JP2010273088A - Paper document history management system - Google Patents

Abstract

Logs for printing, copying, discarding, etc. cannot be searched with high accuracy by text.
In printing, text is extracted from print data, and an identifier is written in the print data. At the time of search, a copy or discard log having the same identifier as the log that hits the search keyword is also output. Specifically, the paper document log search unit that searches log information stored in the paper document history DB based on the search condition, the output unit that outputs the searched log information, the search condition, and the output log information An input unit for inputting selection of a paper ID, and a paper document history search unit for searching log information including the selected paper ID from the paper document history DB.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for collecting logs of electronic document printing, paper document copying, discarding, etc., and retrieving these logs.

  There are many paper document leakage accidents, and countermeasures are urgently needed. As a technique for preventing leakage of a paper document, for example, as in Patent Document 1, a method of embedding identification information when printing an electronic document and tracing the distribution route of the paper document based on this identification information is known. It has been.

  Also, as in Patent Document 2, image information of the electronic document or copy that is the printing source is collected, a search index is created from the electronic document of the printing source, and OCR processing is performed on the image information of the copy. A method for making text search of a print log or a copy log by performing text extraction to perform text search is known.

Patent 3256621 JP 2007-48236

  However, even if the identification information is embedded by the method of Patent Document 1, it is not possible to detect manual take-out of a paper document. Further, when a paper document in which identification information is embedded leaks to the outside, the distribution channel cannot be grasped unless the leaked paper document is found and the identification information cannot be extracted. Therefore, if the leak itself has not been detected, or if it is no longer possible to extract identification information from the leaked material due to deterioration processing such as copying being repeated many times at the leak destination, the method of Patent Document 1 is Stops functioning.

  According to the method of Patent Document 2, even when a leaked item is not actually found, it is possible to detect a leak of a paper document by periodically searching the log with a keyword included in the electronic document. Even if a paper document is leaked, the leak source can be narrowed down by searching with a keyword included in the leaked material. However, there is a high possibility that text information cannot be correctly extracted from a copy due to misrecognition in OCR processing. In this case, the method of Patent Document 2 cannot search the copy log correctly.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention extracts text from print data and writes an identifier in the print data at the time of printing. At the time of search, a copy or disposal log with the same identifier as the log that hits the search keyword is also output, so that at the time of printing instead of text information extracted by OCR from the scanned image of the copy or waste The text information extracted from the electronic data of the printing source can be searched for a copy or disposal log with high accuracy.

  Specifically, the paper document history management system according to the present invention includes a paper ID and a text of an electronic document included in a print log output from a client PC, and an electronic document included in a copy log output from a multi-function peripheral. Extracted from at least one of the paper ID and text extracted from the image of the paper document corresponding to, the paper document included in the disposal log output from the shredder, and the copy paper document copied by the multifunction machine A paper document history DB that stores paper ID and text as log information, a paper document log search unit that searches log information stored in the paper document history DB based on search conditions, and an output unit that outputs the searched log information An input unit for inputting the selection of the paper ID from the search condition and the output log information, and a paper document history search unit for searching log information including the selected paper ID from the paper document history DB. Comprising.

  Another aspect of the present invention has a text search table that stores an index serving as a keyword and a management number of log information including the index in the text in association with each other, and the paper document log search unit is included in the search condition. When the search keyword is decomposed into words and the word obtained by the decomposition exists in the index of the text search table, the corresponding management number is acquired, and the output unit outputs log information indicated by the acquired management number. The retrieved log information.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, when the paper document history search unit searches the paper document history DB for a plurality of log information including the selected paper ID, the output unit outputs a set of a plurality of log information. Log information.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, the paper document history search unit sets the number of print logs + the number of copy logs−the number of discard logs from the set of the plurality of log information, and the output unit sets the number of papers. Output the number of copies.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, when the paper document history search unit cannot acquire log information including the selected paper ID as a result of searching from the paper document history DB, the log information corresponding to the selected paper ID is stored. Log information stored in the paper document history DB having a text similar to the text or a scan image similar to the scan image included in the log information corresponding to the selected paper ID is selected.

  Still another aspect of the present invention provides a management server including the paper document history DB, a paper document log search unit, an output unit, an input unit, and a paper document history search unit, and a paper ID assigned to the electronic document. Management server that prints as a paper document, connects to the printer, holds the electronic document to be printed, assigns a paper ID to the electronic document, outputs it to the printer, and includes the paper ID and the text of the electronic document A client PC that outputs to the MFP, a multifunction machine that outputs at least a copy of the paper document, outputs a copied copy of the paper document, and outputs a copy log including an image of the paper document assigned with the paper ID to the management server, and the paper document and A shredder that discards at least one of the copy paper documents, is given a paper ID, and outputs a discard log including an image of at least one of the discarded paper document and the copy paper document to the management server;

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, the client PC includes a paper ID generation unit that generates a paper ID that is an identifier for identifying a printed matter, and a paper ID document that gives the generated paper ID to an electronic document output to the printer. And a text extraction unit that extracts the text of the electronic document from the electronic document, and a print log registration unit that transmits a print log including the generated paper ID and the extracted text of the electronic document to the management server.

  In still another aspect of the present invention, the paper ID generation unit generates a number of paper IDs corresponding to the number of pages of the electronic document, and assigns the generated paper ID to each page of the electronic document.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, the management server includes a log acquisition unit that acquires log information of at least one of a copy log from the multifunction peripheral and a discard log from the shredder, and a paper ID from an image included in the acquired log information. A paper ID extraction unit that extracts text information, a text extraction unit that extracts text information from an image, and a log registration unit that registers log information, the extracted paper ID, and the extracted text information in the paper document history DB. .

  In still another aspect of the present invention, the paper ID extraction unit outputs that the extraction of the paper ID has failed when the paper ID cannot be extracted.

  Still another aspect of the present invention provides a printer that prints an electronic document as a paper document to which a paper ID is assigned, a printer connected to the printer, the electronic document to be printed is held, and a paper ID is assigned to the electronic document to the printer. The client PC that outputs and outputs the print log including the paper ID and the text of the electronic document, and at least copies the paper document, outputs the copied copy paper document, and includes the image of the paper document assigned with the paper ID A shredder that outputs a disposal log that includes a multifunction peripheral that outputs a copy log, and discards at least one of a paper document and a copy paper document, is assigned a paper ID, and includes at least one image of the discarded paper document and the copy paper document And the paper ID and text of the electronic document included in the print log output from the client PC, the paper ID and text extracted from the image of the paper document included in the copy log output from the MFP, and And a management server that registers the paper ID and text extracted from at least one of the paper document and the copy paper document included in the discard log output from the shredder as log information in the paper document history DB.

  In other words, the paper document history management server that manages logs related to paper documents such as print logs, copy logs, and disposal logs of paper documents, a client PC that holds the electronic document that is the printing source, and the electronic document A paper document history management system having a configuration in which a printer that performs printing, a multi-function device that performs copying, digitization, faxing, and the like of a paper document and a shredder that discards the paper document are connected to a network.

  Here, the client PC includes a print data conversion unit that converts an electronic document to be printed into a format suitable for printing on a printer, a paper ID generation unit that issues an identifier for identifying printed matter, and who and when A print log collection unit that collects a print log such as whether an electronic document has been printed, a text extraction unit that extracts text information from print data converted from the electronic document by the print data conversion unit, and the print data A paper ID writing unit for writing the identifier issued by the paper ID generation unit is provided.

  The paper document history management server scans a paper document history DB that stores logs related to paper documents, such as print logs, copy logs, and disposal logs, and paper documents included in log information acquired from a multifunction peripheral or shredder A paper ID extracting unit for extracting an identifier from the image, and a text extracting unit for extracting text information from the image by OCR or the like.

  The paper document history DB includes a log management table that stores log information related to paper documents, an image log management table that stores images scanned from paper documents, and a text search table that stores index information for text search. A paper ID management table for managing the association between the identifier of the paper document and the log stored in the log management table.

  The paper document history search program that searches log information stored in the paper document history DB collates the text search table, extracts log information that matches the search keyword, and displays it. When the user selects a certain log from the search result, the paper document history search program further refers to the paper ID management table and extracts and displays a set of logs including the same identifier as the log information selected by the user To do. This set of logs includes not only printing but also copying logs and discarding logs.

  According to the present invention, since a copy or discard log having the same identifier (paper ID) as the log information hit in the search keyword is also output, the electronic document print log and the printed paper document copy log can be accurately recorded. You can search with

It is a figure which illustrates the whole structure of a paper document history management system. It is a figure which illustrates the structure of a client PC and a paper document history management server. It is a figure which illustrates the hardware constitutions of a paper document history management system. It is a figure which illustrates the structure of paper document history DB. It is an example of the flowchart of a paper document history DB update process. It is a figure which illustrates a paper document history search interface. It is a figure which illustrates the structure of a paper document history search program. It is an example of the flowchart of a paper document log search process. It is an example of the flowchart of a paper document history search process. It is a figure which illustrates the whole structure of the system comprised by several paper document history search system.

  An embodiment of a paper document history management system will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a paper document history management system. The paper document history management system 10 includes a paper document history management server 100 that manages print logs, copy logs, and disposal logs of paper documents, and n client PCs 102-1 to 102 that hold electronic documents to be printed. -n, p printers 103-1 to 103-p for printing electronic documents, m multifunction devices 104-1 to 104-m for copying paper documents, and disposal of paper documents The shredders 106-1 to 106-s are connected to the network 108.

  Hereinafter, the client 102 refers to any of the clients 102-1 to 102-n. The same applies to the printer 103, the multifunction machine 104, and the shredder 106.

  In this embodiment, the multifunction peripherals 104-1 to 104-m and the shredders 106-1 to 106-s collect log information including an image obtained by scanning a paper document when the paper document is copied or discarded. . Hereinafter, this image is referred to as “image log”. A shredder capable of collecting image logs is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228684.

  If there is another device (such as FAX) that can collect image logs, the paper document history management system 10 may include this. Alternatively, the multifunction device 104 may have a function of digitizing a paper document, faxing, or the like. In this case, it is assumed that the multifunction peripheral 104 can also collect these image logs.

  The multi-function peripheral 104 may have not only a copying function but also a printing function. In this case, the printers 103-1 to 103-p may be omitted.

  The paper document history management system 10 includes devices other than the paper document history management server 100, client PCs 102-1 to 102-n, and printers 103-1 to 103-p (multifunction machines 104-1 to 104-m, shredders 106-1). All or any of ˜106-s may not be provided. A case where all of the multifunction peripherals 104-1 to 104-m and the shredders 106-1 to 106-s are not provided will be described later as a second embodiment.

  When a paper document is manually transferred from another organization, the paper document history management system 10 includes client PCs 102-1 to 102-n and printers 103-1 to 103-p that store electronic documents as printing sources. You don't have to. This case will be described later as Example 3.

  Hereinafter, log information related to a paper document such as a print log, a copy log, and a discard log managed by the paper document history management server is collectively referred to as a “paper document log”.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the client PC 102 and the paper document history management server 100. The client PC 102 holds an electronic document 20 to be printed, and a print data conversion unit that converts the electronic document 20 into a format suitable for printing on the printer 103 (or the multifunction machine 104) in accordance with a print instruction from the user 2000. 200, a paper ID generation unit 202 that issues information for identifying printed matter (hereinafter referred to as “paper ID”), a print log collection unit 204 that collects print logs such as when and who printed which electronic document, A text extraction unit 206 that extracts text information from the print data; a paper ID writing unit 208 that writes a paper ID to the print data; and a paper document that associates the collected print log with the extracted text information and paper ID. A print log registration unit 210 that is registered in the history management server 100 and an output unit 212 that transmits the print data 22 to which the paper ID is added to the printer 103 (or the multifunction machine 104) are provided. The information that the print log registration unit 210 registers in the paper document history management server 100 and that associates the collected print log with the extracted text information and the paper ID may be referred to as a print log. Details of the operation of each component will be described below.

  The print data conversion unit 200 converts the electronic document 20 into print data by performing a rendering process such as converting each character code of a sentence constituting the electronic document 20 into a font. The print data has a format specific to each of the output destination printers 103-1 to 103-p. Accordingly, the print data conversion unit includes p conversion functions. The user 2000 designates the output destination printer (any one of 103-1 to 103-p). If any of the MFPs 104-1 to 104-m has a printing function, if the number is pm, the print data conversion unit has p + pm conversion functions, and the user 2000 Specify which of the p + pm devices to print.

  The paper ID generation unit 202 generates a paper ID that is unique for each page of the printed matter. For example, if the electronic document 20 is a 10-page document and 20 copies are printed, the paper ID generation unit 202 generates 10 paper IDs. Even if 200 unique paper IDs are issued for each piece of paper, not for each page, there will be multiple papers with the same paper ID after copying with the MFP 104. In order to prevent ID depletion, a unique paper ID is issued for each page. For generating a paper ID, an identifier generation function that guarantees a very low probability of generating the same identifier, such as a GUID, may be used, or a server (not shown) that issues a unique paper ID may be used. You may obtain it by inquiring.

  Note that the paper ID generation unit 202 may assign a unique ID to each printed matter instead of each page. That is, for example, when 20 copies of a 10-page electronic document are printed, 200 IDs may be generated. This case will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The print log collection unit 204 collects, as a print log, identification information of the user 2000 such as a printing time and a login user name, identification information of the client PC 102 such as an IP address and a Mac address, and information such as a file name related to the electronic document 20. To do.

  The text extraction unit 206 hooks a rendering process performed by the print data conversion unit 200, and extracts text by a method such as obtaining a character code as a rendering source from font information.

  The paper ID writing unit 208 writes the paper ID received from the paper ID generation unit 202 in the print data received from the print data conversion unit 200. The paper ID may be written in the print data as a barcode, or may be embedded in the entire paper document so as not to stand out in the form of a digital watermark. Details of the digital watermark technique are described in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 4193665.

  The print log registration unit 210 receives the print log collected by the print log collection unit 204, the text information of the print data extracted by the text extraction unit 206, and the paper ID generated by the paper ID generation unit 202 via the network 108. Register in the paper document history DB 220 of the paper document history management server 100. As described above, the information that the print log registration unit 210 registers in the paper document history management server 100 and that associates the collected print log, the extracted text information, and the paper ID may be referred to as a print log. In addition to these, the print data itself may be registered. This case will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The output unit 212 receives the paper ID-added print data 22 from the paper ID writing unit 208 and transmits the print data to the printer 103 (or the multifunction peripheral 104) designated by the user 2000. The printer 103 (or the multifunction machine 104) that has received the print data prints and outputs the paper ID-added print data 22, and the print processing is completed.

  The components 200 to 212 in the client PC 102 may be provided in a printer server (not shown) connected to the network 108. In this case, according to the print instruction of the user 2000, the electronic document 20 in the client PC 102 is transmitted to the print data conversion unit 200 of the printer server via the network 108, and the components 200 to 212 in the printer server are the same as described above. Printing is performed by performing the above operation.

  The paper document history management server 100 includes a paper document history DB 220 for storing paper document logs, and a paper document log 24 (copy log) from the multifunction peripheral 104 or the shredder 106 (or another device that can acquire another image log and connected to the network 108). Log acquisition unit 222 for acquiring a log or a disposal log), a paper ID extraction unit 224 for extracting a paper ID from an image log included in the acquired paper document log 24, and text for extracting text information by performing OCR on the image log An extraction unit 226, a log registration unit 228 that registers the acquired log, the extracted paper ID, and text information in the paper document history DB 220, and a paper document history search program 230 that searches log information stored in the paper document history DB 220. It has. Details of the operation of each component will be described below.

  The paper document history DB 220 stores text information and paper ID extracted from print data and image logs in addition to the paper document log. Similar to the print log, a copy log or a discard log, which is a paper document log, may include a text or a paper ID included in a printed matter and may be called a copy log or a discard log. The data structure of the paper document history DB 220 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The log acquisition unit 222 acquires the paper document log 24 from an apparatus capable of acquiring an image log such as the multifunction machine 104 or the shredder 106. For example, from the multifunction device 104, as a paper document log 24, information identifying the copied user such as a copy time and an IC card identifier, identification information of the multifunction device 104 such as an IP address and a Mac address, and a scanned image of a copy (Image log) is received. The paper document log 24 may be transmitted for each operation from the multifunction peripheral 104 / shredder 106, or may be collected by the log acquisition unit 222 periodically connected to the multifunction peripheral 104 / shredder 106.

  When printing is performed by the multifunction peripheral 104 instead of the printer 103, a print image log may be acquired depending on the model of the multifunction peripheral. Since the print log has already been collected by the client PC 102, the log acquisition unit 222 checks the type of the paper document log 24 when acquiring the paper document log 24, and discards the print log without registering it in the paper document history DB 220. There is a need.

  The paper ID extraction unit 224 acquires the image log from the log acquisition unit 222, and extracts the paper ID written in the image log. If the paper ID is written in the form of a barcode, it tries to read the barcode, and if it is written in the form of a digital watermark, it tries to extract the digital watermark information. If the paper ID cannot be extracted due to reasons such as copying or discarding a paper document that was not originally assigned a paper ID, or removing a barcode or watermark, information indicating that (paper ID extraction failure) Hold as extraction result.

  In the present embodiment, it is necessary to determine the paper ID writing format in advance. Alternatively, the paper ID extraction unit 224 may try a plurality of extraction methods until the paper ID can be extracted, such as first trying to read a barcode, and if not, trying to extract a digital watermark.

  The text extraction unit 226 acquires an image log from the log acquisition unit 222, extracts the text information by performing OCR on the image log. When a paper document to which a paper ID is not assigned is copied or discarded, the data of the printing source does not exist, so that the search is performed using only the text information extracted by the text extraction unit 226.

  If there is no paper document that does not have a paper ID, or if the text search of such a paper document is not performed due to low OCR reliability, the text extraction unit 226 It becomes unnecessary.

  The log registration unit 228 registers the paper document log 24 acquired by the log acquisition unit 222, the paper ID extracted by the paper ID extraction unit 224, and the text information extracted by the text extraction unit 226 in the paper document history DB 220.

  The paper document history search program 230 is a program for searching log information stored in the paper document history DB 220. Details of the search procedure will be described later with reference to FIGS. The paper document history search program 230 may be provided with hardware other than the paper document history management server 100. In this case, the paper document history search program 230 searches the paper document log by accessing the paper document history DB 220 via the network 108.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the paper document history management system 10.

  The paper document history management server 100 / client PC 102 includes a CPU 302a that performs computation, a memory 304a that temporarily stores information, a storage device 306a that stores information, a communication unit 308a that exchanges information via the network 108, a display, and the like The display unit 310a, a keyboard that accepts user operations, and an operation unit 312a such as a mouse are connected to the hub 300a.

  The MFP 104 / shredder 106 includes a CPU 302b, a memory 304b, a storage device 306b, a communication unit 308b, a display unit 310b such as a touch panel, an operation unit 312b, a scanning unit 314 that reads a paper document and generates an image log, and An operation device 316 that is indispensable for the operation of the multifunction machine 104 / shredder 106 is connected to the hub 300b. Specifically, the operation device 316 is a paper feeder, a paper tray, or the like in the case of the multifunction machine 104, and a paper shredding device in the case of the shredder 106. Note that the hardware configuration of the printer 103 is not directly related to the present invention and will not be described.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the paper document history DB. The paper document history DB 220 includes a log management table 40 that stores print logs, copy logs, and discard logs, an image log management table 42 that stores image logs, and a text search table 44 that stores index information for text search, It has a data structure such as a paper ID management table 46 for managing the relationship between the paper ID and the log stored in the log management table 40, and further includes a text search table update unit 440 for updating the text search table 44, and a paper ID management table. A paper ID management table update unit 460 to be updated is provided. Details of each table and apparatus will be described below.

  The log management table 40 includes a log management number column 400 for storing a number for identifying a stored log (hereinafter referred to as “log management number”), an operation name column 402 for indicating a user operation name such as printing or copying, and printing. File name column 404 indicating identification information of data and image log, page column 406 indicating the page number of print data and image log, paper ID column 408 for storing paper ID written on the printed matter, printed matter and copy matter It has a copy number column 410 for indicating the number of copies of the output paper, a text information column 412 for storing text information extracted from print data and image data, and the like. In addition, columns such as a time when an operation to be logged is performed, identification information of the client PC 102, the multifunction peripheral 104, the shredder 106, and the like, and user identification information may be provided.

  In the file name column 404, when the operation name column 402 is printing, the file name of the electronic document to be printed and the identification information of the print data are entered. Otherwise, the file name of the corresponding image log stored in the image log table 42 is entered. For example, the log with the log management number 400 of 1 to 3 in Fig. 4 prints 1 to 3 pages of the electronic document with the file name "bank.doc", with the paper ID 123 on the first page and the second page. The paper ID 124 means that the paper ID 125 is assigned to the third page. Further, the paper document log having the log management number 4 means that the image log having the file name “4.bmp” is stored in the image log management table 42. As described with reference to the paper ID generation unit 202 in FIG. 2, a different paper ID is assigned to each page. When the paper ID generation unit 202 generates an ID that is unique for each printed product, not for each page, the paper ID column 408 stores paper IDs for the number of copies described in the corresponding copy number column 410.

  The number of copies column 410 stores the number of output copies of printed matter and copies, or the number of copies of paper when discarded. If multiple paper documents with the same paper ID are discarded at the same time, the number of copies of the discard log can be 1 or more.

  In the text information column 412, when the operation name column 402 is printing, text information extracted from the print data is entered. Otherwise, text information extracted from the image log using OCR is entered. For example, the text information “XYZ bank is ...” of the print log with the log management number 1 means all sentences described on the first page of the electronic document “bank.doc”. On the other hand, the text information “XYZ ○○ is…” for the copy log with the log management number 4 and the text information “○ bank is…” for the discard log with the log management number 5 It means that it could not be identified correctly. In this embodiment, a search can be made using text extracted from print data instead of uncertain text extracted by OCR.

  If the paper document history management server 100 of FIG. 2 does not include the text extraction unit 226, the text information column 412 of log management numbers 4 and 5 is empty because text information is not extracted from the image log. In this case, a log when a paper document not assigned with a paper ID is copied or discarded does not hit the text search, but on the other hand, there is an advantage that a decrease in search accuracy due to erroneous recognition of OCR can be avoided.

  The image log management table 42 stores the image log itself. In FIG. 4, the image log corresponding to the log with log management number 4 in the log management table 40 is stored with the file name “4.bmp” and the image log corresponding to log management number 5 with the file name “5.bmp”. The case is illustrated. Depending on the multifunction peripheral 104 / shredder 106, when a plurality of pages are copied / discarded together, one image file having a plurality of pages in a format such as TIFF or PDF may be generated. Since the paper ID is different for each page, in this case, it is necessary to clearly indicate the page number of the image log corresponding to the extracted paper ID in the page column 406 of the log management table 40.

  Note that some electronic documents 20 may not include any text information. In preparation for such a case, the print data itself may be stored in the image log table 42 so that the print log can be visually confirmed later. In this case, the file name column 404 of the log management table 40 is print data identification information (file name, etc.) stored in the image log table 42.

  The text search table 44 includes an index column 442 for storing an index serving as a search keyword, and a log list column 444 for storing a list of log management numbers including the index in the text information. When a new paper document log is registered in the paper document history DB 220, the text search table update unit 440 is activated, and parses the text information of the paper document log into words by performing morphological analysis and the like. The text search table 44 is updated by adding the log management number of the paper document log to the log list column 444. Details of the operation flow will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The paper ID management table 46 includes a paper ID column 462 for storing a paper ID and a log list column 464 for storing a list of log management numbers of paper document logs having the paper ID as an element. When a new paper document log is registered in the paper document history DB 220, the paper ID management table update unit 460 is activated, the paper ID of the paper document log is displayed in the paper ID column 462, and the log management number of the paper document log is displayed in the log list. By adding to the column 464, the paper ID management table 44 is updated. Details of the operation flow will be described later with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is an example of a flowchart of the paper document history DB update process. Each step will be described with reference to FIGS.
(Step 500) The paper document history DB 220 receives the paper document log, text information, paper ID, and image log (or print data). Hereinafter, the text is referred to as NewText, and the paper ID is referred to as NewID.
(Step 502) The paper document history DB 220 adds a row having a new log management number NewLogNo to the log management table 40, and stores the received paper document log.
(Step 504) The paper document history DB 220 stores the received image log (or print data) in the image log table 504. If the file name of the image log is determined in step 502, the file is stored with the determined file name. Otherwise, the file name column 404 of the log management table 40 is replaced with the file name stored in the image log table 504.

Thereafter, the processes in steps 506 to 512 relating to the text search table update and the processes in steps 514 to 518 relating to the paper ID management table update are respectively performed in parallel. Alternatively, the other process may be performed after either one is performed first.
(Step 506) The text search table update unit 440 decomposes the text information NewText into words. For the decomposition, a method of performing a normalization process such as filling a new line or a blank, and performing a morphological analysis after determining a language to be used is used.

In steps 508 to 512, processing is performed for all words obtained by the decomposition. The number of words is N, and each word is P-1 to PN.
(Step 508) The text search table update unit 440 checks whether the word Pi (i = 1 to N) already exists in the index column 442 of the text search table 44. If it exists, the process jumps to step 510;
(Step 510) When the word Pi already exists in the index column 442, the text search table update unit 440 adds the log management number NewLogNo to the log list column 444 of the text search table 44.
(Step 512) If the word Pi does not exist in the index column 442, the text search table update unit 440 adds a new row, and adds the word Pi to the index column 442 and the log management number NewLogNo to the log list column 444. to add.

  When Steps 508 to 512 are applied to all the words, the processing of Steps 506 to 512 related to the text search table update ends.

On the other hand, the steps related to the paper ID management table update are as follows.
(Step 514) The paper ID management table update unit 460 checks whether the New ID already exists in the paper ID column 462 of the paper ID management table 46. If it exists, the process jumps to step 516;
(Step 516) If NewID already exists in the paper ID column 462, the paper ID management table update unit 460 adds the log management number NewLogNo to the log list column 464 of the paper ID management table 46.
(Step 518) If the New ID does not exist in the paper ID 462, the paper ID management table update unit 460 adds a new line, adds the New ID to the paper ID column 442 and the log management number NewLogNo to the log list column 464 of this line. To do.

  This completes the paper document history DB update process.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a paper document history search interface. The paper document history search program 230 has an interface 600. The interface 600 includes an area 602 in which a user specifies search conditions, an area 604 that displays a set of logs that match the search conditions, and an area 606 that illustrates the output status of a paper document related to the selected log.

  In an area 602, the user specifies a search keyword, a search target period, and a search target log. In the example shown in FIG. 6, “bank” is the search keyword, and the search target period is from January 1, 2001 0: 0: 0 to September 12, 2008 23:59:59. This means that printing, copying, or disposal is selected as the type. Note that the area 602 is an example of a search condition, and besides this, a file name, an IP address, a user name, a paper ID, and the like can also be the search condition.

  In a region 604, a set of paper document logs that match the above search conditions is displayed. In fact, looking at the log management table 40 in FIG. 4, it is understood that the paper document logs with log management numbers 1 and 5 meet the above search conditions. Details of the operation flow of the paper document log search will be described later with reference to FIG.

  When the user selects a paper document log with log management number 1, the paper output status of this log is displayed in area 606. Text information extracted from the first page of “bank.doc” is displayed in a balloon 608 for reference. Also, the balloon 610 collectively displays print, copy, and discard logs of the first page of “bank.doc”, that is, a paper document in which the paper ID 123 is written. It will be clear that one copy of the first page of the electronic document "bank.doc" has been printed, two copies of this printed matter have been copied, a total of three copies of the paper document have been discarded, and two copies are still present . Actually, since there is a log in which the paper with the paper ID 123 is copied in the log management table 40 of FIG.

  Hereinafter, a set of paper document logs having the same paper ID is referred to as “paper document history information”. The balloon 610 displays paper document history information. The operation flow for displaying the paper document history information will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

  When a text search is performed with “bank” using only OCR as in Patent Document 2, the copy log with log management number 4 is not hit from the log management table 40 of FIG. In this embodiment, by assigning a paper ID to the printed matter, it is possible to search the log for text without relying only on the text extraction result in OCR.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of the interface of the paper document history search program 230. For example, thumbnail images may be displayed in place of the icon 612 indicating the file name and the icon 614 indicating the paper ID. Further, the balloons 608 and 610 may be omitted.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the paper document history search program 230. The paper document history search program 230 includes an input unit 700 for inputting a search condition 70 as specified in the area 602 of FIG. 6, and a paper document log search unit 702 for searching for a paper document log based on the search condition 70. , A paper document history search unit 704 that searches the paper document history of the log selected by the user (not shown), a communication unit 220 that communicates with the paper document history DB 220, and a search result of the paper document log and paper document history information are displayed. Output unit 708.

  As described with reference to FIG. 2, when the paper document history search program 230 is present on hardware connected to the network 108 other than the paper document history management server 100, the communication unit 706 transmits the paper document history via the network 108. Connect to DB220.

FIG. 8 is an example of a flowchart of the paper document log search process. Each step will be described with reference to FIGS.
(Step 800) The input unit 700 receives the search condition 70 and passes it to the paper document log search unit 702.
(Step 802) The paper document log search unit 702 decomposes the search keyword included in the received search condition 70 into words P-1 to Ps. For example, when searching for “XYZ bank”, the words are “XYZ” and “bank”.

In the next step 804, processing is performed for all words Pk (k = 1 to s).
(Step 804) The paper document log search unit 702 checks whether or not the word Pk (k = 1 to s) exists in the index column 442 of the text search table 44, and if it exists, log management is performed from the corresponding log list column 444. Get a list of numbers.

When step 804 is applied to all words, the process jumps to step 806.
(Step 806) The paper document log search unit 702 narrows down log management numbers that match the search keyword from the log management number list for all the words acquired in step 804. For example, if the search keyword is “XYZ bank”, the log management numbers that match “XYZ” are 1 and 4, and the log management numbers that match “bank” are 1 and 5, both log management numbers should be obtained. The product set of is taken to be only 1.

Steps 802 to 806 are general text search operation flows. For example, “XYZ or bank” may be used as a search keyword. In this case, the management number of the log that hits the keyword is 1, 4, and 5 taking the union. Furthermore, a regular expression such as “bank *” (an arbitrary character string starting with a bank) can be used as a search keyword. In this case, the log management number that hits the keyword can be obtained by analyzing the sentence structure in the text information column 412 of each log management number 1 and 5 that matches “bank”.
(Step 808) If there is one or more log management numbers matching the search keyword in step 806, the process jumps to step 810, and if not, the process jumps to step 816.
(Step 810) The paper document log search unit 702 applies other search conditions such as a search period to the logs that match the search keywords obtained in steps 802 to 806, and narrows down the logs that match the search conditions 70.
(Step 812) If one or more logs obtained in step 810 exist, the process jumps to step 814, and if not, the process jumps to step 816.
(Step 814) The paper document log search unit 702 transmits all the paper document logs obtained in step 810 to the output unit 708. The output unit 708 displays all received paper document logs as shown in an area 604 in FIG. 6 and ends the processing.
(Step 816) The output unit 708 displays that there is no paper document log that matches the search condition 70, and ends the processing.

  If the search condition 70 does not include a search keyword, the text search is omitted and the process jumps from step 800 to step 806.

FIG. 9 is an example of a flowchart of a paper document history search process. Each step will be described with reference to FIGS.
(Step 900) A user (not shown) selects a log for searching for a paper document history from a paper document log that hits the search condition 70 via the input unit 700. Hereinafter, this log is referred to as “selection log”.
(Step 902) The paper document history search unit 704 refers to the operation name column 402 of the log management table 40 and checks the type of the selected log. If it is printing, the process jumps to step 904, and otherwise it jumps to 906.
(Step 904) The paper document history search unit 704 refers to the paper ID column 408 of the log management table 40 and identifies the paper ID of the selected log. If the selection log is a print log, the paper ID is always present. After specifying, jump to Step 908.
(Step 906) The paper document history search unit 704 refers to the paper ID column 408 of the log management table 40 and checks whether there is a paper ID of the selected log. If the paper ID exists, the process jumps to step 908, and if it does not exist or contains an invalid value, the process jumps to step 914. The latter means that the copy or waste has deteriorated and the paper ID cannot be extracted, or the ID has not been written on the paper from the beginning.
(Step 908) The paper document history search unit 704 refers to the paper ID management table 46 and specifies a paper document log having the paper ID of the selected log. This is the paper document history information to be obtained.
(Step 910) The paper document history search unit 704 calculates the number of output sheets from the paper document log included in the obtained paper document history. Specifically, the number of copies to be obtained is the number of copies of the print log + the number of copies of the copy log−the number of copies of the discard log.
(Step 912) The paper document history search unit 704 transmits the obtained paper document history information and the number of output sheets of paper to the output unit 708. The output unit 708 displays the received information as indicated by an area 606 in FIG. 6 and ends the process.
(Step 914) The output unit 708 displays only the selected log and ends the process.

  In step 906, if the paper ID extraction from the copy or discard image log has failed and there is no paper ID, the selected log is not displayed in step 914, but only the selected log. It is also possible to select similar paper document logs and display them as paper document history information. Specifically, the text information of all the logs stored in the log management table 40 is compared with the text information of the selected log, and one or more similar paper document logs are selected, so that the paper document history can be obtained. Ask. Or, if the image log corresponding to the selected log exists in the image log table 42, the image log corresponding to the selected log is compared with all the image logs stored in the image log table 42, and similar. The paper document history can also be obtained by selecting one or more paper document logs corresponding to the existing image log. For example, the “Fuzzy Hushing” technique can be used to calculate the similarity. For "Fuzzy Hushing", the number of paper document logs to be selected as disclosed in the document Jesse Kornblum: “Identifying almost identical files using context triggered piecewise hashing”, Digital Investigation 3S pp. S91-S97 (2006) is set in advance. It is determined in advance, for example, all paper document logs whose similarity is below a threshold value. However, since the paper document history information obtained in this way is a document with similar text information and scan image, and there is no guarantee that the same paper ID is assigned, the output unit 708 also displays that fact. Need to alert the user.

  As described above, by assigning a paper ID to the print data and managing the paper document log with the same paper ID in association with each other, it is possible to use the print data instead of the uncertain text extracted from the copy or discard image log by OCR. You can search by the extracted text.

  The case where the paper document history management system 10 of FIG. 1 does not include devices (all of the multifunction peripherals 104-1 to 104-m and the shredders 106-1 to 106-s) other than the paper document history management server 100 and the client PC 102 will be described. To do. In this case, the paper document history management system 10 only manages printing. Since it is not necessary to process the image log acquired by the multifunction machine 104 or the shredder 106, a paper ID is not necessary. Hereinafter, details of the present embodiment will be described while appropriately modifying FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a paper document history management system 10 of this embodiment. However, the paper document history management system 10 does not include the multifunction peripherals 104-1 to 104-m and the shredders 106-1 to 106-s. The paper document history management system 10 includes a paper document history management server 100 that manages a print log of a paper document, n client PCs 102-1 to 102-n that hold an electronic document to be printed, and an electronic document P printers 103-1 to 103-p that perform printing are connected to the network 108.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the client PC and the paper document history management server. Since this embodiment does not handle image logs, it does not include paper IDs or elements that process image logs. Specifically, the client PC 102 does not include the paper ID generation unit 202 and the paper ID writing unit 208, and the paper document history management server 100 includes a log acquisition unit 222, a paper ID extraction unit 224, a text extraction unit 226, a log The registration unit 228 is not included. The output unit 212 receives print data directly from the print data conversion unit 200.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the paper document history management system. Similar to Example 1.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the paper document history DB. Since this embodiment does not handle image logs, it does not include paper IDs or elements that process image logs. Specifically, the paper document history DB 220 does not include the image log table 42, the paper ID management table 46, and the paper ID management table update unit 460. Among the components of the log management table 40, the paper ID 408 does not exist. In the example of FIG. 4, there is no copy log or discard log with log management numbers 4 and 5.

  FIG. 5 is an example of a flowchart of the paper document history DB update process. In this embodiment, since the paper ID is not handled, there is no processing in steps 514 to 518.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a paper document history search interface. In this embodiment, since only the print log is handled, the area for selecting the log type in the area 602 for designating the search condition becomes unnecessary. Further, there is no discard log described in the area 604 for displaying the paper document log search result. As long as only the print log is handled, it is not necessary to process the history of the paper document, so the area 606 is unnecessary.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a paper document history search program. In the present embodiment, since there is no need to handle the history of paper documents, the paper document history search unit 704 becomes unnecessary.

  FIG. 8 is an example of a flowchart of the paper document log search process. The operation flow of the paper document log search process of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  By extracting text information from the print data according to the above configuration and operation flow, the print log can be searched by text.

  Paper documents that have been printed and copied in the paper document history management system 10 described in the first or second embodiment are taken to another paper document history management system to be copied and discarded. A method and apparatus for enabling retrieval of these paper document logs when documents are distributed will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a system including a plurality of paper document history search systems. The r paper document history management systems 10-1 to 10-r correspond to the paper document history management system 10 described in the first or second embodiment, and include paper document history management servers 100-1 to 100-r, respectively. . The paper document history management servers 100-1 to 100-r are connected to the network 1002. Further, a paper document history DNS server 1000 that manages connection information for accessing the paper document history management servers 100-1 to 100-r is also connected to the network 1002. Details of each component will be described below.

  The paper document history management system 10-i includes a paper document history management server 100-i, a client PC, a printer, a multifunction peripheral, a shredder, and the like (i = 1 to r). A paper document history management system for an organization that only performs printing and does not have a multifunction peripheral or a shredder is the system described in the second embodiment. Also, if there is an organization that does not perform printing and handles only paper documents that have been handed over from other organizations, this organization's paper document management system uses a client PC or printer that stores electronic documents to be printed. It does not have to be provided.

  The paper document history DNS server 1000 manages connection information such as an IP address for accessing the paper document history DB of the paper document history management servers 100-1 to 100-r. Alternatively, each of the paper document history management servers 100-1 to 100-r may hold connection information of the paper document history management servers 100-1 to 100-r belonging to another system. In this case, the paper document history DNS server 1000 is not required.

  When the paper document history management systems 10-1 to 10-r each collect paper document logs of a certain department and there is an upper organization that manages them, the network 1002 becomes an intranet managed by the upper organization. . Conversely, if each of the systems 10-1 to 10-r is managed by an independent organization such as a company, the network 1002 is the Internet.

  An operation flow for searching a log of a paper document distributed across systems will be described with reference to FIGS. Hereinafter, the paper document history DB belonging to the paper document history management server 100-i is referred to as a paper document history DB-i (i = 1 to r). A case will be described in which a paper document log or paper document history information corresponding to a search condition is searched from a certain paper document history DB-k (k = 1 to r).

  FIG. 8 is an example of a flowchart of the paper document log search process of the present embodiment. In step 804 of this flowchart, when searching the paper document log including the search keyword from the text search table, not only the paper document history DB-k but also the paper document history DB-j (j = 1 to r, other than k) Also obtain the corresponding paper document log. Specifically, the access destination information of the paper document history management server 100-j (j = 1 to r, other than k) is acquired from the paper document history DNS server 1000, and each paper document history DB-j (j = 1 to r The paper document log including the search keyword is acquired by referring to the text search table (other than k). Processing other than step 804 is the same as in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 9 is an example of a flowchart of the paper document history search process of the present embodiment. In step 908 of this flowchart, when searching the paper document log including the paper ID that is the history search target from the paper ID management table, not only the paper document history DB-k but also the paper document history DB-j (j = 1 to Corresponding paper document log is also acquired from (other than r, k). Specifically, as described above, the access destination information of the paper document history management server 100-j (except j = 1 to r, k) is acquired from the paper document history DNS server 1000, and each paper document history DB-j (j By referring to the paper ID management table (other than = 1 to r, k), a paper document log including a paper ID that is a history search target is acquired. Processing other than step 908 is the same as in the first embodiment.

  By following the above-described configuration and operation flow, it becomes possible to search for text of paper document logs distributed across a plurality of paper document management systems by text.

  According to the above embodiment, since a copy or discard log having the same identifier (paper ID) as the log information hit with the search keyword is also output, the electronic document print log and the printed paper document copy log are displayed. Search with high accuracy. Text search is also possible for paper document disposal logs. Information leaks can be detected by periodically searching logs with keywords included in confidential information. Furthermore, by searching the log based on the description of the leaked paper document, it is possible to specify the information leak source of the paper document with high accuracy.

  10 ... paper document history management system, 100 ... paper document history management server, 102-1 to 102-n ... client PC, 103-1 to 103-p ... printer, 104-1 to 104 -m ... MFP, 106-1 to 106-s ... Shredder, 108 ... Network, 20 ... Electronic document, 22 ... Print data with paper ID, 24 ... Paper document log , 200 ... print data conversion unit, 202 ... paper ID generation unit, 204 ... print log collection unit, 206 ... text extraction unit, 208 ... paper ID writing unit, 210 ... Print log registration unit, 212 ... output unit, 220 ... paper document history DB, 222 ... log acquisition unit, 224 ... paper ID extraction unit, 226 ... text extraction unit, 228 ... Log registration unit 230 ... Paper document history search program, 300a, 300b ... Hub, 302a, 302b ... CPU, 304a, 304b ... Memory, 306a, 306b ... Storage device, 308a, 308b ... Storage devices, 310a, 310b ... Display unit, 3 12a, 312b ... operation unit, 314 ... scanning unit, 316 ... operating device, 40 ... log management table, 42 ... image log table, 44 ... text search table, 46 ...・ Paper ID management table, 440... Text search table update unit, 460... Paper ID management table update unit, 600... Example of interface for paper document history search program, 70. ..Search results, 700 ... input unit, 702 ... paper document log search unit, 704 ... paper document history search unit, 706 ... communication unit, 708 ... output unit, 10-1 to 10-r ... paper document history management system, 100-1 to 100-r ... paper document history management server, 1000 ... paper document history DNS server, 1002 ... network.

Claims (15)

The paper ID and the text of the electronic document included in the print log output from the client PC, and the paper ID and the text extracted from the image of the paper document corresponding to the electronic document included in the copy log output from the multifunction machine In addition, the paper ID and the text extracted from at least one image of the paper document included in the discard log output from the shredder and the copy paper document in which the paper document is copied by the multifunction device are stored as log information. Paper document history DB to
A paper document log search unit for searching the log information stored in the paper document history DB based on a search condition;
An output unit for outputting the searched log information;
An input unit for inputting the selection of the paper ID from the search condition and the output log information;
A paper document history search unit for searching the log information including the selected paper ID from the paper document history DB;
A paper document history management system comprising: A text search table that stores an index as a keyword and a management number of the log information including the index in the text in association with each other;
The paper document log search unit
Decomposing a search keyword included in the search condition into words,
When the word obtained by decomposing exists in the index of the text search table, the corresponding management number is obtained,
2. The paper document history management system according to claim 1, wherein the log information indicated by the acquired management number is the retrieved log information output by the output unit. The paper document history search unit, when searching a plurality of the log information including the selected paper ID from the paper document history DB, the output unit outputs a set of the plurality of log information. 2. The paper document history management system according to claim 1, wherein the system is information. The paper document history search unit sets the number of print logs + the number of copy logs−the number of discard logs from the set of a plurality of log information,
4. The paper document history management system according to claim 3, wherein the output unit outputs the number of sheets of the paper. When the log information including the selected paper ID cannot be acquired as a result of searching from the paper document history DB, the paper document history search unit and the text of the log information corresponding to the selected paper ID The paper document having similar text, selecting the log information stored in the paper document history DB, or having an image similar to the image of the log information corresponding to the selected paper ID 4. The paper document history management system according to claim 3, wherein the log information stored in the history DB is selected. A management server including the paper document history DB, the paper document log search unit, the output unit, the input unit, and the paper document history search unit;
A printer for printing the electronic document as a paper document to which the paper ID is assigned;
Connecting to the printer, holding the electronic document to be printed, assigning the paper ID to the electronic document and outputting to the printer, and managing the print log including the paper ID and the text of the electronic document A client PC that outputs to the server,
A multifunction machine that at least copies the paper document, outputs the copied paper document, and outputs a copy log including the image of the paper document to which the paper ID is assigned, to the management server;
A shredder that discards at least one of the paper document and the copy paper document, outputs a discard log to which the paper ID is assigned and includes at least one image of the discarded paper document and the copy paper document. And a paper document history management system. The client PC
A paper ID generation unit that generates the paper ID, which is an identifier for identifying a printed material;
A paper ID writing unit for giving the generated paper ID to the electronic document to be output to the printer;
A text extraction unit for extracting text of the electronic document from the electronic document;
7. The paper document history management system according to claim 6, further comprising: a print log registration unit that transmits the print log including the generated paper ID and the extracted text of the electronic document to the management server. 8. The paper ID generation unit generates the number of the paper IDs according to the number of pages of the electronic document, and assigns the generated paper ID to each page of the electronic document. Paper document history management system. The management server
A log acquisition unit that acquires log information of at least one of the copy log from the multifunction peripheral and the discard log from the shredder;
A paper ID extraction unit that extracts the paper ID from the image included in the acquired log information;
A text extraction unit for extracting text information from the image;
7. The paper document history management system according to claim 6, further comprising a log registration unit that registers the log information, the extracted paper ID, and the extracted text information in the paper document history DB. 10. The paper document history management system according to claim 9, wherein when the paper ID cannot be extracted, the paper ID extraction unit outputs that the extraction of the paper ID has failed. A printer that prints an electronic document as a paper document with a paper ID;
A client connected to the printer, holding the electronic document to be printed, assigning the paper ID to the electronic document, outputting to the printer, and outputting a print log including the paper ID and the text of the electronic document PC and
A multifunction device for copying at least the paper document, outputting the copied paper document, and outputting a copy log including an image of the paper document assigned with the paper ID;
A shredder that discards at least one of the paper document and the copy paper document, outputs a discard log to which the paper ID is assigned, and includes at least one image of the discarded paper document and the copy paper document;
The paper ID and the text of the electronic document included in the print log output from the client PC, the paper ID and the text extracted from the image of the paper document included in the copy log output from the multifunction device, And a management server that registers the paper ID and text extracted from the image of at least one of the paper document and the copy paper document included in the discard log output from the shredder as log information in the paper document history DB. A paper document history management system comprising: The client PC
A paper ID generation unit that generates the paper ID, which is an identifier for identifying a printed material;
A paper ID writing unit for giving the generated paper ID to the electronic document to be output to the printer;
A text extraction unit for extracting text of the electronic document from the electronic document;
12. The paper document history management system according to claim 11, further comprising: a print log registration unit that transmits the print log including the generated paper ID and the extracted text of the electronic document to the management server. 13. The paper ID generation unit generates the number of the paper IDs according to the number of pages of the electronic document, and assigns the generated paper ID to each page of the electronic document. Paper document history management system. The management server
A log acquisition unit that acquires log information of at least one of the copy log from the multifunction peripheral and the discard log from the shredder;
A paper ID extraction unit that extracts the paper ID from the image included in the acquired log information;
A text extraction unit for extracting text information from the image;
12. The paper document history management system according to claim 11, further comprising a log registration unit that registers the log information, the extracted paper ID, and the extracted text information in the paper document history DB. 15. The paper document history management system according to claim 14, wherein when the paper ID cannot be extracted, the paper ID extraction unit outputs that the extraction of the paper ID has failed.

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