JP2006244423A - Community management system, mail server, and community management device, method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a community management system using only a client machine for forming an information sharing space, and to provide a mail server and a community management device, a community management method and a program. <P>SOLUTION: Among community management devices 1, 4, and 5 which participate in a community, community attribute information and community sharing information are held by using e-mail. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a community management system, a mail server, a community management device, a community management method, and a program that can form a space for sharing information only by a client machine.

  When sharing information in a “closed” community with limited members, such as projects and teams in business, there is a method of centrally managing the community with a center server represented by groupware.

  However, users who could not access the center server because they could not go through the firewall could not join the community.

  In order to solve this, Patent Document 1 proposes a method of sharing information on a peer-to-peer basis. This method prepares a folder for sharing information on each computer, saves the file, stores the disclosure condition to whom each file is disclosed, and makes a search request from the target user. If there is, it is a system that provides the corresponding information, and exchanges search results including the search request and the document entity by e-mail.

  For this reason, a server for information sharing is unnecessary, and information can be shared immediately if only e-mail can be exchanged.

  However, this method only discloses information in the form of e-mail to individual users. If the same information is held and changed by each other, the changes cannot be reflected on each other. Further, it is an information sharing method for each individual user, and a community cannot be formed and information cannot be shared in the community.

  Similarly, Patent Document 2 proposes a method of synchronizing information between file management servers across a firewall, but shows a file synchronization method and cannot form a community.

  Patent Documents 3 and 4 propose a method of synchronizing shared information between local devices connected to a network. In this method, when the difference of information called delta is synchronized with other local devices, the communication manager existing in each local device determines whether or not the transmission destination can be directly connected. Send. If direct connection is not possible, a transmission process is requested to a server called a relay (hereinafter referred to as “relay server”).

  The relay server has a presence mechanism that manages whether or not the local device can communicate, and transmits a delta when the transmission destination becomes communicable. The relay server holds the delta until the destination can communicate.

  This method is an effective mechanism for synchronizing shared information within a community in near real time. However, on the other hand, a server called a relay server must be prepared, and the communication manager of each local device can send and receive data. There is a problem that the system must be managed and the system becomes complicated.

  Also, there is a problem that users who cannot access the relay server cannot participate in the community.

  Furthermore, when the relay server of this system is a mail server, the problem that the user cannot access the relay server is solved, but the delta processing is performed in the order of arrival at the communication manager. There is a problem in that the latest information cannot be held when using an e-mail in which the order of arrival and the order of actual update times may be different.

Here, the groupware which comprises the groupware system which comprises a groupware system which supports the work in the group which consists of a plurality of workers, and a plurality of personal information management systems which manage personal information about a plurality of workers, respectively, constitutes a groupware system Groupware management table that stores groupware information held by the terminal and personal information held by the personal information terminal that constitutes each personal information management system, and the groupware information is changed based on the changed personal information Provided with the synchronization management table that is referred to when the personal information terminal information is changed, the synchronization management table includes the groupware information in the groupware management table and the personal information in the personal information management table. Since the relationship is shown, match the groupware information and personal information. It has been proposed techniques that can (e.g., see Patent Document 5).
JP 2002-229836 A JP 2002-149465 A Special table 2003-536123 gazette Special table 2003-505760 gazette JP 2000-148691 A

  However, the conventional example described above has the following problems.

  When sharing information in a “closed” community with limited members, such as projects and teams in business, there is a method of centrally managing the community with a center server represented by groupware. Users who cannot access the center server for reasons such as not being able to cross the network could not join the community.

  In addition, a center server has to be prepared for sharing information, and when a server is not prepared, it is difficult to form a community in an ad hoc manner.

  In addition, there is a system that creates a community and shares information using peer-to-peer technology between clients without preparing a center server to share information, but it also participates peer-to-peer Because members must be able to connect, users who could not communicate with each other because they could not cross the firewall could not join the community.

  As another means, it is conceivable to use a mailing list in order to share information with the community across the network wall. However, the mailing list is a means for managing members of the community and delivering information. The information was not managed by the same model, and the same information could not be referenced in the same way among members.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a community management system and a mail that can form a space where only client machines can share information by holding community attribute information and community shared information using e-mail between client machines participating in the community. It is an object to provide a server, a community management device, a community management method, and a program.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a community management system including a community management device and a mail server connected via a network, and the community management devices participating in the community use an email to communicate with the community. A community management system characterized by holding attribute information and community shared information.

  The invention according to claim 2 is a community management system including a community management device connected via a network and a mail server, wherein the community management device includes a community information DB for managing the community, and a community. It has a shared information DB for managing shared information, a dedicated mail address is allocated, mail transmission / reception means for exchanging only messages to the own machine, community information, and community shared information are changed and referenced A community management system comprising user interface means.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mail server characterized in that community attribute information and community shared information are held between community management devices participating in a community using electronic mail.

  The invention described in claim 4 is a community management apparatus characterized in that community attribute information and community sharing information are held between community management apparatuses participating in a community using electronic mail.

  The invention according to claim 5 has a community information DB for managing a community and a shared information DB for managing information shared by the community, and a dedicated e-mail address is allocated to exchange only messages to the own device. A community management device comprising: mail transmission / reception means; and user interface means for changing and referring to community information and community shared information.

  The invention according to claim 6 is a community management method using a community management device and a mail server connected via a network, and the community management devices participating in the community use electronic mail. A community management method characterized by holding community attribute information and community shared information.

  The invention according to claim 7 is a community management method including a community management device connected via a network and a mail server, a community information DB for managing the community, and information shared by the community A community management device having a shared information DB for managing a message, a dedicated mail address is allocated by the mail transmitting / receiving means, and only a message to the own device is exchanged; community information by the user interface means, and community shared information And a step of changing and referring to the community management method.

  The invention according to claim 8 holds community attribute information and community shared information using e-mail between community management devices participating in a community, and a community management device connected via a network and a mail server. This program is characterized by causing a process to be executed.

  The invention according to claim 9 is directed to a community information DB that manages a community, a community management device that includes a shared information DB that manages information shared by the community, and a mail server connected via a network. A dedicated e-mail address is allocated by the transmission / reception means, and the steps of exchanging only messages to the own device and the step of changing and referring to community information and community shared information by the user interface means are performed. It is a program to do.

  According to the community management system, mail server, community management device, community management method, and program of the present invention, a space for sharing information can be formed only by client machines.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Referring to FIG. 1, the community management system in the present embodiment includes a community management device 1 that operates on a terminal device such as a personal computer and a mail server 2 that can be accessed by the community management device 1.

  The community management device 1 includes a user interface 1-1 that controls a user interface for community operation with respect to the community management device 1, a community management unit 1-2 that receives community operation commands and changes community information, and community information among community information. Shared information management unit 1-7 for changing shared information to be managed, a community operation command is sent to other members in a mail format, and a mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 for receiving mails from other members, community information A community information DB 1-6 that is a storage device for managing and a shared information DB 1-8 that is a storage device for managing the shared information are provided.

  The community management DB 1-6 is a DB that manages a community list in which the community management device 1 participates and a list of members that participate in the community.

  The shared information DB 1-8 is a DB that manages a list of shared information held by the community managed by the community management device 1.

  The community management device 4 and the community management device 6 have the same configuration as the community management device 1.

  Each community management device can access the mail server 3 to the mail server 5.

  The mail server 2 delivers the mail to the designated mail address according to the request from the mail sending / receiving unit 1-5, and holds the mail delivered from the other mail server to the mail sending / receiving unit 1-5. Then, the mail held in response to the acquisition request of the mail transmitting / receiving unit 1 is returned. Similarly, the mail servers 3 and 5 perform mail processing for the community management devices 4 and 6.

  Next, the processing operation in the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG.

  The start of the operation of the system (step A01 in FIG. 2) is when the user operates community information or information shared by the community on the user interface 1-1 of the community management device 1. This is when the mail transmitting / receiving unit 1-5 receives a community operation command from another community management device from the mail server 2.

  The mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 acquires a mail from the mail server 2 periodically or in response to a request from the community management unit 1-2.

  FIG. 3 is an example in which a user interface is embodied.

  B1 has a menu command for operating the community information, and B2 displays a list of participating communities.

  Only one community can be selected in B2, B3 displays a list of files shared by the community selected in B2, and B4 displays a list of participants in the community selected in B2.

  The operation is started when the user of the user interface 1-1 performs an operation on the community with a menu command.

  FIG. 4 is an example of a community operation command received by the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5.

  The community operation command is in a mail format, the operation content is described as an email extension header (C1 in FIG. 4), and the operation data is described in the mail body (C2).

  The operation starts when the mail transmitting / receiving unit 1-5 receives this mail.

  Next, the user interface 1-1 or the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 interprets the operation content from the user or another community management device 4 and converts it into a format that can be interpreted by the community management unit 1-2. It passes to community 1-2 (step A02).

  For example, when the community management unit 1-2 understands the operation command and necessary information in the XML format, the user interface 1-1 and the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 convert the operation content to the XML format and convert the community management unit Pass to 1-2.

  FIG. 5 is an example of a community operation command interpreted by the community management unit 1-2. D1 indicates an operation command, D2 indicates information accompanying the operation command, and D3 indicates the operation content described in the extension header of the mail.

  Identification information such as a community identifier, a user identifier, and a shared information identifier in the information of D2 is a character string that is globally unique. For example, a combination of the MAC address of the network adapter and time as shown in FIG. And

  Note that only one user identifier (hereinafter referred to as “user ID”) is assigned to each community management device, and does not change after being set at the first activation.

  Upon receiving the community operation command, the community management unit 1-2 first determines whether or not the community information is changed (step A03). The change of community information indicates an operation accompanied by change of community or member information.

  In the example of FIG. 5, No1 to No5, No9, and No10 are applicable.

  In the case of changing community information, the community management unit 1-2 changes the contents of the community information DB 1-6 (step A04).

  7, 8 and 9 are data model examples of the community information DB 1-6.

  7 is a community management table for managing a community list in which the client 1 participates, FIG. 8 is a user management table for managing a user list, and FIG. 9 is a member management table for managing a user list participating in a community. .

  The community management unit 1-2 changes these tables based on the community operation command.

  For example, when a community is newly generated, a community identifier (hereinafter referred to as “community ID”) is generated and added to the community management table of FIG. 7 together with community attributes such as a community name (E1).

  Further, in order to add itself (community management apparatus 1) as a member of the community, the user ID (E2) is acquired from the user management table of FIG. 8 and registered in the member management table of FIG.

  The user management table manages all members participating in the community managed by the community management table.

  If the community information is not changed, the community management unit 1-2 determines whether the community operation command is a change of the shared information (step A05). The change of shared information indicates an operation accompanied by a change of shared information managed by the community.

  In the example of FIG. 5, No6-8 and No11 are applicable.

  In the case of changing the shared information, the community management unit 1-2 passes the community operation command as it is to the shared information management unit 1-7, and the shared information management unit 1-7 changes the contents of the shared information DB 1-7 (step) A06).

  FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 show examples of data models necessary for document management managed by the shared information DB 1-8 assuming a document as shared information.

  FIG. 10 is a shared information entity management table for managing the entity of information shared by the client 1, and FIG. 11 is a community shared information management table for managing shared information in the community.

  The shared information management unit 1-7 changes these tables based on the community operation command. For example, when information is newly registered in the community, a shared information identifier (hereinafter referred to as “shared information ID”) is generated and added to the shared information management table in FIG. 10 together with shared information attributes such as a file entity path. (F1). Further, the shared information ID is added to the parent-child management table of FIG. 11 to the community ID in which the document is to be registered (F2).

  The parent-child relationship of the shared documents in the community is indicated by an XML structure.

  If neither the community information nor the shared information is changed, the operation command is invalid and the process ends (step A10).

  Next, when community information change or shared information change is made, it is determined whether or not the change is transmitted to other members (step A07).

  First, since the operation command issued by the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 is information transmitted from another member, there is no need to transmit it from the community management device 1 to another member again.

  Next, among the operation commands issued by the user interface 1-1, the change of the community information DB 1-6 and the shared information DB 1-8 for the community where the participating member exists needs to be transmitted to other members.

  The target operation examples are indicated by circled numbers in Table D4 of FIG.

  When it is necessary to communicate to other members, the community management unit 1-2 passes a community operation command to the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5, and the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 converts the message into a mail format to create a message ( Step A08).

  If there is no need to communicate to other members, the process ends (step A10).

  The message format is the same as the received message (FIG. 4).

  The community management unit 1-2 searches the member management table of FIG. 9 from the community information DB 1-6 and passes the transmission destination to the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5. Do not include yourself in the destination. The entity of shared information is passed in the URL format.

  When the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 creates a message, the necessary information shown by D3 in FIG. 5 is added to the body of the message in XML format according to the operation command. The entity of the shared information (for example, a document file) is acquired based on the URL passed from the community management unit 1-2, and is added in the form of an email attachment file.

  After creating the message, the mail transmitting / receiving unit 1-5 transmits the message to the mail server 2 (step A09) and ends (step A10).

  Next, consider that the same community information is simultaneously changed by a plurality of community management devices.

  At this time, as a first problem, if the same processing is performed in the user interface 1-1 before the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 processes the operation command arriving at the mail server 2, the received operation command is changed. This means that the latest information will not be retained. This is because the operation command arriving at the mail server 2 is a model in which the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 acquires and processes at an arbitrary timing, so that the processing is not immediately performed when the operation command arrives. .

  As a second problem, when a past operation command arrives at the mail server due to a delivery delay in the middle between mail servers, the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 processes the operation command. This information is not retained.

  The operation steps for solving the first problem are shown in FIG.

  This operation step starts when an operation is performed on the user interface 1-1 and an operation command arrives at the community management unit 1-2 (step G1).

  Next, the community management unit 1-2 requests the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 to check whether there is any processing accumulated in the mail server 2 (step G2).

  The mail transmitting / receiving unit 1-5 attempts to receive mail from the mail server 2 (step G3), and if there is a mail, performs a community operation on the mail content (step G4).

  When the processing of all the acquired mails is completed, the community operation processing performed on the user interface 1-1 is performed (step G5), and the process ends.

  Thus, the operation before the operation performed on the user interface 1-1 is performed in advance, and the latest information is held.

  FIG. 13 shows operation steps for solving the second problem.

  This operation step starts when Step G4 and Step G5 in FIG. 2 are started (Step H1).

  When the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 receives a mail, it issues a community information operation command to the community management unit 1-2. At that time, the mail transmission / reception unit 1-5 extracts a DATE header that is the transmission date / time of the mail. Send to 1-2.

  When the community operation command is issued from the user interface 1-1 to the community management unit 1-2, the time when the user interface 1-1 issues the command is sent to the community management unit 1-2 (step H2).

  Next, the shared information management unit 1-7 registers the information in the community information DB 1-6 or the shared information DB 1-8 through the community management unit 1-2 or the community management unit 1-2. The transmission date and time included in the DAtE header is compared with the correction date and time added to each data in the DB (step H3).

  Each table in FIGS. 7 to 11 has a modification date column, and the modification date is registered in each information.

  As a result of the comparison, if the mail transmission date is newer than the DB modification date, the DB data is updated (step H4).

  If it is not new, the process ends without registration (step H5). As a result, the latest information at the time when the data arrives is held, and is not overwritten with old information.

  According to the above embodiment, if mail can be transmitted and received, a community can be formed and information can be shared among members. As a result, a server for information sharing and a network reachability for directly accessing other members become unnecessary. This is because mail means are used for distributing community information.

  In addition, community information can be reliably delivered even when a delivery destination member is offline. As a result, when community information is changed, special processing such as determining whether other members are online or offline and resending them becomes unnecessary. This is because the mail server plays the role of a cache.

  In addition, since community information is delivered to members, a special device other than a mail server is not required. As a result, it is sufficient for the user to prepare only the community management device in order to form a community.

  Each of the above-described embodiments is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the programs for realizing the functions of the community management device 1, community management device 4, community management device 6, mail server 2, mail server 3, and mail server 5 in the above embodiment are read by each device. A process for realizing the function of the present system may be performed by executing it. Further, the program is transmitted to another computer system by a transmission wave via a CD-ROM or a magneto-optical disk that is a computer-readable recording medium, or via the Internet or a telephone line that is a transmission medium. Also good.

  It can also be used as a system for creating a community and sharing information among a plurality of companies, individuals, government agencies, and the like. This is particularly effective when it is difficult to share information between members directly or via a server due to problems such as network reachability, server construction, and maintenance management.

It is a schematic block diagram of the community management system in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the community management processing operation | movement in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example which embodied the user interface. It is a figure which shows an example of the community operation command which a mail transmission / reception part receives. It is a figure which shows an example of the community operation command which a community management part interprets. It is a figure which shows an example, such as a community identifier, a user identifier, a shared information identifier. It is a figure which shows an example of the data model of community information DB1-6. It is a figure which shows an example of the data model of community information DB1-6. It is a figure which shows an example of the data model of community information DB1-6. It is a figure which shows an example of the data model required for the document management managed by shared information DB. It is a figure which shows an example of the data model required for the document management managed by shared information DB. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement step which solves a 1st problem. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement step which solves a 2nd problem.

Explanation of symbols

1, 4, 6 Community management device 2, 3, 5 Mail server 1-1 User interface 1-2 Community management unit 1-5 Mail transmission / reception unit 1-6 Community information DB
1-7 Shared information management unit 1-8 Shared information DB

Claims (9)

A community management system including a community management device connected via a network and a mail server,
A community management system characterized in that community attribute information and community shared information are held between community management devices participating in a community using electronic mail. A community management system including a community management device connected via a network and a mail server,
The community management device includes a community information DB for managing a community,
Has a shared information DB that manages information shared in the community,
A dedicated email address is allocated, and a mail transmission / reception means for exchanging only messages for the machine,
User interface means for changing and referring to community information and community shared information;
A community management system characterized by comprising:   A mail server characterized in that community attribute information and community shared information are held between community management devices participating in a community using electronic mail.   A community management apparatus characterized in that community attribute information and community shared information are held between community management apparatuses participating in a community using electronic mail. A community information DB for managing the community;
Has a shared information DB that manages information shared in the community,
A dedicated e-mail address is allocated and an e-mail transmission / reception means for exchanging only messages for the machine,
User interface means for changing and referring to community information and community shared information;
A community management device comprising: A community management method using a community management device connected via a network and a mail server,
A community management method characterized in that community attribute information and community shared information are held between community management devices participating in a community using electronic mail. A community management method including a community management device connected via a network and a mail server,
A community management device including a community information DB for managing a community and a shared information DB for managing information shared by the community.
A dedicated mail address is assigned by the mail sending / receiving means, and only a message to the own machine is exchanged;
Changing and referencing community information and community shared information by user interface means;
A community management method characterized by comprising: To the community management device and the mail server connected via the network,
A program for causing a community management device participating in a community to execute processing for retaining community attribute information and community shared information using e-mail. A community information DB that manages a community, a community management device that includes a shared information DB that manages information shared by the community, and a mail server connected via a network,
A dedicated mail address is assigned by the mail sending and receiving means, and only the message for the own machine is exchanged;
Changing and referencing community information and community shared information by user interface means;
A program characterized by having executed.

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