JPH1173459A - Work flow management system and method for operating document management - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently execute document management operation on the client side by using a graphical user interface for managing connection between a task to be a unit of work flow working and a document to be worked. SOLUTION: A document adding/deleting module 121a is included in work flow client software 121 and a document adding operation picture including two windows, i.e., a task table window and an added document table window, is displayed by the module 121a. Task structure and connecting relation with a document are also displayed on the task table window in addition to a task table. When a user selects a document and a task to be mutually connected on the document adding operation picture, connection between the document and task is automatically executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a client-server type workflow management system for supporting a flow of a series of work necessary for business processing and information transfer necessary for the work, and a document management used in the system. Regarding the operation method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in offices and business offices, the introduction of groupware for exchanging and sharing information between individuals and groups using a computer network has been promoted. By using this groupware, the productivity of groups and individuals can be significantly increased.

A typical groupware is a workflow management system. This workflow management system supports the execution of work by automating the flow of a series of work necessary for business processing and the transfer of information necessary for the work, and is realized as client-server type software. I have. In this case, management of individual work (tasks) and information (document) to be transferred required for business processing is performed by a server, and actual work, that is, task processing is performed in a distributed manner by each client.

[0004] In the server, in accordance with the flow definition created by the client, the connection between the task and the document and the relationship between the task and the person in charge of the task are managed. The task information included in the flow definition once created can be used as a template, and by using the task information, the flow can be easily customized.

[0005]

However, in the conventional workflow management system, an effective mechanism for managing and operating a connection between a task which is a unit of the workflow work and a document which is a work target is not provided. In addition, it has been difficult for the client to efficiently perform document management operations such as connection work and confirmation of the connection state.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and a graphical user interface (GUI) for managing and operating a connection between a task serving as a unit of a workflow work and a document serving as a work target.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a workflow management system and a document management operation method capable of efficiently performing a document management operation such as a connection work and a confirmation of a connection state on a client side by using a client.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention uses a computer network to support a flow of a series of work necessary for business processing and transfer of information necessary for the work. In the workflow management system, a task list showing a list of individual tasks for performing a series of tasks required for business processing, and a document list showing a list of documents managed by the workflow management system. And a linking unit for linking a task in the task list with a document in the document list according to an operation on the operation screen.

In this workflow management system, an operation screen including both a task list and a document list is provided to a client, and when a user selects a document and a task to be linked on the operation screen, the document and the task are displayed. The connection is automatically made. As described above, by enabling the work of linking a document and a task on the same screen, the efficiency of the work of linking can be improved. Therefore, for example, a task list used as a template is displayed on the task list, and a list of documents selected by search processing is displayed on the document list, so that documents can be easily added to template tasks. It is possible to customize the flow efficiently.

The task and the document in the task list are displayed such that the document linked to the task by the linking means is displayed on the task list in association with the corresponding task in the table. It is preferable that the apparatus further comprises means for reflecting a result of the association with the document in the list on the task list. This makes it possible to more easily confirm the connection state between the task and the document.

[0010] Furthermore, it is preferable that the state of connection of a document to a task is reflected on its child tasks by utilizing the property of inheritance of the object-oriented model. This means determines whether or not the task specified as the link destination of the document in the operation on the operation screen includes a child task that inherits the attribute. If the child task is included, the child task This can be realized by further providing means for linking the same document to each other.

It is more preferable to display not only the task list but also the hierarchical relation of the tasks and the relation between the tasks and the documents in the task list at the same time. This makes it possible to confirm information on a plurality of items at once in one list.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a workflow management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This workflow management system uses a computer network to automate the flow of a series of work necessary for business processing and the transfer of information such as documents necessary for the work, and to support the execution of the work,
The workflow management server software 111 executed on the server computer 11 and the workflow clients executed on the respective client computers 12-1, 12-2,..., 12-N connected to the server computer 11 via the LAN 10 Software 1
21.

Workflow management server software 11
1 provides task information indicating the content of work to the workflow client software 121 corresponding to each person in charge according to the work progress procedure defined as a workflow, and a work screen or program execution required for each task processing. It controls and provides documents, and also manages the progress of each task process.

Workflow management server software 11
The management of tasks, documents, persons in charge, and the correspondence between them by the workflow database 1
12 is performed using the management information stored in the storage unit 12. As a result, a plurality of documents and persons in charge are managed in association with each other for each flow definition, and at the same time, management of a connection between a task which is a work unit of each workflow and a document required for processing the task is performed. In this case, each task constituting the flow is realized as an object of the object-oriented model, and the relation between the tasks is defined by the dependency between the objects.

The entity of information such as a document is stored in a repository file 113, and a document to be distributed to a client according to work progress is read out from the repository file 113 and provided to a corresponding client. .

The client computers 12-1 and 12
,..., 12-N execute workflow definitions, execute task processing specified by task information acquired from the workflow management server software 111, and the like. The workflow client software 121 includes an API (Application) provided by the workflow management server software 111.
Tion Program Interface) 12
2 provides various functions such as the above-described flow definition, task processing, task list display, and flow display.

Each task is created in accordance with the flow of information such as receiving a document, creating a new document while referring to the document, and passing it to the next person in charge. When the task list display function is started, the person in charge, that is, the workflow client software 12
Among the tasks assigned to one user, task information indicating a processable task is obtained from the workflow management server software 111, and is displayed in a list on the task list screen. When a user selects a task to be processed on the task list screen, the workflow management server software 111 provides the workflow client software 121 with a program execution environment and documents required for the task processing.

When the flow definition function is activated, a flow definition screen for performing a flow definition operation is displayed.
On this screen, an existing flow definition managed by the workflow management server software 111 can be called, and each task included therein can be used as a template when creating a new flow definition. In this flow definition process, a document managed by the workflow management server software 111 can be added to or deleted from a task. This document addition / deletion processing is executed by the document addition / deletion module 121a incorporated in the workflow client software 121.

That is, the document addition / deletion module 121a is provided to enable the task of linking a task and a document to be executed efficiently using a graphical user interface, and is called on the task definition screen. A work screen including a list of tasks included in the specified flow definition and a list of documents managed by the workflow management server software 111 is displayed. In the task list, not only the task list, but also the hierarchical relation of the tasks and the relation between the tasks and the documents are displayed at the same time. When the user selects a document and a task to be linked on the operation screen, the link between the document and the task is performed by the document addition / deletion module 121a.

In the linking process, by using the property of inheritance of the object-oriented model, the linking state of the document to the task is also reflected on the child task that inherits the attribute. Therefore, when a document is linked to a parent task, the document is automatically linked to each child task.
The result of the connection is reflected on the workflow management server software 111 and also on the display of the task list.

Next, a task management function of the workflow management server software 111 will be described with reference to FIG. Workflow management server software 11
Reference numeral 1 denotes a task management unit 201 that manages tasks according to a workflow definition and the like, and a document management unit 202 that manages documents such as text, graphics, and images necessary for the processing for each task. The task management by the task management unit 201 is performed using the task management information 112a in the workflow database 112.

As shown in the figure, the task management information 112a contains task I
D and the document ID are managed in association with each other, and child task information indicating dependency between tasks is managed as attribute information of each task ID. The child task information of a task having a child task includes the task I of the child task.
D is registered.

Workflow client software 1
When there is a flow definition call request from the client 21, the task management unit 201 converts the definition information of the corresponding flow into the task management information 112 based on the flow name included in the call request.
a and retrieves the search result as a response to the inquiry.
Return to.

When there is a request from the workflow client software 121 to update the link relationship between a task and a document, the task management unit 201 updates the corresponding flow definition information according to the link relationship information included in the update request.

As described above, since each task is realized as an object including a procedure and data, an object ID for identifying the object is used as the task ID.

Next, a functional configuration of the workflow client software 121 will be described with reference to FIG. The workflow client software 121 includes, in addition to the above-described document addition / deletion module 121a,
A flow definition module 121b as a caller of the document addition / deletion function, a task list display module 121c for displaying a task list screen, a task processing module 121d for processing a task selected on the task list screen, and the like. Is incorporated.

The modules 121a to 121d communicate with the workflow management server software 111 using the API 122 described above. These modules 121a to 121d are provided by a GUI (Graphical).
In cooperation with the User Interface (121), it receives an operation instruction from a user and provides necessary information to the user. Each module 121a-12
The function 1d is executed by receiving an operation instruction message from the API 122 or the GUI 121e.

FIG. 4 shows a flow definition module 121b.
An example of the flow definition screen displayed by the above is shown. FIG. 4A is an initial screen of the flow definition screen immediately after the flow definition module 121b is started, and is composed of a toolbar, a status bar, and a menu bar. When the flow definition to be referred to is called from “File” on the menu bar, as shown in FIG.
A window 1 showing the flow definition is displayed. Here, “TASK1” → “TASK2” → “TASK
3 shows an example in which a flow definition for a certain job composed of “3” is called. In addition, "TASK
The symbol “+” added to “2” means that the task includes a child task.

When a document addition function is selected from "Document" on the menu bar of FIG. 4B, the document addition / deletion module 121a is called, and the document addition operation screen of FIG. 5 is displayed.

As shown in FIG. 5, on the document addition operation screen, an addition destination task list window showing a list of addition destination tasks and a document list window showing a list of documents are displayed.

In the addition destination task list window, a list of tasks belonging to the flow definition called on the flow definition screen is displayed. Here, a flow definition having a hierarchical structure in which the parent task is “all tasks in the template” and its child tasks are “charge A”, “cost check A”, “charge B”, and “cost check A” is called. Is shown. This hierarchical structure is displayed using a tree format as shown.

In the document list window, a list of documents that are candidates for addition among the documents managed by the workflow management server software 111 are displayed. The document of the addition candidate is searched according to the search condition input in the search condition field.

When the user selects a document to be added and a task to be added from the document list window and the addition task list window, respectively, and operates a link button of a “>” symbol between the windows,
The documents and tasks are linked. In FIG. 5, two documents, “transportation claim form” and “payment report”, are selected from the document list window, and the “payment processing” task is selected as the addition destination task from the addition destination task list window. The case is shown. In this case, the two documents “transportation claim form” and “payment report” are linked to the “payment processing” task, and the result of the linking is “payment processing” in the destination task list window as shown in the figure. It is presented to the user by displaying two documents, a “transportation claim form” and a “payment report”, in association with each other under the task. As a result, in addition to the information on the task list and its task structure, information on the connection between the document and the task is additionally displayed in the addition destination task list window. Can be confirmed.

In FIG. 6, the document "cost list" is selected from the document list window, and the parent task "all tasks in the template" is selected from the addition destination task list window. The state performed is shown. In this case, the document "cost list" is linked to all child tasks as shown. By performing task-document association processing using task dependencies in this way, the association work that had to be performed for each individual child task can be completed with only one operation to the parent task Becomes possible.

Next, the procedure of a document adding process by the document adding / deleting module 121a will be described with reference to FIGS. The flowchart in FIG. 7 shows the flow of the entire document adding process.

That is, when the user selects the execution of the document addition function from the flow definition screen, the document addition / deletion module 121a is activated, and first, the document addition operation screen described with reference to FIG. 5 is displayed (step). S101). In this case, a list of tasks belonging to the flow definition called on the flow definition screen is displayed in the addition destination task list window of the document addition operation screen.

Next, a document search process is performed according to a document search condition specified by the user on the document addition operation screen (step S102).
In this document search process, a search request including a specified search condition is issued from the client software 121 to the server software 111, and the server software 1
11 is performed by retrieving list information of documents matching the retrieval condition and replying to the client software 121. The document list information acquired from the server software 111 is displayed on the document list window (Step S103).

Next, the document is linked to the task in accordance with the user operation performed on the document addition operation screen (step S104). FIG. 8 shows the details of the document-task linking process.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, in the document-task linking process, first, the document ID of the document selected from the document list window is obtained (step S201).
Next, the object ID of the addition destination task selected from the addition destination task list window is obtained (step S).
202).

Next, a task to be actually linked with a document is selected based on the object ID of the task (step S203). In this task selection process, the child task information about the task specified by the user as the destination task is stored in the server software 111.
And the hierarchical structure of the task is examined based on the child task information. Then, for a task having no child task, the document linking process is directly performed, and for a task having a child task, the document linking process is performed for all of the child tasks.

In this case, considering the actual task structure in the object-oriented model, only the lowest-level task object contains the substance of the procedure necessary for task processing. Has no substance of the procedure. Therefore, the process of linking a document to a task may actually be performed on the lowest-level task object.

For example, assuming a three-layer task structure as shown in FIG. 9, the actual procedures required for task processing are included in “child task 1”, “child task 2”, They are “grandchild task 1” and “grandchild task 2”, and “parent task” and “child task 3” do not include the substance of the procedure. That is, the procedures assigned to the “parent task” are “child task 1”, “child task 2”,
In addition, the procedure of "child task 3" is executed in a distributed manner, and the procedure of "child task 3" is executed in a distributed manner in the procedures of its child tasks, "grandchild task 1" and "grandchild task 2." Therefore, when the user specifies “parent task” as a destination to which a document is to be added, the document includes “child task 1”, “child task 2”, “grandchild task 1”, and “grandchild” including the substance of the procedure. It only needs to be linked to "task 2". FIG. 10 shows an example of the procedure of the task selection processing of such a connection target.

That is, first, based on the child task information on the task designated as the addition destination task by the user, it is checked whether or not the task has a child task (step S301). If there is, a search for each child task is performed (step S302), and it is determined whether or not each child task further has a child task, and a search for the child task is performed (step S303, step S303). S304). In this way, the structure of tasks is examined in order from the upper side to the lower side, and tasks without child tasks at the lower level, that is, each child task located at the lowest level are selected as tasks to be linked, and The documents are linked (step S305).

Note that even if a document is linked to a task having no substance of the procedure, no problem will be caused by this. For example, when the user specifies the “parent task” in FIG. The document may be linked to all lower-layer tasks, that is, “child task 1”, “child task 2”, “child task 3”, “grandchild task 1”, and “grandchild task 2”. An important point is that a document linked to a parent task is automatically linked to a child task of a lower layer, so that document management operations can be performed collectively.

Next, in step S204 of FIG. 8, the result of linking each selected task with a document is reflected on the server. Here, the associated task I
The connection relationship information indicating the combination of D and the document ID is stored in the workflow client software 121.
, And sent to the workflow management server software 111 as a binding relationship update request. Task management unit 201 of workflow management server software 111
Updates the corresponding flow definition information according to the connection relation information included in the update request.

Thereafter, on the client side, the contents of the addition destination task list window are updated, and the result of the document addition is reflected on the addition destination task list window (step S205).

As described above, in the workflow management system of the present embodiment, the task and the document are linked by the GUI operation using the document addition operation screen including the task list window and the addition destination document list window. Work can be performed efficiently. In addition, in the addition destination document list window, not only the task list, but also the hierarchical relation of tasks and the relation of connection between each task and the document are displayed at the same time. Can be checked at once.

Further, by utilizing the property of inheritance of the object-oriented model, the connection state of a document with respect to a task is also reflected in its child tasks. Can be done.

The workflow client software 121 and the workflow management server software 1
11 can be recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and distributed independently or together.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By using a graphical user interface (GUI) for managing and linking the tasks that are the units of workflow work and the documents that are the work objects, document management operations such as linking work and confirmation of the linking state can be performed on the client side. It can be performed efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a client-server type workflow management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a server used in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of each client used in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a flow definition screen displayed on each client of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of a document addition operation screen displayed on each client of the system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view showing a state of a linking process performed on the document addition operation screen of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary flowchart showing the procedure of a document adding process executed by each client of the system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a document-task association process performed during the document addition process of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a hierarchical structure of tasks used in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a task selection process performed during the document-task association process of FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 LAN 11 Server computer 12-1, 12-2, 12-N Client computer 111 Workflow management server software 112 Workflow database 112a Task management information 113 Repository file 121 Workflow client software 121a Document addition / Delete module 121b Flow definition module 121c Task list display module 121d Task processing module 121e GUI 122 API 201 Task management unit 202 Document management unit

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. Using a computer network,
A task list showing a list of individual tasks for performing a series of tasks required for business processing in a workflow management system that supports a flow of a series of tasks required for business processing and information transfer necessary for the tasks. Means for displaying an operation screen including a document list showing a list of documents managed by the workflow management system; and a task in the task list and a document in the document list according to an operation on the operation screen. And a linking means for linking the document with the document. 2. The task in the task list and the document so that the document linked to the task by the linking means is displayed on the task list in association with the corresponding task in the table. 2. The workflow management system according to claim 1, further comprising means for reflecting a result of association with a document in the list on the task list. 3. The linking unit includes: a unit that determines whether a task specified as a link destination of a document by an operation on the operation screen includes a child task that inherits its attribute, and a child task. 2. The workflow management system according to claim 1, further comprising means for linking the same document to each of the child tasks when the task is performed. 4. An individual task for performing a series of tasks required for business processing is realized as an object of an object-oriented model, and the means for displaying the operation screen includes a subordinate relationship between a plurality of task objects. 2. The workflow management system according to claim 1, wherein the individual tasks are displayed in a tree structure on the task list according to the following. 5. Using a computer network,
In a workflow management system that supports the flow of a series of tasks required for business processing and the transfer of documents required for the tasks, individual tasks for performing the series of tasks required for business processing and the processing of those tasks Flow definition means for defining a connection with a document necessary for the task, a task list showing a list of individual tasks belonging to a predetermined flow defined by the flow definition means, and a document managed by the workflow management system Means for displaying an operation screen including a document list showing a list of documents, and means for adding and linking a document in the document list to a task in the task list according to an operation on the operation screen. A workflow management system characterized in that: 6. Using a computer network,
In a workflow management system that supports the flow of a series of tasks required for business processing and the transfer of documents required for the tasks, each task for performing a series of tasks required for business processing is an object of an object-oriented model. A workflow management system, comprising: a means for displaying, in a task list showing a list of the individual tasks, a hierarchical relationship between the individual tasks and a relation of association with a document. 7. Using a computer network,
A document management operation method used in a workflow management system that supports the flow of a series of work necessary for business processing and the transfer of documents necessary for the work, and is a method for performing a series of work required for business processing. An operation screen including a task list showing a list of individual tasks and a document list showing a list of documents managed by the workflow management system is displayed. In the task list according to the operation on the operation screen, A document management operation method for performing a linking process between the task of (1) and documents in the document list. 8. The task and the document in the task list so that the document linked to the task by the linking process is displayed on the task list in association with the corresponding task in the table. 8. The document management operation method according to claim 7, wherein a result of association with a document in the list is reflected on the task list. 9. When performing the linking process, it is determined whether or not a task specified as a linking destination of a document by an operation on the operation screen includes a child task that inherits its attribute, and the child task is included. 8. The document management operation method according to claim 7, wherein the same document is linked to each of the child tasks. 10. An individual task for performing a series of tasks necessary for business processing is realized as an object of an object-oriented model, and the individual tasks are stored in the task list according to a dependency between a plurality of task objects. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the document is displayed in a tree structure on a table. 11. A recording medium on which a computer program used in a workflow management system for supporting a flow of a series of work necessary for business processing and a delivery of a document necessary for the work using a computer network is recorded. The computer program includes a task list showing a list of individual tasks for performing a series of tasks necessary for business processing, and a document list showing a list of documents managed by the workflow management system. And a procedure for performing a linking process between the tasks in the task list and the documents in the document list according to an operation on the operation screen. Recording medium. 12. The computer program according to claim 1, wherein the document linked to the task by the linking process is displayed on the task list in association with a corresponding task in the task list. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: reflecting a result of the association between the task and the document in the document list on the task list.
2. The recording medium according to 1. 13. The computer program, when performing the association process, determines whether a task specified as an association destination of a document by an operation on the operation screen includes a child task that inherits its attribute. The recording medium according to claim 11, further comprising: a procedure; and, when a child task is included, a step of linking the same document to each of the child tasks. 14. An individual task for performing a series of tasks necessary for business processing is realized as an object of an object-oriented model, and the computer program executes the individual tasks according to a dependency between a plurality of task objects. The recording medium according to claim 11, further comprising a step of displaying tasks in a tree structure on the task list.