JP3937736B2 - Document management device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a document management apparatus that registers and manages a document file in association with the document management information.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a document management system for registering and managing document files, when a document file input and created on the client terminal side is transmitted to the document management server, the document management server registers this document file in the document database and manages it centrally. I am doing so.
By the way, in the product development and design department of a company, a series of systematic product design specifications such as planning documents and parts-specific specifications are created. When input from the client terminal of the design department and transmitted to the document management server, the document management server registers this document file group in the document database as organized data for one group. After that, for example, when a part of technology (document file) of this product design specification is diverted and another design department creates a design specification of a new product, copy the diverted document file as it is. Then, a new product design specification including the document file is created and registered in the document database.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, if you create a new product design specification by copying a part of the document file as it is, even if you change the original design specification document file, the new product design specification document file Since the document file remains unchanged, every time the diverted document file is changed, each document file in the diversion relationship is similarly checked while checking which product design specification the document is diverted to. There was a need to change. Therefore, if a part of the technology of the product design specification created first is diverted, for example, when five types of product design specifications are created, it is necessary to repeat the document file change work five times. In addition, the operability is impaired, and the alignment may be lost due to an operation error.
[0004]
An object of the present invention is that when an entity file managed as a registered document is diverted and another new document is additionally registered, the entity file can be diverted any number of times without copying, and the diversion relationship is also achieved. It is to be able to provide a document management mechanism that can call the original entity file when any document is accessed.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention described in claim 1 is a document management apparatus for registering and managing a document file in association with the document management information, and additionally registering another new document by diverting the entity file managed as the registered document. In this case, link information generating means for generating link information for associating documents in a diversion relationship with each other, and setting means for setting the link information generated by the link information generating means in the document management information of the new document And new document registration means for registering the document management information of the new document for which link information has been set by the setting means in a format in which the entity file is omitted when the new document is additionally registered, and the new document When a document registered in a format that omits the entity file is accessed by the registration means, the link information in the document management information is referenced. Access control means for calling the original entity file in the diversion relationship, and the document management information associated with each document in the diversion relationship includes information on the expiration date of the document The document expiration date comparing means for identifying the document with the longer document expiration date by comparing the information regarding the document expiration date in each document management information, and the document of the document specified by the document expiration date comparing means To match the document expiration date of other documents with the expiration date, Calculating the difference between the document expiration date of the identified document and the document expiration date of the other document, and adding a period according to the calculation result to the document expiration date of the other document; Updating means for updating information related to the document expiration date in the document management information associated with the other document, and uniformly aligning the document expiration dates of the documents associated with each other by the link information. It is characterized by doing so.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the document management system in this embodiment.
In this document management system, in a company organization, a document management server 1 for registering and managing document files of the entire company and a plurality of client terminals 4 installed for each department are connected to a communication network (private communication network or wide area communication network). ) A client / server system connected via 3. This client / server system is a local communication system (intranet system) or a wide area communication system (extranet system) using Internet technology.
[0013]
The document management server 1 is provided with a document database 2 that centrally manages a group of document files operated in the entire system. The document management server 1 is transmitted from the client terminal 4 together with a document registration request. A document file is received, the received file is registered in the document database 2, the document database 2 is searched in response to a document access request from the client terminal 4, the corresponding document file is read, and the requesting client terminal 4 is transmitted.
[0014]
In this embodiment, the digitized (packetized) data is transmitted / received between the document management server 1 and the client terminal 4 by, for example, the HTTP protocol using the TCP / IP communication protocol. In addition, data processing is performed in cooperation with each other while recognizing necessary processing contents from data including encoded control information.
The document management server 1 includes various server functions such as a Web server function, a database server function, and a mail server function, and the overall operation of the document management server 1 is controlled by these server functions.
[0015]
The client terminal 4 is, for example, a desktop type or notebook type personal computer, and is installed in a plurality for each group (each department unit). For example, the client terminal 4 inputs and creates a product design specification, and a document management server. 1, and a document file transmitted from the document management server 1 in response to the document access request is received, displayed and output, or printed out.
The document file is a multimedia file including image data and the like in addition to character string data, and each client terminal 4 has a Web browser function for browsing the document file transmitted from the document management server 1. It has.
[0016]
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing various document file groups registered and managed by document group (by document folder) in the document database 2.
That is, a series of product design specifications (document files A, B, C, D...) Created in a design department of a certain product development is registered in the document group PT1. In addition, a series of product design specifications (document files E, F, D-1,...) Created in other product development design departments are registered in the document group PT2, and other items are registered in the document group PT3. This is an example in which a series of product design specifications (document files G, H, D-2,...) Created in the product development design department are registered.
[0017]
In FIG. 2, the document files D-1 and D-2 in the document groups PT2 and PT3 indicate that the document file D in the document group PT1 is used as it is. In this case, it is indicated that the entity file of the document D exists only in the document group PT1 that is the diversion source, and does not exist in the document groups PT2 and PT3 that are the diversion destinations. In other words, a part (technique) of the original product design specification created first is used as it is, a new product design specification is created three years later, and a part of the original product design specification is further preserved. When a new product design specification is created five years after diversion, the document files D, D-1, and D-2 indicate that they are diversion-related documents.
[0018]
FIG. 3 schematically shows the configuration of the original product design specification (document file group) created first.
The product design specification illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a plan document (document file A), a specification document (document file B), a specification for each part {(X part (document file C), Y part (document file D)). }, Etc., indicating that the technology of the Y part specification (document file D), which is a part of it, is being used as part of other product design specifications that are created afterwards. ing.
[0019]
Document management information (1) to (8), (4) -1, and (4) -2 are added to each document file in the database 2. The document management information is incidental information attached to the corresponding document and has a configuration as shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 exemplifies the document management information attached to the documents A, D, D-1, and D-2. The document management information includes “file name”, “document No.”, and “after”. Each item includes “link”, “previous link”, “document expiration date”, “document creation date”, and so on. Other items include data such as “department name” and “creator” who created the document.
[0020]
The document management information is information for managing the corresponding document. The “file name” constituting the document management information is the identification information of the document input and created on the client side, but the “document No.” Is a series of document management numbers automatically generated on the document management server 1 side every time a document file is additionally registered in the document database 2.
“Back link” and “Previous link” are link information for associating a plurality of documents in a diversion relationship, such as the above-described document A, document D, D-1, and D-2, “Subsequent link” is a “document No.” indicating the next link destination (one link destination), and “Previous link” is a “document No.” indicating a link destination retroactively.
[0021]
For example, Document D (Document No. (4)), D-1 (Document No. (4) -1), and D-2 (Document No. (4) -2) are linked in that order. If there is, the document No. “▲ 4 ▼ -1” indicating the next link destination is set in the “back link” of the document D as the diversion source, and “none” is set in the “previous link”. The In addition, the document No. “▲ 4 ▼ -2” indicating the next link destination is set in the “back link” of the document D-1, and the link destination traced back to the previous link is set in the “previous link”. The document number “4” shown is set. Further, “none” is set in the “back link” of the document D-2, and “(4) -1” is set in the “previous link”. The “document expiration date” is information indicating how long the document is valid after the document is created, and is information that is arbitrarily input and specified on the client side. The expired document is automatically deleted from the database. The “document creation date” is information on the date of creation of the document file.
[0022]
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the document management server 1.
The CPU 101 is a central processing unit that controls the overall operation of the document management server 1 according to the operating system and various application software in the storage device 102. The storage device 102 stores an operating system, various application software, and the like, and has a recording medium 103 configured by a magnetic, optical, semiconductor memory, and the like and a drive system thereof. The recording medium 103 is a fixed medium such as a hard disk or a portable medium such as a detachable CD-ROM, floppy disk, RAM card, or magnetic card. Further, the program and data in the recording medium 103 are loaded into a RAM (for example, static RAM) 104 under the control of the CPU 101 as necessary, and the data in the RAM 104 is saved in the recording medium 103. Furthermore, the recording medium may be provided on the side of an external device such as a server, and the CPU 101 can directly access and use the program / data in the recording medium via the transmission control unit 105.
[0023]
In addition, the CPU 101 can capture a part or all of the data stored in the recording medium 103 from another device via the transmission control unit 105, and can perform new registration or additional registration in the recording medium 103. Further, the program / data may be stored and managed on the external device side such as a server, and the CPU 101 can directly access and use the program / data on the external device side via the transmission control unit 105. .
On the other hand, a transmission control unit 105, an input unit 106, and a display unit 107, which are input / output peripheral devices, are connected to the CPU 101 via a bus line, and the CPU 101 controls their operations according to an input / output program.
[0024]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the client terminal 4.
Each component of the client terminal 2 is basically the same as each component of the document management server 1 described above, and includes a CPU 401, a storage device 402, a recording medium 403, a RAM 404, a transmission control unit 405, an input unit 406, and a display unit. In addition to 407, the printing apparatus 408 is included.
Instead of providing the printing device 408 for each client terminal 4, a shared printer that is shared for each department unit may be provided.
[0025]
Next, the operation algorithm of the document management system in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. Here, the functions described in these flowcharts, that is, the document management process described in FIG. 7, the document registration process described in FIG. 8, the document expiration management process described in FIGS. 9 and 10, and FIG. The described document access process is stored in the recording medium 103 in the form of a readable program code, and the CPU 101 sequentially executes operations according to the program code. Further, the CPU 101 can sequentially execute the operation according to the above-described program code transmitted via the transmission medium. That is, in addition to the recording medium, an operation specific to this embodiment can be executed using a program / data supplied externally via a transmission medium.
[0026]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing document management processing which is the main operation of the document management server 1.
Note that interactive screen information is transmitted between the document management server 1 and the client terminal 4 using the HTTP protocol, and text information is transmitted together with predetermined tag information, so that display information, input information, display format, and the like are displayed. Thus, the client terminal 4 functions as an input / output device of the document management server 1 to enable information presentation and information input.
First, when the document management server 1 receives Web page address information while waiting for an access request from the client terminal 4 (step A1), if it is a menu request (step A2), the menu screen (interactive screen information). ) To the requesting client terminal 4 (step A3).
This menu screen has menu items such as “document list request” and “document registration request”. When any one of the menu items is selected and specified on the client terminal 4 side, the processing is performed according to the specified menu item. Move.
[0027]
That is, when a “document list request” is received (step A4), document management information of various documents registered and managed in the document database 2 is extracted, and a list list of the document management information is generated (step S4). A5), a document list screen is transmitted to the requesting client terminal 4 (step A6). In this case, the document list screen displays items such as “file name”, “creator”, “part name”, and “creation date” corresponding to each document.
When a "document registration request" is received (step A7), a document registration screen (interactive screen information) is transmitted to the requesting client terminal 4 (step A8), and document registration processing is performed (step A9). ).
[0028]
FIG. 12 shows a document registration screen. In this registration screen, “file name”, “creator”, “part name”, “creation date”, “document expiration date” constituting the document management information are shown. Each item of “Diverted document” is displayed. In this case, the items “file name”, “creator”, “part name”, and “creation date / time” are generated items that can be automatically generated based on information set in advance. “Time limit” and “Diverted document” are input items that are arbitrarily specified. Here, when diverting an existing document, referring to the above-described document list screen and selecting and specifying the document, the document number is set in the item “Diverted document”.
[0029]
In the document registration screen, a “send button” for instructing that the confirmed input information should be transmitted to the document management server 1 and a “cancel button” for canceling the input information are arranged. When the “Send button” is operated, if a document number is set in the “Diverted document” item, that is, if it is instructed that another document should be diverted, the document registration screen is displayed. However, if there is no diversion instruction, that is, a normal document registration instruction, the document file (substance file) is also transmitted to the document management server 1 together with the information on the document registration screen.
[0030]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart detailing the document registration process in step A9 described above.
First, when the document management server 1 receives the information on the document registration screen transmitted from the client terminal 4 that requested the document registration (step B1), the document management server 1 refers to the item “Diverted document” on the document registration screen, It is determined whether or not document diversion is designated (step B2).
If the request is a normal document registration request without diversion, the document file transmitted from the client terminal 2 is received (step B3), and a document number to be assigned to the document file is automatically generated. (Step B4). Then, document management information corresponding to the document is created based on the received information on the document registration screen, and the automatically generated document number is set in the document management information (step B5).
The document management information thus created is attached to the document file as supplementary information, and then additionally registered in the document database 2 (step B6).
[0031]
On the other hand, when the diversion of the document is instructed in the information on the document registration screen transmitted from the client terminal 4 that requested the document registration, the existing document file having the diversion relationship is searched from the document database 2. (Step B7). That is, the document number set in the item “Diverted document” is extracted, and the document database 2 is accessed based on this document number, and the corresponding diversion source document file is searched. Then, the document management information attached to the document file of the diversion source is read, and the “back link” of each document management information in the diversion relationship is sequentially traced from the “back link” as a base point, and the final link destination A document number is acquired (step B8). For example, in the example of FIG. 4, when the diversion source document D and the diversion destination document D-1 are already linked, it is assumed that the document D-2 of the document group PT3 is newly registered this time. By sequentially tracing the “following link” of each related document management information, the last linked document number “(4) -1” is obtained.
[0032]
By incrementing the last linked document number obtained in this way, the document number “(4) -2” to be assigned to the newly registered document is automatically generated (step B9). Then, after creating document management information based on the received information on the document registration screen, the automatically generated document number is set in the document management information (step B10), and the final linked document number is set. Set as “previous link” (step B11).
Next, the document number generated this time is set as the “following link” of the final link destination (step B12). In the case of FIG. 4, “▲ 4 ▼ -2” is set as the “following link” in the document management information corresponding to the document D-1 searched as the final link destination, and this new document In the document management information corresponding to D-2, “(4) −1” is set as the “previous link”. Only the document management information thus created is additionally registered in the document database 2 (step B13). That is, only the document management information of the document D-2 is additionally registered in the document database 2 in a format in which the entity file D is omitted.
[0033]
FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are flowcharts showing the document expiration management processing that the document management server 1 periodically executes.
In this embodiment, among the document files registered and managed in the document database 2, the document file whose expiration date has passed is deleted. However, when a plurality of documents are in a diversion relationship, Since the entity file exists only in the diversion source document, when the document expires, the expired entity file is deleted even if other diversion-related documents are before the expiration date. End up. In order to prevent this, the document management server 1 periodically performs document expiration management processing.
[0034]
FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the operation in this case. Here, FIG. 13A shows the document management by calculating the expiration date based on the item data of “creation date” and “validity period” in each document management information and comparing the calculated expiration dates. A state in which the “valid period” in the information is updated is shown, and (B) shows a state in which the contents of the work area WK in the RAM 104 used during the “valid period” update process change. In this work area WK, the latest expiration date (latest expiration date) and its document number are temporarily stored.
[0035]
First, the document management server 1 acquires the document management information for one document by searching the document database 2 in ascending order of the document number (step C1), and the “back link” is set in the document management information. It is determined whether it has been performed (step C2).
For example, in the example of FIG. 4, since “postlink” is not set in the document A, the process proceeds to step C3 to determine whether the acquisition process for acquiring all document management information from the document database 2 is completed. To do. Now, since it is a case where the first document management information has been acquired, the process returns to step C1 and the above-described operation is repeated until the document management information in which “following link” is set is acquired.
[0036]
If it is assumed that the document management information of the document D has been acquired by this search processing, since “back link” is set in the document management information, the “creation date” is extracted from the document management information (step C4). ), An “effective period” is extracted (step C5), and an expiration date is calculated based on the “creation date” and the “effective period” (step C6). Then, the calculated expiration date is set as the latest expiration date in the work area WK in the RAM 104 (step C7). In this case, as shown in FIG. 13B, the expiration date “February 2, 2000” of the document D is set in the work area WK together with the document number “(4)”.
Then, the “back link” is extracted from the document management information of the document D, and the document database 2 is searched based on the “back link”, thereby calling and specifying the “back link” document management information (step C8). Then, it is determined whether or not “back link” is set in the document management information (step C9).
Here, if “back link” is not set in the designated document management information, the contents of the work area in which the latest expiration date is set are cleared (step C10). Then, the process proceeds to step C3, and after the end determination is made, the process returns to step C1.
[0037]
On the other hand, if “back link” is set in the designated document management information (step C9), the process proceeds to step C11 in FIG. 10, and then “creation date” is extracted from the document management information of the link. The “effective period” is extracted (step C12), and the effective period of the back link is calculated based on the “creation date” and the “effective period” (step C13). In this case, as shown in FIG. 13A, “March 3, 2003” is calculated as the expiration date of the document D-1. Then, the calculated after-link expiration date is compared with the latest expiration date in the work area WK (step C14), and it is determined whether the after-link expiration date is later than the latest expiration date (step C15).
[0038]
In this case, when the expiration date of the back link is earlier than the latest expiration date, the process proceeds to step C9 in FIG. Now, since the calculated expiration date of the link is “March 3, 2003” and the latest expiration date in the work area WK is “February 2, 2000”, the process proceeds to Step C16 and the expiration date of the subsequent link And the latest expiration date is calculated, and the period corresponding to the calculation result is added to the “valid period” of the link destination and updated (step C17). As a result, the valid period of the document D is updated from “10 years” to “13 years” (see FIG. 13). Then, after the content of the work area WK is switched to “March 3, 2003” as the expiration date of the back link (step C18), the process proceeds to step C9 in FIG.
[0039]
In this case, since the document D-2 which is the next subsequent link is searched, the process proceeds to step C11 in FIG. 10 and the above-described operation is repeated thereafter. As a result, “April 4, 2005” is calculated as the validity period of the document D-2, the validity period of the document D is updated from “13 years” to “15 years”, and the validity period of the document D-1 is “10 years” is updated to “13 years”, and the latest expiration date in the work area WK is switched to “April 4, 2005”. The validity period of the document D-2 remains “10 years”.
[0040]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing document access processing executed by the document management server 1 when a document is accessed from the client terminal 4.
First, when a document access is requested from the client terminal 4, the document management server 1 searches the document database 2 based on the designated document requested to be accessed and acquires the document management information (step D1). Then, it is determined whether “previous link” is set in the document management information (step D2). If there is no “previous link”, it is determined whether “rear link” is set (step D3).
Here, if both the “previous link” and the “rear link” are not set, there is no other diverted document, so the process proceeds to step D4 to access the entity file of the designated document. After reading and attaching the document management information to the entity file, the document management information is transmitted to the requesting client terminal 4 (step D5).
[0041]
In addition, if either “Previous link” or “After link” is included in the document management information of the specified document requested to be accessed, there is another diversion related document. Therefore, the process moves to a process of acquiring all document management information having a diversion relationship and acquiring the entity file.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an access path when acquiring all document management information in a diversion relationship and acquiring the entity file. Of the documents located between the start point and end point of the link, FIG. The access path differs depending on which document position is requested to be accessed.
[0042]
If any of the documents located between the start point and end point of the link is designated for access, first, the presence of “previous link” is detected in the step, so that the process proceeds to step D6 and indicated by the previous link. Document management information is acquired, and it is determined whether or not there is a “previous link” in the document management information (step D7). If there is, the above operation is repeated until there is no “previous link”.
In this way, document management information is acquired one by one while following the “previous link”, and when the link reaches the start point position, the absence of “previous link” is detected. In this case, since an entity file exists at the start point of this link, this entity file is accessed and read (step D8).
[0043]
Next, it is determined whether or not “back link” exists in the document management information of the designated document requested to be accessed (step D9). If there is, the document management information indicated by the “back link” is acquired (step S9). D10), it is determined whether or not there is a “rear link” in the document management information (step D11). If it exists, the above operation is repeated until there is no “rear link”.
In this way, the document management information is acquired one by one while following the “back link”, and when the end point position of the link is reached, there is no “back link” in the document management information at the end point position. This is detected at D11.
[0044]
Then, a list is generated based on each document management information acquired while following the “previous link” and “back link” (step D12), and the document management information of the designated document is attached to the entity file together with the list. Then, the data is transmitted to the requesting client terminal 4 (step D13).
FIG. 15 shows a list screen of document management information displayed on the client terminal 4 side. This document management information list list screen is displayed when the client is instructed to display the list list. Among the items constituting the document management information, “file name”, “creator” , “Department”, “Creation date”, etc. are displayed as guidance.
[0045]
When an access request is made for a document at the link start point position, the document management information includes a “back link” but does not have a “previous link”, and this is detected in steps D2 and D3. Then, the process proceeds to step D10, and the operation of acquiring each document management information is performed while following the “following links” one by one (steps D10 and D11). In this way, a list is created based on each document management information acquired while following the “following link” (step D12), and an entity file with document management information is transmitted to the requesting client terminal 4 (step D12). Step D13).
[0046]
Further, when an access request is made for a document at the end point of the link, the document management information includes “previous link” but not “rear link”. Therefore, the process proceeds to step D6 and “previous link” is set. The operation of acquiring each document management information is performed while tracing one by one (steps D6 and D7). When the link start point position is reached, it is detected that there is no “previous link”, and the entity file is accessed and read from that position (step D8). In this case, since there is no “rear link” in the document management information of the designated document requested to be accessed, this is detected in step D9, the process proceeds to step D12, and each document acquired while following the “previous link”. The list is created based on the management information, and the entity file with the document management information is transmitted to the requesting client terminal 4 (step D13).
[0047]
As described above, in this embodiment, the document management server 1 communicates from the client terminal 4 a registration request for registering another new document by diverting an entity file managed as a registered document in the document database 2. When it is transmitted via the network 3, it generates link information for associating documents in a diversion relationship with each other, and the document management information of the new document including the generated link information is By registering the entity file in the document database 2 in a format in which the entity file is omitted, and then accessing a document registered in the format in which the entity file is omitted, by referring to the link information in the document management information, Since the original entity file in the diversion relationship is called, the registered entity file can be called many times without copying. It can be diverted. Therefore, in the conventional method of copying and diverting an entity file, if the original document file is changed, it is necessary to similarly change each document file in the diversion relationship while searching for other documents in the diversion relationship. For this reason, the operability is impaired and the alignment may be lost due to an operation error. In this embodiment, even if the original document is used many times, there is only one entity file. Only changes to the entity file are sufficient.
[0048]
In this case, since the link information for associating a plurality of documents in a diversion relationship with each other is generated, when one of the documents in the diversion relationship is accessed, By following the link information in the document management information associated with each document, it is possible to retrieve a chain relationship between a plurality of documents in a diverted relationship, and also associated with each retrieved document. Since the document management information is read out as guide information and transmitted to the requesting client terminal 4, the client terminal 4 side can know the chain relationship between the diverted documents. In this case, since “rear link” and “previous link” are set as the link information set in the document management information, it is possible to easily search for documents that are diverted.
[0049]
Further, the document management information associated with each document having the diversion relationship includes the validity period of the document, and the validity period is long by obtaining the validity period based on the validity period and comparing them. Since the document is specified and the other valid period is updated so that the valid period of the other document is matched with the document, the valid period of each document having the diversion relationship can be made uniform. That is, regardless of what expiration date is initially set for each document in the diversion relationship, the documents can be uniformly arranged, and only some documents are not deleted due to the expiration date.
[0050]
In the embodiment described above, “back link” and “previous link” are set as link information set in the document management information. However, either “back link” or “previous link” is set. There may be. Further, the document number is set as the link information, but any information that can identify the document may be used.
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a client / server system of a local area communication network or a wide area communication network is shown. However, the present invention may be applied to a stand-alone type document management apparatus (personal computer). .
[0051]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where one document file (substance file) is diverted is illustrated, but the present invention can be similarly applied to the case where two or more substantive files are diverted. In this case, link information associated with a plurality of diversion source documents may be generated and managed. That is, when a new document is newly registered by diverting two or more entity files, link information of a plurality of systems correlated 1: 1 with a plurality of diversion source documents and the actual files are omitted. The document management information corresponding to the new document is registered in the database in the format, and when the document is accessed after that, the link information of multiple systems set in the document management information is used as a base point. By tracing the relationship, each corresponding entity file may be read out.
[0052]
On the other hand, a recording medium (for example, a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a RAM card, etc.) on which a program code for executing the above-described units is recorded is provided to a computer (document management apparatus). Good.
In other words, a computer-readable recording medium having a program code, and when registering another new document by diverting an entity file managed as a registered document, the documents in the diversion relationship are mutually exchanged. A function for generating link information for associating and setting the generated link information in the document management information of the new document, and when the new document is additionally registered, the link information is set for the new document. A function for registering document management information in a format in which the entity file is omitted, and by referring to link information in the document management information when a document registered in a format in which the entity file is omitted is accessed. Read by a computer recording a program for realizing the function of calling the original entity file in the diversion relationship. It may provide a recording medium capable Ri.
[0053]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, when an entity file managed as a registered document is diverted and another new document is additionally registered, the entity file can be diverted any number of times without copying, and the diversion relationship is also achieved. When one of the documents is accessed, the original entity file can be called, so it is possible to easily manage and operate multiple documents that are diverted, and to link each other with link information. The document expiration dates of the associated documents can be made uniform.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a document management system.
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing various document file groups registered and managed by document group (by document folder) in the document database 2;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an original product design specification (document file) created first.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating contents of document management information attached to a document A, a document D, a D-1, and a D-2.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the document management server 1;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the client terminal 4;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing document management processing which is a main operation of the document management server 1;
FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining in detail the document registration process shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing document deadline management processing periodically executed by the document management server 1;
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing document deadline management processing following FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing document access processing executed by the document management server 1 when a document is accessed from the client terminal 4;
FIG. 12 shows a document registration screen.
FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the operation of document time limit management processing;
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an access path when acquiring all document management information in a diversion relationship and acquiring the entity file.
FIG. 15 is a view showing a list screen of document management information displayed on the client terminal side.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Document management server
2 Document database
3 Communication network
4 Client terminals
101 CPU
102 storage device
103 Recording medium
105 Transmission control unit
106 Input section
107 Display

Claims (1)

A document management apparatus for registering and managing a document file in association with the document management information,
Link information generating means for generating link information for associating documents in a diversion relationship with each other when a new document is additionally registered by diverting an entity file managed as a registered document;
Setting means for setting the link information generated by the link information generating means in the document management information of the new document;
A new document registration unit for registering document management information of the new document for which link information has been set by the setting unit in a format in which the entity file is omitted when additionally registering the new document;
Access to call the original entity file in the diversion relationship by referring to the link information in the document management information when a document registered in a format omitting the entity file is accessed by the new document registration means Control means;
Comprising
The document management information associated with each document in the diversion relationship includes information regarding the expiration date of the document,
A document expiration date comparing means for identifying a document having a longer document expiration date by comparing information on the document expiration date in each document management information;
In order to match the document expiration date of the other document with the document expiration date of the document specified by the document expiration date comparison means, the difference between the document expiration date of the specified document and the document expiration date of the other document is calculated. Updating means for calculating and adding a period corresponding to the calculation result to the document expiration date of the other document and updating information relating to the document expiration date in the document management information associated with the other document; ,
Provided,
A document management apparatus characterized in that the document expiration dates of the documents associated with each other by the link information are made uniform.

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