X coordinate, Y coordinate) of an icon indicating an anchor
And in pairs.

Here, the watch flag is set to "true".
In this case, it means that the anchor is an anchor (hereinafter, referred to as a watch anchor) indicating a snap of a workspace in which a state change is to be monitored. In this embodiment, a URL (Unif) is used as a document identifier.
orm Resource Locator).

The user is an object indicating each user, and as shown in FIG. 6, an identifier (user id)
, A user name, a password given to the user, and a workspace (home workspace) that is opened when the user logs in.

The change detection unit 3 receives a related change notification request, a user change notification request, and a latest change notification request, which will be described later, from the client 5, performs processing for detecting a change in the state of the workspace in response to each request, and performs detection. Change presentation unit 1 that sent the request for the result
Return to 1. It should be noted that a detailed description of the functions in the processing will be made in an operation description described later.

The client 5 includes an input / output unit 6, a workspace holding unit 7, a notification rule storage unit 8, a relation definition and storage rule storage unit 9, an operation monitoring unit 10, and a change presentation unit 11. Have. Note that the client 5 is for a user to perform work, and is realized by software on a workstation or a personal computer.

The input / output unit 6 is constituted by input / output devices such as a display, a keyboard and a mouse. Here, it is assumed that standard input / output control such as window display, keyboard input, icon and button operation using a cursor, etc., commonly used for various applications is performed.

The workspace holding unit 7 holds the latest snap of the workspace in which the user works, displays the held workspace on the input / output unit 1, and snaps the workspace that is changed by the user's work. Are sequentially updated and held. Then, the operation monitoring unit 10
When a snap storage request described later is sent, the current snap is stored in the history holding unit 2 of the server 1, and when a hierarchical relationship definition request is sent, a process of associating a workspace is performed. When a watch / anchor generation request is sent, processing for associating the snaps in the workspace is performed.
A detailed description of the operation will be made in the operation description described later.

FIG. 7 shows a workspace display screen displayed by the workspace holding unit 7. This screen has a snap area 21 for displaying the latest snap of the workspace, and icons 22 and 23 representing anchors are displayed in the snap area 21.
The icon 22 of the anchor pointing to the document and the icon 23 of the watch anchor are different and can be easily distinguished. In addition,
Icons 22 and 23 representing the anchors are input / output device 6
Has a function of opening a document or a workspace pointed to by the anchor by double-clicking by the user.

Further, the workspace holding section 7 can display a workspace set including a plurality of preset workspaces as shown in FIG. This workspace collective display screen includes a collective display area 24,
And a snap display area 25. Then, the hierarchical structure of the workspaces belonging to the set is displayed in the set display area 24, and when a node representing the workspace in this area is selected by the input / output means 6 (in FIG. The selected node is displayed.) In the snap display area 25, the anchor held in the selected workspace is displayed. Note that, similarly to the workspace display screen described above, the icon of the anchor pointing to the document is different from the icon of the watch anchor so that they can be easily distinguished.

The notification rule storage unit 8 includes a related change notification rule that defines a timing of generating a related change notification request for presenting a related workspace state change, and a presentation of a workspace state change related to a certain user. User change notification rule that stipulates the timing of generating a user change notification request to perform the operation, and the timing of generating the latest change notification request that presents a change in the state of the workspace from the time when the user used it in the past. The latest change notification rule is stored.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, a related change notification request is generated when a new workspace is created while inheriting the state of the workspace while the workspace is open. 4 rules are stored, such as sending a related change notification request when switching workspaces, sending a related change notification request when opening a reference to an anchor, and sending a related change notification request when moving an anchor. I have.

As the user change notification rule, in this embodiment, a rule for sending a user change notification request when a user explicitly specifies a state change notification of a certain user is stored. A user change notification request is sent when a user attempts to refer to an anchor created by another user, or a user change notification request is sent when a workspace created by another user opens a workspace in which the current snap is set. May be stored. As the latest change notification rule, in this embodiment, a rule for sending a latest change notification request when an instruction to display a workspace set is stored.

The relationship definition and storage rule storage unit 9 defines an association rule that defines a hierarchical relationship between workspaces and a situation in which a link between snaps is generated, and a timing for storing a snapshot of a workspace in the history storage unit 2. The saved snap storage rule is stored. As the association rules, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, a hierarchical relationship definition request is sent when a new workspace is created, a watch / anchor creation request is sent when an anchor is moved, and a user explicitly creates a link. Are stored when the watch instruction is transmitted.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, a snap storage request is sent when the number of anchors being snapped changes from increasing to decreasing, and a snap storage request is sent when the workspace is switched. Three rules of sending a snap save request when the user explicitly issues a snap save instruction are stored.

The operation monitoring unit 10 always monitors the operation of the user on the input / output unit 6, and performs the operation of the user specified in the rule held in the notification rule storage unit 8, the relation definition and the history storage rule storage unit 9. Is detected, the request specified in the applicable rule is sent. For example, if the request is a hierarchical relationship definition request, a watch / anchor generation request, or a snap save request, the workspace holding unit 7
And if the request is a related change notification request, a user change notification request, or a latest change notification request, the server 1
Is sent to the change detection unit 3.

The change presenting unit 11 causes the input / output unit 6 to display the state change of the workspace detected by the change detecting unit 3 of the server 1. FIG. 12 shows an example of a display screen on which a state change of a related workspace is displayed.

This display screen has a related workspace display area 26 and a state change display area 27. The related workspace display area 26 is an area for displaying a workspace related to the workspace to be operated by the user, and is an area for selecting a workspace for displaying a state change in the state change display area 27. In the drawing, it is indicated that a workspace surrounded by a thick frame is selected. The state change display area 27 is an area for displaying a state change related to the workspace selected in the related workspace display area 26, and displays an anchor icon 28 indicating a document related to the state change in a form different from other icons. .

Here, the state history holding means and the related holding means referred to in the claims are mainly constituted by the history holding section 2, and the detection means referred to in the claims are mainly constituted by the change detection section 3. The monitoring means described in the claims is mainly constituted by the operation monitoring section 10, and the presentation means described in the claims is mainly constituted by the change presentation section 11, and the storage means described in the claims. Is mainly constituted by the workspace holding unit 7.

Next, the operation of the above information processing apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the operation of the information processing apparatus when a user performs an operation of newly creating a workspace is shown in FIG.
3 will be described. The operation monitoring unit 10 includes the input / output unit 6
The user operation is constantly monitored to detect whether or not an operation specified by a rule held in the notification rule storage unit 8 and the related definition and storage rule storage unit 9 is performed (step S1).

When an operation for giving an instruction to newly generate a workspace is performed, the operation monitoring unit 10 detects that the operation is specified by the related change notification rule and the association rule, and According to the rule, the request for the related change notification is sent to the change detecting unit 3 and the request for defining the hierarchical relationship is sent to the workspace holding unit 7.
Thereby, the change detection unit 3 and the workspace holding unit 7
Performs the following processing.

That is, the change detecting section 3 checks the identifier of the currently opened workspace, detects whether or not the workspace is currently opened by the user (steps S2 and S3). The workspace holding unit 7 registers a new workspace in the history holding unit 2 and opens the workspace (step S1).
2, S13). On the other hand, if it is opened, it is detected whether or not the snap of the opened workspace has an anchor with a watch flag of "true" (step S4).

Then, the watch flag is set to "t" in the snap.
If there is an anchor of “rue”, it means that there is a related workspace, and the change detection unit 3 performs a process of identifying a related workspace described later and detecting a state change. (Step S5) On the other hand,
If the snap does not have an anchor whose watch flag is “true”, or if the status change presentation process is completed, the workspace holding unit 7 checks the eldest workspace of the currently opened workspace, and checks the eldest workspace. It is detected whether or not there is (steps S6, S7).

As a result, when there is no eldest workspace, the workspace holding unit 7 sets the identifier of the new workspace to the eldest workspace of the currently opened workspace and retains the history of the new workspace. The work space is opened by registering it in the section 2 (steps S12 and S13).

On the other hand, if there is no workspace for the eldest son, the workspace holding unit 7 detects the workspace of the youngest child (steps S9 and S10), and stores the new workspace in the workspace of the youngest child. Set an identifier, register a new workspace,
Open the new workspace (steps S11 and S11).
12, S13). As a result, it is possible to connect the newly created workspace and the existing workspace opened at the time of creating the workspace by a hierarchical relationship.

Next, the operation when the user performs the operation of moving the anchor between the workspaces will be described with reference to FIG. The operation monitoring unit 10 constantly monitors the user's operation on the input / output unit 6 and, when detecting the operation of the instruction to paste the anchor, acquires the identifier of the copy source snap of the anchor in the copy buffer, The acquired identifier is compared with the identifier of the currently opened snap (steps S14 to S16). This is achieved by storing the identifier of the copy source snap in addition to the anchor in the copy buffer in advance.

As a result, if the two identifiers do not match, this operation indicates an operation of moving an anchor between workspaces (snaps), and the operation monitoring unit 10
Detects an operation specified in the related change notification rule and the association rule, sends a related change notification request to the change detection unit 3 and sends a watch / anchor generation request to the workspace holding unit 7 in accordance with the rule. send. As a result, the change detection unit 3 and the workspace holding unit 7 perform the following processing.

That is, the watch flag is set to “t” on the snap of the workspace in which the change detection unit 3 is currently opened.
It is detected whether or not there is an anchor of “rue” (step S
17) When an anchor is present, it indicates that there is a related workspace, and a process for identifying a related workspace described later and detecting a state change is performed (step S5).

When there is no anchor, or when the process of detecting the state change by specifying the related workspace is completed, the workspace holding unit 7 stores the copy source identifier in the current snap and the reference destination snap. Is set, an anchor with "true" set in the watch flag is created and added (step S18), and the identifier of the currently opened snap is set in the copy source snap as the reference destination snap, and the watch A watch anchor with a flag set to "true" is created and added (step S1).
9). This makes it possible to associate the snaps of the workspace in which the anchor has been moved by the user's operation.

Next, an operation when the user performs a switching operation of a work space in which a work is performed will be described with reference to FIG. The operation monitoring unit 10 constantly monitors a user's operation on the input / output unit 6 and determines whether an operation specified in a rule held in the notification rule storage unit 8 and the related definition and storage rule storage unit 9 is performed. Is detected (step S20).

When an operation for instructing to open a workspace is performed, the operation monitoring unit 10 detects that the operation is specified in the relevant change notification rule and the snap storage rule, and according to the rule. And sends a related change notification request to the change detecting unit 3 and sends a snap save request to the workspace holding unit 7. Thus, the change detection unit 3 and the workspace holding unit 7 perform the following processing.

First, after the workspace holding unit 7 saves the previous snap, it is detected whether or not the anchor has changed (step S21). If the anchor has changed, the current snap is stored in the history holding unit 2 if it has changed. Store (Step S2
2) On the other hand, if there is no change, do nothing.

Then, the watch flag is set to “tr” on the snap of the workspace in which the change detecting section 3 is currently opened.
ue "is detected (step S23), and if there is a watch anchor,
A process (step S5) for detecting a state change by specifying a related workspace described later is performed. On the other hand, when there is no anchor, or when the process of detecting the state change by specifying the related workspace is completed, the workspace holding unit 7 performs the process of closing the current workspace (step S24). Then, processing for opening the designated workspace is performed (step S25).

Referring to FIG. 16, description will be given of a process (step S5) for detecting a state change by specifying the above-mentioned related workspace. First, for an anchor held by a snap of a workspace to be operated by a user (for example, an open workspace, a workspace in which an anchor has been moved from oneself to another, or a workspace that can be switched to another workspace, etc.) Then, the following processing (steps S26 to S32) is repeatedly performed.

First, a watch anchor whose watch flag is "true" is detected (step S26). If the flow is not a recurrently executed flow, the date and time when the anchor was created is substituted for time T (step S27). , S2
8). Next, the identifier of the reference snap of the anchor is acquired (step S29), and the following processing is performed on the snap created from time T to the present in the workspace of the reference snap (steps S30 to S32).
I do.

First, the watch flag is set to “t” in the snap.
It is detected whether or not there is a watch anchor of “rue” (step S30). If there is a watch anchor, the same processing (steps S26 to S32) is recursively performed for the snap for which the anchor has been detected. (Step S31) Here, the term "recursive" means that the current process is repeatedly called during the execution of the process.

On the other hand, if there is no watch anchor, or if it has been recursive, a state change detection process to be described later for detecting a state change between the latest snap and the reference destination snap is performed (step S32). With this process,
Workspaces associated with user-operated workspaces by watch anchors can be specified, and state change detection processing can be performed on these workspaces.

The above processing (steps S26 to S31)
Is specifically described with reference to FIG. This processing is started when, for example, a new workflow creation operation or the like is performed in a work performed while opening the workspace “history management patent creation”. According to this process,
First, the reference snap of the watch anchor created in the current snap of the workspace “history management patent creation” in which the work was performed is specified. That is, the snap 29 of the workspace “patent briefing” is specified.

Next, in the workspace “patent briefing session”, a watch anchor created between the snap 29 and the latest snap is specified. That is, the watch anchor 30 is specified. And
Further, the workspace “2G patent search related” is specified from the reference destination snap of the watch anchor 30.
Also, in this workspace, the watch anchor 3 created after the watch anchor was created in the workspace “Historical Management Patent Creation” is created.
The workspace “1G patent search” is specified by the watch anchor 31. In this way, the state change detection processing (step S32) is performed on the specified workspace.

Next, the operation of the state change detection processing (step S32) will be described with reference to FIG. First,
The change detecting unit 3 copies the latest snap anchor set to the set L (step S33). Then, it is detected whether or not the reference destination of each anchor of the set L matches the reference destination of each anchor of the past snap (step S3).
4) If they match, it means that they have not changed, so the anchor is deleted from the set L (step S35), while if they do not match, nothing is done. As a result, anchors such as newly added or changed contents remain in the set L.

Next, the change detecting unit 3 notifies the change presenting unit 11 of the client 5 which made the request of the set L, and the change presenting unit 11 which has received the notification operates the state change of the workspace. To present. In this way, the user can grasp the state change of the workspace related to the workspace to be operated at the time of performing the operation specified as the related change notification rule.

Specific examples of the above operation are shown in FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. First, the user nomura
As shown in Fig. 20, when the workspace "Report TR-1" is opened and a report is written, and the anchor "Table of Contents" is copied and passed to the workspace "Report" of the co-author user hayashi, FIG. As shown in FIG. 21, the workspace “report TR-1” of the user nomura and the user
A watch anchor with a watch flag is created in each of the hayashi workspace "reports" so that the anchor can be cross-referenced.

Then, after this, the user hayashi
As shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that an anchor “Chapter 2 draft” is created in the workspace “Report” and cooperative work is started. On the other hand, the user nomura copies the anchor “Sekijima96” from the workspace “reference” of the user sekijima shown in FIG. 23 and holds it in his / her workspace “Report TR-1” as shown in FIG. Suppose you have performed

Then, triggered by the operation of the user nomura such as moving the anchor between workspaces, the workspace related to the workspace “report TR-1”, that is, the reference location of the watch anchor on the snap A state change relating to a workspace "report" is detected, and as shown in FIG.
An anchor created after the anchor is created is presented to the user nomura as a state change of “Chapter 2 Draft”.
Thus, the user nomura can determine whether or not the user's work is affected by referring to the presented “Chapter 2 draft”.

Next, the operation in the case where the user performs an operation of designating the presentation of the change in the state of the workspace relating to a certain user will be described with reference to FIG. Such an operation is performed, for example, when it is desired to know what activity a certain user has performed during a specified period.

The operation monitoring unit 10 constantly monitors the user's operation on the input / output unit 6, and receives a user's designation for searching for a change in state from the user (step S36). Then, upon receiving the user's designation, the operation monitoring unit 10
A window for specifying a period as shown in FIG. 27 for accepting the designation of the period for searching for a state change is displayed on the input / output unit 6, and the designation of the period from the user is accepted through this window (step S37). In addition, by setting a period (for example, one day) in advance, designation of the period using the window can be omitted.

The operation monitoring unit 10 sends a user state change request to the change detection unit 3 according to the above-described user operation. Then, upon receiving the user state change request,
The change detection unit 3 determines the latest snap (hereinafter, user latest snap) in which the identifier of the specified user is set among the snaps created within the specified period from each workspace stored in the history holding unit 2. (Step S38), and the latest snap in the same workspace snap as the user latest snap in which the identifier of the specified user is set among the snaps created before the specified period. (Hereinafter, referred to as a user period pre-snap) (step S39).

Next, in step S38, for each workspace from which the latest user snap has been extracted,
The change detection unit 3 performs the following processing (steps S40 and S4).
Repeat 1). First, it is detected whether or not the pre-user period snap has been extracted from the workspace (step S40). As a result, if the snap before the user period is not detected, no change is made in the state of the workspace by the user, so nothing is done.

On the other hand, if the pre-user period snap is detected, the same process as the above-described state change detection process (step S32) is performed between the latest user snap of the workspace and the pre-user period snap. To detect a change in the state of the workspace (step S4).
1). After finishing the processing for all the workspaces from which the user latest snaps have been extracted, the change detecting unit 3 notifies the change presenting unit 11 of the detected state change, and the notified change presenting unit 11 The change is presented to the user (step S42). Thereby, the user can grasp what kind of processing has been performed on the workspace during the period desired by the user desired by the user.

Here, regarding the above processing, the user no
A case will be described with reference to FIG. 28 as an example in which mura specifies presentation of a state change of a workspace regarding the user hayashi and requests presentation of a state change for one day. First, in each workspace, the latest snap (user latest snap) among the snaps created by the user hayashi within the past one day is extracted. Here, the past 1
Assuming that the user hayashi has been working in four workspaces during the day, the latest user snap is extracted for each workspace. In the figure, the snap 32 indicated by a bold line is the user's latest snap.

Next, in each of these workspaces, the latest snap created by the user hayashi one day before or before (user period previous snap) is extracted. In the drawing, the snap 33 is a snap before the user period from which the snap 33 is extracted. Then, the state change of the workspace is detected by the user latest snap 32 and the user period previous snap 33 of each workspace, and the state change is presented to the user. This allows the user nomura to
Can see the progress of the work that he has done in the past day.

Next, the operation in the case where the user performs an operation for instructing the display of the workspace set will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, such an operation is, for example,
This is performed, for example, when a certain user is about to start work over a plurality of workspaces.

The operation monitoring unit 10 constantly monitors the operation of the user on the input / output unit 6 and detects an operation instructing the display of the workspace set by the user (step S4).
3) Send the latest change notification request to the change detection unit 3.
When the latest change notification request is received, the change detection unit 3 checks the latest snap in which the user identifier is set from each of the workspaces belonging to the workspace set stored in the history holding unit 2 (hereinafter referred to as user involvement snap). Is extracted (step S44), and a current snap (hereinafter, referred to as a current snap) of the same workspace as the snap is extracted (step S4).
5).

Next, in step S44, the change detecting section 3 repeats the following processing (steps S46 and S47) for each workspace from which the snap has been extracted. First, it is detected whether the user-involved snap of the workspace is the current snap (step S).
46). As a result, if the user-involved snap is the current snap, it indicates that no state change has occurred since the user used the workspace, and does nothing.

On the other hand, if the user-involved snap is not the current snap, it indicates that a state change has occurred since the user used the workspace. Between the above, the state change detection processing described above (step S32)
By performing the same processing as described above, the state change of the workspace is detected (step S47).

Then, after finishing the processing for all the workspaces from which the user-related snaps have been extracted,
The change detecting unit 3 notifies the change presenting unit 11 of the detected state change, and the notified change presenting unit 11 presents the state change to the user (step S48). As a result, in the workspace of the workspace set, a state change that has occurred after the user has used the workspace can be presented to the user.

Here, regarding the above processing, the user no
An example in which mura performs an operation to open the workspace set “1G home” will be described with reference to FIG. When the user nomura performs an operation to open the workspace set “1G home”, the latest snap 34 of the user nomura is set for each workspace in the workspace set.
(User-involved snap) is extracted, and the current snap 35 of each workspace in the workspace set
The (current snap) is extracted, and the state change of the workspace is detected by the user involvement snap 34 and the current snap 35 of each workspace, and the state change is determined by the user no.
Presented to mura.

Thus, the user nomura can use the workspace set before and after using the workspace set.
It is possible to easily grasp what kind of activity has been performed in the workspace set.

Next, an information processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This information processing apparatus is composed of a server 1 and a client 5 connected via a network 4, and has a configuration almost similar to that of the first embodiment. Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to the functional units substantially similar to those of the first embodiment, and the duplicate description will be omitted.

The server 1 has an operation monitoring unit 12, a history storage unit 2, a change calculation unit 14, and a related storage unit 13. The server manages information commonly used by a plurality of users (clients), monitors operations between the plurality of clients 5, and provides information. The client 5 has an input / output unit 6, a workspace holding unit 7, and a change presentation unit 11. The client provides a function for each user to perform a work using the workspace.

The operation monitoring unit 12 monitors operations of all the clients 5 connected to the server 1. That is, when the user logs in from the client 5 and the connection between the client 5 and the server 1 is established, the server 1 grasps a pointer such as a socket for specifying an execution process of the client program and uses this pointer. Thus, the operation monitoring unit 12 can know the execution state of each client 5 at an arbitrary timing. Also,
The operation monitoring unit 12 performs the operations shown in FIG.
2 is held. Here, immediately after the client 5 is connected, at least only the pointer of the connected client needs to be acquired, but other attributes (that is, the login user and the workspace in use) need not be obtained at this time. May be acquired whenever there is a change and may be updated at any time, or may be acquired only when it becomes necessary to monitor the operation on the server 1 side.

The history holding unit 2 is the same as that shown in the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, the reference relation between workspaces is realized by using the watch flag of the anchor. In the embodiment, the reference relationship is held in the related storage unit 13. Here, the data structure of the workspace in this embodiment is as shown in FIG. 33, and this workspace holds a set of relations in addition to the data structure of the first embodiment. Further, the data structure of the anchor in this embodiment is as shown in FIG. 34, and this anchor is different from the first embodiment in comparison with the first embodiment.
Does not have attributes of watch flag and reference snap.

The related storage unit 13 holds a relation object indicating a relationship between workspaces, instead of the watch anchor of the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 35, the relation has its identifier (relation id), the identifier of the user who created the relation object (creation user), the creation date and time, and the date and time when the change was last presented using this relation. (The last change presentation date and time), the date and time when the notification based on this relation was stopped (change presentation stop date and time), and the identifiers of the workspace of the reference source and the workspace of the reference destination related by this relation are held.

Here, the date and time of the last change presentation is based on this relation (that is, the change
e1), it is updated to the current date and time. The change presentation stop date and time does not require a change notification based on the relation by the user who creates the relation, and when the notification is stopped, the date and time is substituted into the attribute. When a specific date and time is substituted for the change presentation suspension date and time, the change notification based on this relation is not performed.

The change calculator 14 has a function of calculating a change between workspaces in addition to the function of the change detector 3 shown in the first embodiment. However, the workspace for which the change calculation unit 14 needs to calculate the change is the workspace specified as the reference destination for the relation whose reference source is the workspace itself among the relation sets held by the workspace. Pace. Also, the search range from when the change is required to be calculated is determined by the last change presentation date and time held by the relation. That is, a snap closest to the final change presentation date and time is searched for, and a change between the snap and the latest snap is regarded as a change to be presented to the user.

Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. First, an operation of starting a new client 5 by a user and establishing a connection with the server 1 via the network 4 will be described with reference to FIG. When the client 5 is started (step S51), the client 5 acquires the address of the server 1 and establishes a connection (step S5).
2). Then, the pointer of the client 5 is passed to the server 1 (step S53), and based on this, the server 1 acquires the logged-in user and the used workspace in the client 5 (step S54).
As a result, a user operation in the client 5 and a change in the state of the workspace are detected in real time by the operation monitoring unit 12 and the change calculation unit 14 of the server 1.

Next, an operation in which a certain workspace performs an operation of referring to another workspace and thereby relation data is generated will be described with reference to FIG. When the reference destination and the workspace of the reference source are indicated by the identifiers by the user's operation on a certain client 5 (steps S61 and S62), this instruction information is sent to the server 1 to generate a relation (step S6).
63). Then, the generated relation is stored in the association storage unit 13 in the structure shown in FIG.
66). In this way, the association between the workspaces is made, and the associated information is registered in the association storage unit 13 as a relation.

Next, an operation of presenting a state change using a relation between workspaces related by the relation will be described with reference to FIG. When the change calculation unit 14 of the server 1 detects a change in the state of the workspace in a certain connected client 5 to which a connection has been established (step S71), the change calculation unit 14 refers to past information stored in the history storage unit 2. Then, the state change of the workspace is calculated (step S72). And
In the server 1, the relation holding unit 13 is searched to extract other workspaces that refer to the workspace whose status has changed (step S73), and acquire these other workspaces from the connected client 5 (step S73). S74).

Then, the state of the workspace whose state has changed is compared with the state of another acquired workspace (step S75), and if they do not match, the change in state between these two is calculated. The change calculated by the unit 14 is sent to the client 5 in which the acquired other workspace exists, and the change is displayed on the screen by the change presenting unit 11 and presented to the user (step S7).
6). The above processing is sequentially repeated for each workspace and for each connected client, and as a result, for all other workspaces associated with the workspace whose status has changed, the state change between them Is presented.

Next, as a third embodiment of the present invention, an information processing apparatus for realizing a virtual shared workspace will be described. In this embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the client 5
In addition to notifying each other of changes in the state of the workspace between them, by performing calculations so that the states of the associated workspaces are the same, the effect of sharing the workspace can be achieved. I'm trying to get. And, by virtually sharing the workspace in this way, the user can selectively cooperate with other users as necessary, and this is not assumed when using the workspace. It is possible to appropriately perform shared use.

The information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment has substantially the same configuration as that of the second embodiment.
Does not calculate the difference between the previous state in the workspace and the latest state of the workspace in which the state change was detected, and the latest state of other workspaces that indicate the state change. Is calculated, and the change presenting unit 11 of the other workspace updates the state of the union to the latest state.

Next, the operation of virtually synchronizing the state between workspaces will be described with reference to FIG. Server 1
When the change calculator 14 on the side detects a change in the state of a workspace in a certain connected client 5 to which a connection is established, the change calculator 14 searches the association holding unit 13 to extract another workspace in which the state change should be presented. Then, the latest state of the other workspace is acquired (step S81).
Then, the change calculation unit 14 compares the state of the workspace whose state has changed with the state of the acquired other workspace (step S75). If the two do not match, the latest state of these workspaces is included. The union of the anchor sets is calculated and set as a new synchronization state (step S83).

Then, the synchronization state calculated by the change calculation unit 14 is sent to the client 5 having another workspace to be presented, and the change presentation unit 11 updates the state of the workspace based on the synchronization state and displays it on the screen. (Step S84). The above processing is sequentially repeated for each workspace to which the status change is presented and for each anchor of the workspace whose status has changed,
As a result, in all other workspaces associated with the workspace whose state has changed, their states are synchronized.

Referring to FIG. 40, an example of cooperative work using synchronization of a virtual workspace will be described. First, assuming that there are workspaces A, B, and C, it is assumed that, at time t1, these workspaces have been independently operated without reference. Then, since a reference relationship was set between the workspaces B and C, the time t
When the anchor is added to the workspace C in step 2, the workspace B is presented with a state synchronized with the workspace C. Thereafter, if a reference relationship is set between workspaces B and A, the
When the anchor is added to the workspace B, a state in which both the workspaces A and C are synchronized with the workspace B is presented. Since the reference relationship between the workspaces can be cut at any time, the user can establish a relationship between the workspaces whose changes need to be known as necessary, and virtually share the same place and proceed with the work. You can create a state like you are.

Next, as a fourth embodiment of the present invention, a description will be given of an information processing apparatus which performs setting for notifying a situation only to a designated user and realizes sharing of a workspace only with a specific user. The information processing apparatus according to this embodiment has substantially the same configuration as that of the second embodiment, but further includes a user selection unit having a user interface as shown in FIG.

This user interface is provided with a workspace name area for specifying a workspace to be notified and a notification user area for selecting a user to be notified. By inputting, it is possible to notify only the other selected users of the change in the state of the specified workspace. For example, in FIG. 41, when there are ten other workspaces that refer to the workspace “Patent Creation Space”, as shown in FIG.
If the setting is made to notify only the workspace, the status change in the workspace “patent creation space” is notified only when User-3 is using the workspace referencing this workspace. The operation monitoring unit 12 detects whether the user is using the workspace. It should be noted that the operation as described above determines whether the user of the workspace has been selected as the notification user immediately before the process of presenting the change to another workspace (step S76) in the flowchart shown in FIG. The presenting process can be performed only by performing a process of confirming and performing the presenting process only when the user is selected and set.

In the above-described embodiment, the state change is detected in units of the anchor. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the state change may be detected in units of information in the document indicated by the anchor. The point is,
Any unit may be used as long as it represents a state change in the workspace. The combination of snaps used for detecting a change in the state of a workspace is not limited to the combination of the above-described embodiments, and any combination of snaps of the same workspace may be used.

In the above embodiment, the history holding unit 2
Used to save chronologically as a workspace history, but for example, the history of activities performed on the workspace may be saved as an event column, and the workspace status Other version control methods may be used, such as retaining only the changes,
The point is that the past state of the workspace can be saved as a history. In the above-described embodiment, the related workspace is specified by tracing the watch anchor. However, the related workspace may be specified by tracing the hierarchical relationship between the workspaces. -Both the anchor and the hierarchical relationship between workspaces may be traced to identify related workspaces.

Each of the above-mentioned functional means is constituted by a processor executing a control program (prestored in ROM, RAM, etc.). In the present invention, these functional means are constituted as independent hardware circuits. May be. In addition, the present invention allows the control program to be grasped as a computer-readable storage medium such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM, and reads the control program from the storage medium and causes a processor to execute the control program. Such processing can also be executed.

[0106]

As described above, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, based on detection of a predetermined operation set to present a change in the state of a related workspace, detects the target of the operation. Since the state change of the other workspace associated with the related information of the workspace is presented to the user who performed the operation, a point in time at which the work of the user is not hindered, or another work in the user's work is performed. At an appropriate timing such as a time required for matching with the workspace, the state change of another workspace related to the workspace to be operated by the user can be presented.

Further, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention associates the corresponding workspaces based on the detection of a predetermined operation set to associate the workspaces with each other. In addition, it is possible to appropriately associate workspaces. Further, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, based on detection of a predetermined operation set to present a change in the state of the workspace, detects a change in the state of the workspace specified by the operation. Workspace state change specified by the operation at an appropriate timing, such as when the user needs it or because it is appropriate for the user to grasp the state change of the workspace because it is presented to the user who performed it. Can be presented to the user.

Further, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, based on the detection of the change in the state of the workspace, notifies the user of the other workspace associated with the relevant workspace by the related information with the change of the state. Because of the presentation, it is possible to present, in real time, a change in the state of another workspace related to the workspace to be operated by the user. By transmitting information without bothering the user,
It is as if the place of one's personal activity has temporarily become a place of sharing. In addition to presenting such a real-time state change, the state between workspaces is updated based on the state change, so that the state of the related workspaces can be synchronized and a virtual shared work can be performed. Space is realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a workspace according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hierarchical structure between workspaces according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a snap according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of an anchor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a user according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a workspace display screen according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a workspace collective display screen according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a related change notification rule according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an association rule according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a snap storage rule according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying a change in the state of a workspace according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when a new workspace is created according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when the anchor according to the first embodiment of the present invention is moved between workspaces.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when a workspace is switched according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a process of identifying a related workspace and detecting a state change according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram specifically illustrating an operation of specifying a related workspace according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a state change detection process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a workspace “report TR-1” opened by a user nomura.

FIG. 20: User after anchor “Contents” is copied
It is a figure which shows the workspace "report" opened by hayashi.

FIG. 21: User no for which a watch anchor was generated
Workspace opened by mura "Report TR-
FIG.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a workspace “report” opened by the user hayashi after the anchor “chapter 2 draft” is created.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a workspace “reference” of a user sekijima.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a workspace “report TR-1” opened by the user nomura after the anchor “Sekijima96” has been copied.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a display example of a state change of a workspace “report” presented by an operation by a user nomura.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when presentation of a change in the state of a workspace for a user is designated according to the first example of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating an example of a period designation window according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining specific contents of an operation when a presentation of a change in the state of a workspace relating to a user is designated according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when a display of a workspace set is instructed according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 30 is a diagram for explaining specific contents of an operation when an instruction to display a workspace set is issued according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a configuration diagram of an information processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of connection client information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a workspace according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 34 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of an anchor according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a relation according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart illustrating processing when a client according to the second embodiment of the present invention is started.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart illustrating relation generation processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 38 is a flowchart illustrating a state change presentation process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 39 is a flowchart illustrating a state synchronization process between workspaces according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 40 is a diagram illustrating state synchronization between workspaces according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 41 is a diagram showing a window for selecting a notification user according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Server, 2 ... History holding part, 3 ... Change detection part, 4 ... Network, 5 ... Client, 6 ... Input / output part, 7 ... Workspace holding part , 8: Notification rule storage unit, 9: Association definition and storage rule storage unit, 10: Operation monitoring unit, 11
... Change presenting unit 12 Operation monitoring unit 13
..Relationship storage unit, 14... Change calculation unit,

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus comprising a plurality of workspaces for holding data objects in a processable manner, wherein a status history holding means for holding status information of the data objects held by the workspace as a history in association with the workspace. A storage unit that stores related information that associates workspaces, a detection unit that detects a change in the state of a workspace based on the state information, and a monitoring unit that monitors a user operation on the information processing apparatus. Based on detection of a predetermined operation set to present a change in the state of the workspace to be performed by the monitoring unit, the operation of the other workspace associated with the workspace to be operated by the relevant information is performed. Presentation for presenting the state change to the user who performed the operation The information processing apparatus characterized by comprising: a stage, a. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a predetermined operation set for associating the workspaces is detected by the monitoring unit.
An information processing apparatus, comprising: storage means for storing related information for associating corresponding workspaces with each other in a relation holding means. 3. An information processing apparatus having a workspace for holding a data object so that it can be processed, wherein a state history holding means for holding a history of state information relating to a state of the workspace; Detecting means for detecting a user operation on the information processing apparatus; anda detecting means for detecting a predetermined operation set to present a change in the state of the workspace, based on detection by the monitoring means. An information processing apparatus comprising: a presentation unit configured to present the state change of the workspace specified by the operation to a user who has performed the operation. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the state history holding unit holds the state information in association with an ID of a user who has used a workspace, and Information about the current state of the space,
An information processing apparatus for presenting a state change detected based on the latest state information in state information associated with an ID of a user who has performed the operation. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the state history holding unit holds the state information in association with an ID of a user who has used a workspace, and The state change detected by the latest state information in the state information associated with the user ID of the user and the state information at the time when the same ID as the state information is associated and specified by the operation. An information processing device characterized by presenting. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the information processing apparatus includes a plurality of workspaces, and the history information holding unit includes a storage unit that stores the status information. An information processing apparatus, wherein information is held in association with a workspace, and the presenting unit presents a state change based on state information associated with a workspace specified by an operation. 7. An information processing apparatus for simultaneously providing a plurality of workspaces for holding a data object in a processable manner to a plurality of users, wherein state information of the data object held in the workspace is associated with the workspace as a history. State history holding means for holding, related holding means for holding related information for associating workspaces with each other, detecting means for detecting a state change of the workspace based on the state information, and detecting the state change of the workspace by the detecting means Presenting means for presenting the state change to a user who operates another workspace associated with the workspace in which the state has been changed by the related information based on the detected state change. Characteristic information processing device. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein an operation is performed based on state information of data objects held by the plurality of workspaces associated with the related information, and the states of the workspaces are synchronized. State information calculating means for generating new state information to be caused, wherein the presenting means, when the detecting means detects a change in the state of the workspace, with respect to another workspace associated with the workspace. An information processing apparatus for generating the new information with a workspace in which a state change is detected, and updating the state information of the other workspace. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a monitoring means for monitoring a user's operation on a plurality of workspaces used simultaneously, and a user for selecting a user of the workspace for presenting a status change. Selecting means, wherein the presenting means notifies the user of a change in the state of another workspace only when the user detected by the monitoring means matches the user selected by the selecting means. Characteristic information processing device.