JP7681745B2 - Information processing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device.

For example, between two businesses trading goods, documents are exchanged for the transaction. A typical example of a document exchanged is an invoice issued by a business that receives an order for goods to a business that places an order for the goods. For the sake of convenience, from here on, the business that receives an order for goods will be referred to as the "receiving business" and the business that orders the goods will be referred to as the "ordering business."

Until now, invoices have been sent by the receiving business to the ordering business in the form of a medium such as paper, or in the form of a digital file. The burden on the receiving business to send such invoices increases the more invoices there are. For receiving business that has many invoices to send, the burden is heavy and the human and time resources required are also large. For this reason, some service providers in recent years offer a service on behalf of the receiving business, where the receiving business inputs billing information to create an invoice and sends the created invoice to the ordering business via a network (see, for example, Patent Document 1). For convenience, this service will be referred to as the "invoice sending service" from here on.

JP 2016-126599 A

When an order-receiving business introduces a service such as an invoice delivery service, the order-receiving business must change its organizational structure depending on the content of the service to be introduced. Specifically, the placement of employees, the work content of each employee, and the software used for work must be reviewed as necessary. For this reason, businesses considering introducing a service must consider not only the service fee to be paid for using the service, but also the impact that introducing the service will have on the organization.

The wider the scope of coverage of the service being introduced, the higher the service fee will generally be. In addition, the greater the impact on the organization, the greater the changes that will likely be required to the organization's structure.

The greater the changes in the organizational structure, the greater the number of employees whose work will change significantly. Employees whose work will change significantly include those who are reassigned to different tasks. Employees who have just had their work significantly changed cannot be expected to work efficiently. For this reason, it is also necessary to take into consideration employees whose workload will temporarily increase.

For this reason, businesses need to consider the impact of introducing a service on their organization as part of the implementation costs. As a result, it is also important for service providers to consider how to minimize the impact of introducing the service on their organization. This also applies to services that involve the exchange of documents other than invoices between multiple businesses.

The present invention aims to provide an information processing device that provides a service that enables document exchange between businesses while minimizing the impact of its introduction.

The information processing device of the first aspect of the present invention includes a file acquisition means for acquiring a document file created by a second business operator for sending to a first business operator, a presentation means capable of presenting the document file to a first employee of the first business operator by transmitting file information representing the document file to a first terminal used by the first employee, a file transmission control means for controlling the transmission of the document file presented by the presentation means to the first terminal, and a storage unit for storing import setting information specifying the timing for importing the document file, and the file acquisition means automatically acquires the document file stored in the storage location by accessing a storage location previously specified by the second business operator each time a specified period has elapsed or each time a specified timing arrives, with reference to the import setting information stored in the storage unit.

The present invention can provide a service that enables document exchange between businesses while minimizing the impact of its implementation.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of an example of a service provided by a service provider via an AP server according to an embodiment of the information processing device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of document exchange that occurs between an ordering company and an order-receiving company when a transaction is made between the two companies. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system constructed for providing a service by an AP server according to an embodiment of an information processing device of the present invention, and a network environment to which the system is connected. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an AP server according to an embodiment of the information processing device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration realized on an AP server according to an embodiment of the information processing device of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a mechanism for exchanging document files realized by a document processing control unit. FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a Web page that displays information about a non-contracted business operator who has registered for use based on the use request setting information. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a Web page on which distribution management information can be set. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of information related to storage of document files and the relationships therebetween. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an automatic document capture process executed by a document processing control unit. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating processes executed by a document processing control unit and a data management unit, respectively, when a document file transmitted from a business terminal is imported. 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining processes executed by a document processing control unit and a data management unit, respectively, when a registered document file is acquired by a delivery destination. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a web page screen on which a storage item can be selected and the selected storage item can be downloaded. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of a Web page for enabling registration of a document file of a subsidiary document.

Below, the embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described is merely an example, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. The technical scope of the present invention also includes various modified examples.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of an example of a service provided by a service provider through an AP (APplication) server according to an embodiment of an information processing device of the present invention.
The service provider WA provides a service (hereinafter referred to as "this service") in the form of relaying document transmission and reception over a network between multiple businesses, with at least one of the businesses needing to exchange documents as a customer. At least one of the businesses needs to be a customer, i.e., a contractor of the service provider WA, because it is possible that documents from one business will be relayed to all other businesses. In such a case, even if all the other businesses are not customers, documents from one contractor must be able to be received by all the other businesses.

An entrepreneur is an individual or an organization such as a company. In FIG. 1, two companies, Company A CA and Company B CB, are shown as examples of entrepreneurs. Company B CB is an order-receiving company that manufactures, for example, product P and sells the manufactured product P as a commodity. The commodity product P is delivered to the ordering company by delivery or the like. The commodity sold by Company B CB may be a commodity purchased from another company. On the other hand, Company A CA is an ordering company that orders (purchases) the product P manufactured and sold by Company B CB from Company B CB. Hereinafter, to avoid confusion, product P will be written as "commodity P". In addition, Company A CA and Company B CB are both assumed to be customers, that is, companies that have contracted with service provider company WA. In FIG. 1, Company A CA and Company B CB correspond to the second entrepreneur and the first entrepreneur, respectively, in this embodiment. However, this correspondence does not necessarily hold. In other words, the correspondence may be reversed.

Figure 2 is a diagram that explains an example of document exchange that occurs between an ordering company and an order-receiving company when a transaction is made between the two companies. Figure 2 also shows an example of the workflow from a contract between the ordering company and the order-receiving company for the purchase of product P sold by the order-receiving company to the completion of the transaction under that contract. Now, with reference to Figure 2, the documents exchanged between the two companies will be specifically explained. In Figure 1, the ordering company is Company A CA, and the order-receiving company is Company B CB.

In Figure 2, the ordering company has three departments involved in the transaction: the legal department, the accounting department, and the ordering department. The receiving company has three departments involved in the transaction: the legal department, the accounting department, and the sales department. These departments are just examples, and the departments involved in the transaction will vary depending on the type of product P being traded, the organizational structure, etc.

The ordering department of the ordering company, after undergoing review by the legal department, concludes a contract with the sales department of the receiving company to purchase the required product P. The sales department of the receiving company, like the ordering department of the ordering company, also concludes a contract after undergoing review by the legal department. At this contracting stage, at least a contract document is exchanged between the ordering company and the receiving company.

The ordering department of the ordering company creates a purchase order in accordance with the contents of the concluded contract and sends it to the sales department of the receiving company, thereby ordering Product P. The sales department of the receiving company processes the purchase order and takes steps to deliver Product P requested in the purchase order to the ordering company. For this reason, at the ordering stage, purchase orders are exchanged between the ordering company and the receiving company.

The sales department of the receiving company, for example, decides on a delivery method for the product P requested by a purchase order, and has the product P delivered to the ordering company by the decided method. Before the delivery begins, a delivery note is created showing the product P to be delivered to the ordering company. The created delivery note is handed over to, for example, the ordering department of the ordering company when the product P is delivered. The ordering department then checks the delivery note, and after confirming whether the product P listed on the delivery note has actually been delivered, performs an inspection to receive the product P. If this inspection confirms that the product P listed on the delivery note has been delivered, the ordering department hands over a receipt to the receiving company. For this reason, at the delivery stage of the product P, delivery notes and receipts are exchanged between the ordering company and the receiving company.

Upon receiving the receipt, the sales department of the receiving company creates and issues an invoice requesting payment for the price of Product P. The issued invoice is passed to the ordering department of the ordering company, which then requests payment of the price requested on the invoice from the accounting department. The price of Product P is then paid by the ordering company's accounting department.

The accounting department of the ordering company makes payment, for example, by the receiving company transferring the payment to a specified account. When the payment is made in this way, the accounting department of the receiving company can confirm that the ordering company has received the payment by checking the account transaction details. When the payment has been confirmed, the accounting department of the receiving company informs the sales department that the payment has been confirmed. The sales department then creates and issues a receipt, which it then sends to the ordering department of the ordering company. As a result, the ordering department of the ordering company receives the receipt that was sent. For this reason, at the settlement stage after the delivery of product P, the receiving company sends an invoice to the receiving company, and then the receiving company sends a receipt to the receiving company. When the ordering company receives the receipt, the document exchange between the ordering company and the receiving company is completed in one transaction.

In this way, documents are often exchanged multiple times between companies in one transaction. Until now, this document exchange has generally been carried out by mail or email. There are also service providers that offer a service that replaces this document exchange with email (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This service makes it possible to exchange various documents in ways other than by mail or email.

The documents exchanged between the ordering company and the receiving company as shown in Figure 2 are usually the documents to be exchanged, and other documents are usually exchanged as necessary. For example, when the ordering company issues a purchase order for a product, even if the purchase order is issued in accordance with the contract, the receiving company that receives the purchase order may return a document indicating that to the ordering company. Instead of a document, a message may be returned. It is also possible to return to the ordering company any unclear points or points that cannot be handled in the form of a document. For this reason, documents exchanged between the ordering company and the receiving company can be broadly divided into documents that are considered essential for the transaction and documents that become necessary to be exchanged for procedural or convenience reasons due to the sending of the document. Hereinafter, the former will be distinguished as "main document" and the latter as "subordinate document". "Document" is used when such a distinction is not necessary.

There is often a relatively long time between the exchange of one main document and the exchange of the next main document. For example, in the case of a purchase order, even if the purchase order is issued in accordance with the contents of the contract, it is not necessarily issued immediately after the contract is concluded. On the other hand, when a subsidiary document needs to be exchanged, it is likely to be exchanged, or sent, in a relatively short time after the exchange of the corresponding main document or subsidiary document. For this reason, this service associates subsidiary documents with main documents and also supports the exchange of subsidiary documents.

When a transaction takes place between Company A CA and Company B CB shown in Figure 1, it is assumed that various document exchanges as described with reference to Figure 2 will also take place between Company A CA and Company B CB. This service can be used to realize all or some of the various document exchanges. This service realizes document exchange by sending and receiving documents over a network. For this reason, documents are treated as digitized document files D, that is, as data.

For example, when CA of Company A purchases product P from CB of Company B through an order, CB of Company B can issue an invoice to CA of Company A requesting payment for the price of product P. When using this service, the invoice is created as document file D.

Document file D needs to be sent only to the business to which it is to be sent. Each business can use various terminals (information processing devices with communication functions, such as PCs (Personal Computers)) to use this service. For this reason, this service requires businesses that use this service to register for use, regardless of whether they are customers or not. As a result, use of this service is limited to businesses that have registered for use. Whether a business has registered for use or not is confirmed by requesting a login from a user who has connected a terminal to the service provider WA. Here, for the sake of convenience, it is assumed that login is performed by entering an ID (IDentifier) and password.

After, for example, delivery of product P, company B CB creates an invoice as document file D. The created document file D is sent to service provider company WA by a terminal used by an employee of company B CB, or is automatically accessed by service provider company WA and is then imported into service provider company WA. The automatic access is made to a storage location designated in advance by company B CB.

The service provider WA has one or more storages ST for storing document files D. This storage ST is, for example, mounted on or connected to the AP server, or mounted on or connected to another server that can communicate with the AP server.

In this storage ST, an individual storage area SA, which is a dedicated storage area for storing document files D, is secured for each business. An individual storage area SA is prepared for each business, and only document files D intended to be sent to that business are stored in the individual storage area SA associated with the business. For example, only document files D intended to be sent to A Company CA are stored in the individual storage area SA for Company A CA. In this way, each individual storage area SA is used to store document files D to be sent to the corresponding business. As a result, document files D imported from business B Company CB are stored in the individual storage area SA for Company A CA. Note that the number of document files D that can be imported at one time is not limited to one. Each individual storage area SA corresponds to a storage area in this embodiment.

The destination of document file D from Company B CB is either specified when it is imported or is automatically recognized by the service provider company WA. As a result, document file D imported from Company B CB is stored in an individual storage area SA for Company A CA. Note that automatic recognition is performed, for example, by extracting information indicating the destination from the contents of document file D.

If document file D is an aggregated document file that aggregates multiple documents with different destinations, this automatic recognition is used to divide document file D for each destination. Information indicating the destination is also used to identify the division points when dividing document file D for each destination. As a result, if document file D is an aggregated document file, the data of aggregated document file D is divided for each destination, and each piece of data obtained by the division is filed and stored in the corresponding individual storage area SA. Here, a document file that is clearly obtained by division is referred to as a "divided document file D". A document file that is not clearly divided, and a document file for which it is not necessary to consider whether it has been divided or not, is referred to as a "document file D". In this way, the document file to be exchanged is given the symbol "D".

When a document file D is stored in the individual storage area SA, the service provider WA notifies the business that assigned the individual storage area SA that the document file D has been newly stored. This notification is made, for example, by sending an email to an email address registered by the business with a message in the body of the email informing the business that the document file D has been newly stored. In this service, the document file D for which such notification is made is limited to the main document file D.

This type of notification allows the business to which document file D is to be sent to immediately become aware of the occurrence of a new document file D without having to connect a terminal to the service provider WA. This allows the business to more reliably avoid overlooking the existence of a newly created document file D. As a result, the business that is the sender of document file D can use this service in the same way as sending a document by email or mail, etc.

Some businesses may have documents that they would like to be sent in printed form, such as paper media. For example, some businesses may want to send invoices in printed form. For this reason, this service is also able to handle sending documents in printed form. The printed form is generated using document file D imported from the business. Even if it is sent in printed form, since document file D is imported, the imported document file D is stored in an individual storage area SA, and a notification is also given regarding this storage. Figure 1 shows that a printed form of the contents of document file D is also sent by mail to Company A's CA.

In this service, the setting of whether or not to send a document in print is left to the business sending the document file D. This is because it is believed that the sending business will check the wishes of the destination business before creating the document file D. It is also possible to allow the destination business to make this setting.

The document files D stored in each individual storage area SA can be viewed by the corresponding business operator. Furthermore, the business operator can arbitrarily select and download the necessary document files D from among the stored ones. Any document file D can be downloaded at any time in order to accommodate the convenience of the business operator. The business operator can also allow the same document file D to be downloaded multiple times.

As mentioned above, businesses may be required to take specific action depending on the contents of document file D. This action may result in a document that should or should be sent to the sender of document file D. It is also possible that there is some message to be sent to the sender of document file D. For this reason, this service allows the business to which document file D is to be sent to send at least one of the subordinate document file D and a message to the business that sent document file D. The upload from Company A CA to service provider WA shown in Figure 1 represents the fact that Company A CA, who has downloaded the main document file D from Company B CB, has sent at least one of the subordinate document file D and a message.

For example, if document file D is an invoice and the amount requested on the invoice is transferred to a financial institution, the business can receive a transfer statement from the financial institution. This transfer statement is a document that clearly indicates that the business has made the payment. For this reason, a business that receives an invoice as document file D may request that the transfer statement be sent as document file D along with a message requesting confirmation of the transfer. In this way, this service not only supports the sending of the main document file D, but also the sending and receiving of subsidiary document files D and messages after that sending.

The document file D of the subordinate document and the message are stored in an individual storage area SA that is assigned to the business to which it is to be sent, that is, the business that sent the document file D of the main document. Since an individual storage area SA is reserved for each business, if the number of individual storage areas SA is N+1, one business can send document files D to a maximum of N businesses. This means that one business can receive document files D from a maximum of N businesses. N is an integer equal to or greater than 1. With this service, one business can also have the same document file D sent to multiple businesses. In addition, a business can use the individual storage area SA like cloud storage by specifying itself as the destination. Taking this into consideration, one business can send document files D to a maximum of N+1 businesses.

Document files D etc. stored in the individual storage area SA can be checked not only by the business to which the individual storage area SA is assigned, but also by the business that imported the document file D etc. This is to enable the sending business to check whether the document file D was actually imported and processed appropriately. To prevent more information than necessary from being obtained, the only document files D that the sending business can check are the document files D imported by that business. In order to enable the checking of such document files D, the use of this service is restricted to logged-in businesses. The mechanism that enables checking of imported document files D will be described later.

The separate document file D and message sent from Company A's CA to Company B's CB are stored in a separate storage area SA for Company B's CB, and Company B's CB can download them at will. This allows Company B's CB to check the document file D or message sent by Company A's CA.

When a subordinate document file D or message is sent from Company B CB to Company A CA, it is also possible for Company A CA to send a subordinate document file D or message to Company B CB. This means that this service supports the two-way exchange of subordinate document files D and messages between businesses. Therefore, businesses that use this service can exchange all of the necessary document files D and messages with other businesses using only this service.

In this way, the Service provides a mechanism for exchanging document files D and even messages between businesses, but does not support any aspects related to the creation of document files D. This is to avoid covering areas that businesses do not necessarily want, as described below, and to provide an environment in which more businesses can easily use the Service while keeping the cost of the Service down.

Most of the businesses that use this service have already done business with other businesses and are likely to have systems in place that allow them to exchange documents with other businesses. For this reason, most businesses will be affected in some way by the introduction of a service related to document exchange. For this reason, this service also places emphasis on minimizing the extent of this impact.

The degree of impact of a service being introduced is likely to be greater the larger the range that the service covers. It is thought that many businesses will do business again with businesses they have done business with in the past. In particular, businesses that do business repeatedly may have agreed upon rules for document exchange for the sake of convenience, etc. For example, there may be rules regarding the document format, the items to be entered, and the method of entering data. If such rules exist, it is desirable to abide by them regardless of whether or not a service is introduced. Therefore, businesses considering introducing a service must consider the existence of such rules in addition to the degree of impact. This is because businesses considering introducing a service that cannot abide by such rules will have to hold discussions, etc. with the business that established the rules.

This service does not generally support the parts related to the creation of document files D, but only the parts related to the exchange of document files D. Therefore, there are basically no restrictions on the document files D to be exchanged. There is basically no need to change the format of document files D, nor is there any need to change the application program used to create document files D. For this reason, even if a business introduces this service, it can create document files D in the same way as before, and can abide by all or most of the agreements related to document exchange decided with other businesses. Therefore, the degree of impact from introducing this service is relatively small. Because the degree of impact is relatively small and the fee is kept low, the barrier to introduction of this service is low for businesses.

This service uses individual storage areas SA to send document files D to individual businesses. The destination can be specified or identified by automatic recognition. It also supports sending in printed form. For this reason, it is possible to set whether or not to send in printed form for each business. As a result, for businesses that send document files D, the introduction of this service will significantly reduce the amount of work required for document exchange with other businesses.

Hereinafter, a method for implementing the present service illustrated in FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system constructed for providing services by an AP server according to an embodiment of the information processing device of the present invention, and a network environment to which the system is connected.

The system is constructed by connecting the AP server 1 according to the present embodiment to the DB (Data Base) server 2 and one or more printers 5 equipped with communication functions, for example, via a LAN (Local Area Network), and realizes one Web site. In FIG. 3, the AP server 1, DB server 2, and printer 5 are installed in the service provider WA, but they may be provided by a cloud service. For this reason, the installation location and provider of the AP server 1, DB server 2, and printer 5 are not particularly limited. In addition, the AP server 1 and DB server 2 are the main information processing devices for providing this service, but they may also include other information processing devices, such as a Web server and/or a firewall. A plurality of AP servers 1 and DB servers 2 may be installed. In that case, a load balancer may also be included. It is preferable to install a plurality of printers 5. This is because when an aggregate document file D is imported, printing is often performed for many destinations.

AP server 1 is connected directly or indirectly to network N. Therefore, AP server 1 can provide this service to users who use, as terminals, information processing devices capable of communicating via network N. In many cases, users are employees of order-receiving company 3 or ordering company 4 who have registered to use the service.

The DB server 2 is a server that performs processing in response to requests from the AP server 1. The AP server 1 sends the imported or uploaded document file D to the DB server 2 for storage. Information related to this service other than the document file D is stored in the AP server 1. For this reason, the AP server 1 provides this service using the DB server 2. As a result, the storage ST of the service provider WA shown in FIG. 1 corresponds to both the storage that is accessible by the AP server 1 and the DB server 2.

In Figure 3, the companies using this service are shown as receiving companies 3-1 to 3-L and ordering companies 4-1 to 4-K. Hereinafter, for convenience, when there is no need to distinguish between them, the receiving company will be given the number "3" and the ordering company will be given the number "4". In Figure 1, receiving company 3 corresponds to Company B CB, and ordering company 4 corresponds to Company A CA.

This classification of companies is for convenience, and in reality, companies cannot always be clearly classified. This is because there are many companies that are both order-receiving companies 3 and ordering companies 4. However, for the sake of explanation, we will assume here that companies are classified as either order-receiving companies 3 or ordering companies 4.

As shown in FIG. 3, the receiving company 3 has a system in which a server 31 and multiple terminals 32 are connected to a network 33. A storage area 36 for storing document files D to be automatically imported is secured in the storage 35 mounted on the server 31. The storage area 36 is designated by the receiving company 3 as a place to automatically import document files D. The reason why the receiving company 3 designated such a storage area 36 is because the server 31 is always running. By designating the storage area 36 on the server 31, the receiving company 3 can automatically import document files D at any timing. For convenience, in this service, in addition to the location where the document files D are automatically imported, the timing of the import can also be set. The storage area 36 may be an area secured in the storage mounted on the terminal 32 that is always running. The storage area 36 does not limit the storage 35 in which it exists, or the information processing device that accesses the storage 35. To clearly distinguish storage area 36 from others, it will hereafter be referred to as "imported storage area 36."

Some of the documents exchanged between businesses may be exchanged periodically. For example, between businesses that repeatedly conduct transactions, it is common to decide the timing for sending invoices and to send a single invoice for any outstanding amounts up to the decided timing, partly to reduce the complexity of processing. A document file D of such an invoice is considered to be the document file D to be stored in the import storage area 36. This document file D is usually an aggregate document file D.

On the other hand, the ordering company 4 has one or more terminals 41 installed. The terminals 41 are information processing devices capable of communicating with the AP server 1 via the network N. Employees of the ordering company 4 can use this service using these terminals 41. In order to distinguish this terminal 41 from the terminal 32 of the receiving company 3, this terminal will hereafter be referred to as the "ordering terminal 41". The terminal 32 will hereafter be referred to as the "receiving terminal 32". When there is no need to make such a distinction, that is, when it is acceptable for the terminal to be either the ordering terminal 41 or the receiving terminal 32, the terminal will be referred to as the "business operator terminal".

Unlike the receiving company 3, Fig. 3 does not show a server or the like for the ordering company 4. This is because, when document exchange as shown in Fig. 2 takes place between businesses, it is unlikely that most ordering companies 4 will exchange documents on a regular basis. In other words, it is considered that there are relatively few cases in which an information processing device such as server 31 is involved in this service. However, Fig. 3 does not indicate that the ordering company 4 has not built a system that uses a server.
Furthermore, both the ordering terminal 41 and the order receiving terminal 32 do not have to be nodes of the systems constructed by the ordering company 4 and the order receiving company 3, respectively. In other words, they may be terminals that are portable and can be used anywhere, such as a smartphone or a tablet PC. For this reason, both the order receiving terminal 32 and the ordering terminal 41 may be personal property of employees.

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an AP server according to an embodiment of the information processing device of the present invention. Next, with reference to Figure 4, a specific example of the hardware configuration of AP server 1 will be described. Note that this example configuration is just one example, and the hardware configuration of AP server 1 is not limited to this.

The AP server 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a bus 14, an input/output interface 15, an output unit 16, an input unit 17, a memory unit 18, two communication units 19 and 20, and a drive 21.

The CPU 11 executes various processes according to programs recorded in the ROM 12 and/or programs loaded from the storage unit 18 to the RAM 13. The application program that functions as the AP server 1, that is, the application program developed for providing this service, is stored, for example, in the storage unit 18. The CPU 11 reads the application program into the RAM 13 and executes it, so that the AP server 1 can provide this service to the order-receiving company 3 and the ordering company 4.

The RAM 13 also stores data and the like necessary for the CPU 11 to execute various processes, including various programs executed by the CPU 11.
The CPU 11, the ROM 12, and the RAM 13 are connected to one another via a bus 14. An input/output interface 15 is also connected to this bus 14. An output unit 16, an input unit 17, a storage unit 18, two communication units 19 and 20, and a drive 21 are connected to the input/output interface 15.

The output unit 16 includes a display such as a liquid crystal display. The output unit 16 displays various images under the control of the CPU 11. The output unit 16 may be mounted on the AP server 1, or may be connected as necessary. In other words, the output unit 16 is not a required component.

The input unit 17 is configured to include various hardware buttons such as a keyboard. The configuration may also include one or more pointing devices such as a mouse. The operator can input various information via the input unit 17. This input unit 17 may also be mounted on the AP server 1, but may also be connected as necessary. In other words, the input unit 17 is not an essential component.

The storage unit 18 is, for example, a hard disk device or an auxiliary storage device such as an SSD (Solid State Drive). Large amounts of data are stored in the storage unit 18. The storage unit 18 corresponds to one of the storages ST of the service provider company WA shown in FIG. 1.

The communication unit 19 enables communication with information processing devices used by the receiving company 3 and the ordering company 4 via the network N. The server 31, receiving terminal 32, and ordering terminal 41 shown in FIG. 3 all correspond to those information processing devices. The communication unit 20 enables communication with the DB server 2. Hereinafter, to avoid confusion, the communication unit 19 will be referred to as the "terminal communication unit 19" and the communication unit 20 as the "DB communication unit 20."

The drive 21 is a device that can detachably mount removable media 25, such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, or semiconductor memory card. The drive 21 can, for example, read information from the mounted removable media 25 and write information to the removable media 25. As a result, a program recorded on the removable media 25 can be stored in the storage unit 18 via the drive 21. In addition, the removable media 25 mounted in the drive 21 can be used as a destination to which various data stored in the storage unit 18 is copied or moved.

The hardware resources of the AP server 1 are controlled by various programs including application programs. As a result, the AP server 1 can provide this service to the order-receiving company 3 and the ordering company 4. The various programs include an OS (Operating System). The application programs for providing this service run on the OS.

The DB server 2 can have basically the same hardware configuration as the AP server 1. Therefore, detailed explanation will be omitted here. However, it is preferable that the storage unit constituting the DB server 2 is equipped with a larger capacity storage. The storage unit may be equipped in the DB server 2, or may be connected to the DB server 2. Here, it is assumed that both the AP server 1 and the DB server 2 have a storage unit installed.

Figure 5 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration realized on an AP server according to an embodiment of the information processing device of the present invention. Next, an example of a functional configuration realized on the AP server 1 will be described in detail with reference to Figure 5 and the explanatory diagrams shown in Figures 6 to 14.

As shown in FIG. 5, the CPU 11 of the AP server 1 has a functional configuration including a distribution control unit 111, a company registration unit 112, an authentication unit 113, a document processing control unit 114, a data management unit 115, an automatic division unit 116, a setting management unit 117, an access control unit 118, and a notification control unit 119. These are realized by the CPU 11 executing various programs including the above application programs. As a result, the memory unit 18 has a company registration information storage unit 181, a company master storage unit 182, a package information storage unit 183, an operation record information storage unit 184, an object list storage unit 185, and a setting information storage unit 186 reserved for information storage.

The distribution control unit 111 exchanges data with the terminal communication unit 19, identifies an output destination to which data input from the terminal communication unit 19 should be passed, and passes the data to the identified output destination. In this case, the output destination to which the data is passed is one of the company registration unit 112, the authentication unit 113, and the document processing control unit 114. As a result of the distribution control unit 111 passing the data to the output destination to which it should be passed, the functions required to process the data are operated.

The company registration unit 112 is a function for registering information about businesses that use this service. This information is company registration information, and is stored in the company registration information storage unit 181 secured in the memory unit 18. Most of the company registration information is information entered by businesses. However, some of it is automatically generated by the company registration unit 112 by referencing the company master stored in the company master storage unit 182 secured in the memory unit 18.

As mentioned above, registration is required to use this service. Businesses that request registration are divided into those who are contracting parties to this service, i.e., businesses that are customers, and those that need to register in order to provide this service to one of their customers. Businesses that need to register do not have to enter into a contract as a customer. However, the content of the company registration information, that is, the combination of the main items that make up the company registration information, is the same regardless of the classification of the business. Hereafter, for convenience, business entities that are customers will be referred to as "contracting businesses" and business entities that are not customers will be referred to as "non-contracting businesses."

The company master is a file that compiles information about each company for which information is publicly available. Information about companies includes, for example, company code, corporate name, address, contact information, and industry. In addition, information on creation date and time, and update date and time is added. Here, these are collectively referred to as "individual company master information." As a result, the company master is an aggregate of individual company master information. In addition, in the individual company master information, "company" is used to refer to the company stored in the company master.

The company code is identification information that can uniquely identify a publicly-disclosed company, and is also publicly-disclosed information. The corporate name, address, contact information, and industry are also all publicly-disclosed information. The creation date and time indicates the date and time when the company master individual information was added to the company master, and the update date and time indicates the date and time when the company master individual information was last updated.

On the other hand, the company registration information includes information such as a customer code, usage status, company name, department name, person in charge name, email address, address, creation date and time, and update date and time.
The customer code is identification information that can uniquely identify a registered business. In this service, when a company whose company master individual information is stored in the company master registers, the company code in the company master individual information is used as the customer code. When a company whose company master individual information is not stored in the company master registers, the company registration unit 112 automatically generates unique identification information that is not used in either the company master individual information or the company registration information, and sets it as the customer code. Here, the customer code is assumed to be an authentication ID for logging in.

The usage status is information that indicates the usage status of the Service. Specifically, the usage status is information that indicates whether the business using the Service is a subscriber or not, whether the Service is being used or not, etc.

The business name, department name, person in charge name, email address, and address are all information entered by the business. By entering this information, the business can freely specify the destination of the email notifying that a document file D to be sent has been created, the delivery address when a printed matter is to be delivered by mail, etc.

The creation date and time indicates the date and time when the company registration information was added to the company registration information storage unit 181. The update date and time indicates the date and time when the company registration information was last updated. All of these are added or updated by the company registration unit 112.

Contracting businesses are primarily businesses that have decided to use this service on their own. Businesses that wish to enter into a contract are expected to connect their business terminals to AP server 1 of their own volition and register for use.

On the other hand, non-contracted businesses are businesses that have started to use this service as a result of the introduction of this service by their business partners, etc. It is considered unlikely that they are aware of information about this service in advance. Furthermore, there are some differences in the information that must be entered between non-contracted businesses and contracted businesses. For this reason, this service provides a dedicated site for user registration that is intended for non-contracted businesses, and emails containing embedded link information to the dedicated site are sent to non-contracted businesses. For this reason, contracted businesses are allowed to specify the email addresses of non-contracted businesses that wish to use this service. In this way, this service makes it easier for non-contracted businesses to use this service.

The company registration unit 112 classifies businesses into either contracted businesses or non-contracted businesses, performs processing to have the businesses input the necessary information, and stores the company registration information in the company registration information storage unit 181. The document processing control unit 114 and notification control unit 119 send emails to request non-contracted businesses to access the dedicated site.

The authentication unit 113 performs authentication to confirm whether the business using this service is a registered business. It also manages the information required for authentication. For this purpose, the authentication unit 113 also transmits a web page for login. This page is transmitted when the business terminal is connected to the AP server 1 for a reason other than registration, including when accessing a dedicated site, for example.

The authentication information here is assumed to be an authentication ID and a password. The authentication ID is assumed to be a customer code. The authentication unit 113 also performs processing to accommodate password changes as necessary. The authentication information may be managed separately from the company registration information, but here it is assumed to be included in the company registration information. Under this assumption, the company registration information is updated by the authentication unit 113.

The document processing control unit 114 performs the main processing or control for providing this service. In addition to sending emails requesting access to the dedicated site, this document processing control unit 114 also enables the exchange of document files D between businesses and the registration of various setting information for this exchange. This document processing control unit 114 corresponds to each of the file acquisition means, presentation means, file transmission control means, and notification control means in this embodiment, or corresponds to parts of them.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of a mechanism for exchanging document files realized by the document processing control unit.
6, SS is a storage space for storing various data including document files D, which is realized by the AP server 1 and the DB server 2. This storage space SS is a space virtually realized by storage areas secured in the memory unit 18 of the AP server 1 and the memory unit 200 of the DB server 2. This storage space SS includes all of the individual storage areas SA secured in the storage ST shown in FIG.

Each individual storage area SA can be logically divided into multiple areas. The business can set the logical structure within the individual storage area SA. Figure 6 shows that multiple folders SB, SC are set in each individual storage area SA as its areas. Folder SB is, for example, a root folder, and folder SC is a subfolder contained within folder SB, which is the root folder. The business can also set a hierarchical structure.

Both the invoice DS and the contract DK are document files D to be exchanged. After being imported, these document files D are stored in the individual storage area SA that is associated with the specified or automatically recognized delivery destination. The invoice DS and the contract DK have different types (attributes) as document files D. Therefore, the invoice DS addressed to Company A CA imported from Company B CB is stored in the "Accounting Department" folder SC, which is one of the subfolders SC created in the individual storage area SA for Company A CA. The contracts DK imported from Company C CC and addressed to Companies A CA to C CC are each stored in the "President" folder SC created in each individual storage area SA. If you yourself are included in the delivery destination, your own individual storage area SA can be used as a storage area for the document file D.

For the business operator to which it is assigned, each individual storage area SA becomes a display environment HK for checking document files D. This allows the business operator to check the document files D stored in accordance with the logical structure set in the individual storage area SA and download the document files D.

In the individual storage area SA of Company A's CA, access restrictions are set for both the "Accounting Department" folder SC and the "President" folder SC. As a result, only employees with access rights can view the stored document files D in both the "Accounting Department" folder SC and the "President" folder SC. This service makes it possible to set such access restrictions.

The individual storage area SA is assigned to each business using this service, regardless of whether they have a contract or not. However, with this service, a storage area is reserved for all non-contracted business operators, and the individual storage area SA for each non-contracted business operator is reserved within that storage area. Therefore, the individual storage area SA for each non-contracted business operator is treated like the "Accounting Department" folder SC or the "President" folder SC of Company A CA in Figure 6.

In order to realize the exchange of document file D as shown in FIG. 6, various setting information is referenced. The various setting information is registered by storing it in the setting information storage unit 186 secured in the memory unit 18.

The various types of setting information include usage request setting information, storage setting information, import setting information, distribution management information, and notification management information. All businesses are able to register all setting information. Therefore, all setting information is linked, or associated, with one of the businesses. This association may be achieved by reserving a different storage area for each business, or by adding information that can uniquely identify the business, such as a customer code.

The usage request setting information enables a contracted business to specify a non-contracted business to which it wishes to request the use of this service. To this end, the usage request setting information can be set by each contracted business as necessary. For example, the usage request setting information includes the customer code of the contracted business to be set, as well as information on the non-contracted business that wishes to use this service, such as the business name, department name, and email address. There may be multiple pieces of information on non-contracted businesses.

The email with the embedded link information to the dedicated site is sent to the non-contracted business that entered the information. To do this, the document processing control unit 114 references the usage request setting information to be registered, passes the email address in the usage request setting information to the notification control unit 119, and causes the email to be sent with the link information to the dedicated site embedded in the text. As a result, the non-contracted business can use this service without signing a contract by accessing the dedicated site through the received email and registering for use.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a web page (screen) that displays information on non-contracted business operators who have registered for use based on the use request setting information.
The contracted business can confirm the information actually entered by the non-contracted business that the contracted business requested to use the service. Figure 7 shows an example of the web page that is sent to the contracted business that requested the information confirmation.
When this request is received by the terminal communication unit 19, the received request is output from the terminal communication unit 19 to the CPU 11. The request input to the CPU 11 is passed to the document processing control unit 114 via the distribution control unit 111.

As a result, this web page is generated by the document processing control unit 114 and output to the terminal communication unit 19 via the distribution control unit 111, and is then transmitted to the business terminal used by the contracted business. The company registration information and the usage request setting information are used to generate this web page. Note that a detailed explanation of the operations for requesting transmission of this web page will be omitted.

In FIG. 7, the information for each item of customer code, consent, and receipt date and time is not information entered by the non-contracted business, but information automatically entered by the business registration unit 112 or document processing control unit 114. The receipt date and time is the date and time when the non-contracted business registered for use. For example, the creation date and time in the business registration information is presented to the contracted business as the receipt date and time. Consent is information indicating whether the non-contracted business uses this service, and "Yes" in FIG. 7 indicates that the non-contracted business uses this service. Businesses wishing to enter a contract are not required to enter information regarding this consent. Among the non-contracted businesses requested to use the service in the usage request setting information, "No" is placed as the content of consent for non-contracted businesses that have not registered for use, or have registered for use but whose usage status in the business registration information is not indicating that they are using this service.

By displaying a web page like that shown in FIG. 7, the contracted business that has registered the usage request setting information can check not only the non-contracted business operators that can use this service, but also the non-contracted business operators that do not wish to use this service. This allows the contracted business operator to appropriately exchange document file D with each non-contracted business operator, including non-contracted business operators that have not registered for usage.

Returning to the explanation of various setting information.
The storage setting information specifies a logical hierarchical structure, such as a hierarchical structure of folders, as shown in Fig. 6 for storing document files D in the individual storage area SA. This storage setting information is information input by each business operator. According to this storage setting information, document files D are automatically sorted by department, period, and/or type (attribute) of document file D, and stored in the individual storage area SA.

Contracted businesses can also set access restrictions for each folder. For folders where access restrictions are set, that is, where access restrictions are restricted to which employees can be accessed, it is possible to set, for example, an access ID and password. Such access restrictions can also be set using the storage setting information.

The import setting information enables the AP server 1 to automatically import the document file D. To this end, the import setting information makes it possible to specify the import storage area 36, the timing of the import, and the timing at which the imported document file D can be sent. Only the main document file D can be imported automatically.

The document file D stored in the import storage area 36 is assumed to have its destination identified by automatic recognition of its contents. Therefore, the import setting information does not assume the specification of a destination for the document file D.

In Figure 6, this automatic recognition is available for the invoice DS. For the contract DK, automatic recognition is not assumed to be used, since it is possible that the same contract DK may be sent to multiple different destinations.

The requirements for exchanging document file D will not necessarily be the same for all businesses. For this reason, this service requires each business to register distribution management information, making it possible to respond to differences in requirements between businesses. For this reason, the distribution management information makes it possible to specify the requirements of each target business.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a Web page on which distribution management information can be set.
When a request to set distribution management information is made from a business terminal used by a business, this request is received by the terminal communication unit 19 and then passed to the document processing control unit 114 via the distribution control unit 111. As a result, a Web page (screen) such as that shown in Fig. 8 is also generated and transmitted by the document processing control unit 114.

This web page contains the following fields: customer code, company name, distribution type, distribution enabled, and user-created fields, and the contents of each field are displayed for each business operator. The web page uses each field to display the current contents of distribution management information for each business operator. In reality, distribution management information is organized by business operator and managed as a distribution management information group.

The customer code and company name are items that are expected to be automatically filled in from the company registration information. For this reason, this service provides a search function for businesses that have registered company information. This allows businesses to select from the businesses found by the search function a business to which they wish to add distribution management information, i.e., a business with which they wish to exchange document file D using this service.

The user-created items indicate whether or not the operator has a contract. Figure 8 shows that all operators have contracts.
The items of distribution type and distribution validity indicate the request of the business operator in exchanging the document file D. These two items are the items to be input by the business operator.

The distribution type indicates the method of distribution of the document file D for exchange. The content indicated as "Web" indicates that the document file D is to be exchanged via the network N. "Mail" indicates that the document file D is to be exchanged in the form of a printed matter by mail or the like. Each business can input information in this field, for example, by using a pull-down menu.

"Distribution enabled" is an item that indicates whether or not this service will be used to exchange document file D. A check box is placed in this item column for each business. This allows information to be entered in this column by clicking on the check box. Figure 8 shows that all businesses will use this service.

The notification management information is used to notify the recipient that a new main document file D has been created. In this service, the notification is sent by email. This makes it possible to specify the message template to be inserted into the body of the email, the timing of sending the email, etc., in the notification management information.

The message used for notification should desirably differ depending on the type of document file D. Also, the timing of sending the email should desirably differ depending on how the document file D is imported. If the document file D is imported automatically, it is desirably sent taking into consideration the timing when the document file D will be available for viewing, and if not, it is desirably sent according to the urgency of the document file D. For this reason, this service makes it possible to specify message templates and the timing of sending the email depending on the type of document file D and the import method.

The document processing control unit 114 performs processing to respond to the input of various setting information as described above. Any setting information that the business operator instructs to register is passed from the document processing control unit 114 to the setting management unit 117, which stores it in the setting information storage unit 186. The setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 186 is read out by the setting management unit 117 at the instruction of the document processing control unit 114 and passed to the document processing control unit 114. This allows the business operator to not only add setting information to the setting information storage unit 186, but also change (update) the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 186. Examples of setting information that can be updated include notification management information, import setting information, storage setting information, and distribution management information.

The document processing control unit 114 automatically imports the document file D in accordance with the import setting information. It also imports the document file D uploaded from the business operator terminal in response to a request from the business operator terminal. The document processing control unit 114 changes the content of the processing and control depending on the import method.

When importing a document file D uploaded from a business operator terminal, the document processing control unit 114 has the business operator input individual setting information that can specify the delivery destination (destination) of the document file D and storage conditions, etc. This is because the requests of the sender (sender) of the document file D uploaded from the business operator terminal are not always the same. In other words, this is to be able to flexibly respond to the various requests of the sender. The document file D sent from the business operator terminal and the individual setting information are passed from the document processing control unit 114 to the data management unit 115.

As storage conditions, for example, the period during which downloading is permitted and the number of times downloading is permitted can be specified. In this way, the sender can avoid undesirable sending of document file D by specifying storage conditions.

The data management unit 115 passes the document file D from the document processing control unit 114 to the access control unit 118, and requests the DB server 2 to store the document file D in the specified storage location. The individual setting information is used to identify the specified storage location. As a result, the access control unit 118 transmits, via the DB communication unit 20, a request to the DB server 2 to store the document file D in the specified storage location, together with the document file D.

The DB server 2 is equipped with a memory unit 200, which is a storage unit for storing document files D. In the memory unit 200, a company-specific storage unit 201 is provided for each business operator, which is a storage location for document files D. The DB server 2 stores the received document file D in the company-specific storage unit 201 specified from the received request.

In addition to the data management unit 115, the access control unit 118 accesses the DB server 2 via the DB communication unit 20 in response to instructions from the document processing control unit 114. The document file D sent from the DB server 2 in response to the instructions is passed to the data management unit 115 or document processing control unit 114 that issued the instructions.

The data management unit 115 stores the document file D in the DB server 2, generates package information for managing the document file D, and stores the generated package information in the package information storage unit 183 secured in the memory unit 18. The package information generated when storing the document file D includes entity information and storage information. When transmitting the document file D, distribution information is further generated as package information and stored in the package information storage unit 183. Hereinafter, package information will be used as a general term for all of this information.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining examples of information related to storage of document files and their relationships.
9, the entity file JF is a file that is actually stored, and the document file D is an example of the entity file JF. The entity file JF also includes a file that stores messages sent by the business operator.

The package information is actually generated before the entity file JF is saved. The entity information JI is information for the direct management of the entity file JF. This entity information JI includes information such as the entity file ID, management status, storage location, file name, file type, file size, storage date and time, and update date and time.

The entity file ID is identification information that can uniquely identify the entity file JF. The management status is information that indicates whether the entity file JF exists, whether sending of the entity file JF is valid, etc. The storage location is information that indicates the storage location where the entity file JF is actually stored. All of these are generated by the data management unit 115.

The individual setting information KS or the storage setting information HS is referenced to identify the storage location. The individual setting information KS is that of the business that sent the actual file JF, and the storage setting information HS is that of the business that sent it. When the destination is identified by automatic recognition, the storage setting information HS is referenced, and when automatic recognition is not used to identify the destination, the individual setting information KS is also referenced. This determines the individual storage area SA in which to store the actual file JF, and, for example, a folder within that individual storage area SA.

The file name, file type, and file size are all information obtained from the entity file JF. The save date and time and update date and time are both information added by the data management unit 115.

Storage information AI is information for managing the storage and exchange of entity files JF. This storage information AI includes information such as the storage information ID, entity file ID, sender company code, recipient company code, registration date and time, registered user ID, storage period, storage expiration date and time, scheduled publication date and time, publication expiration date and time, and maximum number of times of retrieval.

The storage information ID is identification information that can uniquely identify the storage information AI. The entity file ID is the entity file ID stored in the associated entity information JI. The sender company code is the customer code of the business that sent the entity file JF. The destination company code is the customer code of the business that makes the entity file JF available for download. The registration date and time is the date and time when the storage information AI was generated. The registered user ID is the customer code of the business that actually imported the entity file JF. Usually, the registered user ID matches the sender company code. The storage period is the period during which the storage information AI should be stored. The storage expiration date and time is the date and time when the storage information AI can be disposed of. The scheduled release date and time is the scheduled date and time when the entity file JF can be downloaded. The release expiration date and time is the date and time when the entity file JF cannot be downloaded. The maximum number of times that the entity file JF can be downloaded is the number of times that the entity file JF can be downloaded.

The sender company code and registered user ID are automatically identified when the entity file JF is imported. The destination company code is information identified from the individual setting information KS when the entity file JF is imported from a business terminal. The storage period, storage expiration date and time, scheduled publication date and time, publication expiration date and time, etc., and the maximum number of times of retrieval can also be specified by the individual setting information KS.

The sender company code, registered user ID, and destination company code are identified by referring to the company master KM or the company registration information KT. In FIG. 9, only one piece of company registration information KT is shown, but in reality, two or more pieces of company registration information KT may be referenced.

When the entity file JF is automatically imported, the destination company code becomes information that can be identified by automatic recognition. The storage period, storage expiration date and time, scheduled publication date and time, publication expiration date and time, etc., and the maximum number of times of retrieval are information that can be specified by the storage setting information HS. Therefore, all of these are determined by referring to the storage setting information HS.

The storage information AI includes the above information. This makes it possible to identify the linked entity information JI, and by referencing that entity information JI, the linked entity file JF can also be identified. By including the customer mode of the sending business as the sending company code, the sending business can check whether the entity file JF it sent has actually been properly imported. This check can also be performed by the receiving business in accordance with the logical structure specified in the storage setting information.

Distribution information DI is information that is generated by downloading an entity file JF or is created in preparation for such downloading, and is used to manage the distribution of the entity file JF by download. This distribution information DI includes information such as the distribution information ID, storage information ID, reception status, sender company code, recipient company code, distribution date and time, number of acquisitions, registration date and time, and update date and time.

In this information, the distribution information ID is identification information that can uniquely identify the distribution information DI. The storage information ID is the storage information ID stored in the storage information AI linked to this distribution information DI. The storage information AI associated with the distribution information DI can be identified by this storage information ID.

The reception status is information that indicates the reception status of the entity file JF by the recipient, and it is possible to check from the reception status whether a download has occurred. The distribution date and time is the date and time when the entity file JF was last downloaded. The number of times acquired is the number of times the entity file JF has actually been downloaded. The registration date and time is the date and time when the distribution information DI was registered. The update date and time is the date and time when the distribution information DI was updated. In the distribution information DI, the distribution date and time is updated when the entity file JF is downloaded, so the update date and time usually match the distribution date and time.

As mentioned above, this service allows the sender to set an upper limit on the number of times an entity file JF can be downloaded. Such download restrictions are implemented using distribution information DI. The upper limit on the number of downloads itself can be specified in both the import setting information and the individual setting information KS.

The operation record information KI is information prepared to enable confirmation of various operations, including downloads to each entity file JF. In addition to, for example, a record ID and creation date and time, this operation record information KI stores operation content information indicating the content of the operation performed on the entity file JF for each operation performed on the entity file JF. The operation content information includes, for example, information such as the operation date and time, the operation type, and the saved information ID.

The operation date and time is the date and time when a management operation was performed on the entity file JF. The saved information ID makes it possible to uniquely identify the entity file JF on which the operation was performed. The operation type is information that indicates the type of operation that was performed. The type of operation includes not only downloading the entity file JF, but also storing the entity file JF, etc.

In this service, by storing the entity file JF, entity information JI, stored information AI, and distribution information DI are generated and stored as package information, and operation record information KI is updated. The distribution information DI and operation record information KI are updated as necessary by operations performed on the stored entity file JF. This makes it possible to download the entity file JF in a format that meets the needs of the sender.

The package information and operation record information KI are generated and updated by the data management unit 115. In addition to a package information storage unit 183 for storing package information, the memory unit 18 also has an operation record information storage unit 184 for storing operation record information KI. This allows the data management unit 115 to access the memory unit 18 and store the generated or updated package information or operation record information.

The data management unit 115 generates an object list representing downloadable document files D by business operator and attribute, and stores it in the object list storage unit 185 of the memory unit 18. The object list is a file that compiles, for example, for each downloadable document file D, information such as the storage information ID in the storage information AI, the actual file ID, the sender company code, the recipient company code, the publication deadline date and time, and the maximum number of times it can be obtained. When a downloadable document file D is stored, or when a document file D that cannot be downloaded is generated, the data management unit 115 updates the corresponding object list.

The document processing control unit 114 passes the necessary information to the data management unit 115 and instructs it to generate or update package information. It also obtains the necessary package information or storage setting information HS through the data management unit 115 and performs control using the obtained information. As a result, the document processing control unit 114 imports the entity file JF, manages the imported entity file JF, and performs operations on the entity file JF in accordance with the sender's requests, including downloading, etc.

Package information is combined with the entity file JF and is essential information for managing the entity file JF. Therefore, the package information storage unit 183 for storing package information is a storage area shared by each individual storage area SA. In other words, each individual storage area SA is realized by the package information storage unit 183 and each company-specific storage unit 201 secured in the memory unit 200. Each individual storage area SA may be one or more logically divided areas, or one or more physically divided areas, or storage.

When a document file D transmitted from a business operator terminal is imported, the document processing control unit 114 passes the individual setting information KS and, for example, the customer code identified at login, along with the document file D to the data management unit 115. The data management unit 115 then references the storage setting information HS of the delivery destination specified in the individual setting information KS to determine the storage location of the document file D, and has the access control unit 118 cause the DB server 2 to store the document file D in the determined storage location. Meanwhile, the data management unit 115 further references the company master KM and company registration information KT to generate at least entity information JI and storage information AI, and update the operation record information KI.

The document processing control unit 114 refers to the import timing setting information, accesses the import storage area 36 specified by the import setting information, and checks whether or not there is a document file D to be imported. If the document processing control unit 114 is able to confirm the document file D to be imported, it imports the document file D by reading it out, and passes the imported document file D to the automatic division unit 116.

The automatic division unit 116 automatically recognizes the delivery destinations and divides an aggregated document file D, which is an aggregate of multiple document files D with different delivery destinations, by delivery destination. As a result, if the document file D is an aggregated document file D, the automatic division unit 116 divides the aggregated document file D into divided document files D equal to the number of delivery destinations and passes them to the data management unit 115. At this time, for example, information indicating the delivery destinations is also passed to the data management unit 115. The aggregated document file D is the document file D of the main document.

The data management unit 115, in the same manner as in the case of document files D sent from the carrier terminal, refers to the storage setting information HS corresponding to the delivery destination, determines the storage location of each document file D, and stores each document file D in the determined storage location. For each document file D, package information is generated, and operation content information for the number of document files D is added to the operation record information KI.

Specifically, the automatic division unit 116 divides an aggregate document file D, which contains a plurality of invoices with different delivery destinations, into divided document files D as follows.
A document usually has a character string that indicates the type of the document. For example, in an invoice DS, that character string is "invoice." In that invoice DS, there are usually character strings that indicate the invoice date, which is the date the invoice DS was issued, and the destination (invoice destination) of the invoice DS. This service focuses on this fact and divides the aggregate document file D by automatic recognition.

For this purpose, the service uses automatic recognition, that is, character recognition. The character recognition extracts character strings that can be keys, that is, identification information, for identifying the type of document, and identifies the type of document and its boundaries with other documents by considering the recognition results of the extracted character strings, their arrangement, and their positional relationship. As a result, if it is confirmed that, for example, character strings that can be interpreted as the invoice date and delivery destination are arranged on the same page in addition to the character string that can be interpreted as "invoice" or its synonyms, which indicates an attribute, the document starting from that page is determined to be an invoice DS. As a result, the data management unit 115 can determine the storage location of the divided document file D from the delivery destination, invoice date, and attribute, and store the divided document file D in the determined storage location.
The last page of this invoice DS is either the last page of the aggregate document file D or the page immediately preceding another subsequently identified document. In this service, the character string assumed to be the destination is a character string representing the customer code so that the destination can be uniquely identified.

Normally, the format of an invoice DS varies depending on the recipient. In order to standardize the format, it is necessary to obtain approval from each business that is a potential recipient. Therefore, when there are many businesses that need to obtain approval, a very complicated process must be carried out. Because of these inconveniences, this service does not require standardization of the format of various documents, including invoice DS. Character recognition is used to extract character strings that serve as document identification information, making standardization of the format unnecessary. Because standardization of the format of various documents is not required, the impact of using this service is smaller for businesses that use this service.

When the document processing control unit 114 automatically imports a document file D, it generates and sends an email with a message inserted in the body of the email notifying each recipient of the document file D that a document file D to be downloaded has been generated. The notification control unit 119 generates the email at the instruction of the document processing control unit 114.

As described above, the message to be inserted in the body of the email is specified by the import setting information. For this purpose, the import setting information includes, for example, information indicating the storage destination of the file in which the template of the message is stored. The document processing control unit 114 uses this information to read the template of the message, for example, from the storage unit 18, and passes it to the notification control unit 119. The document processing control unit 114 specifies the timing of sending the email from the import setting information, and specifies the sending timing to the notification control unit 119. In addition, the data management unit 115 acquires company registration information KT for each destination, and extracts information such as email address, registered name, and department name from the acquired company registration information KT. All of this extracted information is passed to the notification control unit 119. As a result, the notification control unit 119 generates an email in which a message in which the registered name and department name are added to the template of the message are inserted in the body for each destination. Each generated email is output from the notification control unit 119 to the terminal communication unit 19 via the distribution control unit 111 at the timing specified by the document processing control unit 114, and is sent to the corresponding destination.

The automatic division unit 116 may be configured to use character recognition to combine multiple divided document files D into one file as necessary. This is because multiple divided document files D with the same destination may be divided from the aggregate document file D that is imported at the timing specified by the import timing setting information. By combining such divided document files D into an aggregate document file D, the destination business operator can check the contents of all divided document files D by downloading a single aggregate document file D. This improves convenience for the destination business operator and allows the contents of all divided document files D to be checked more reliably. For the sender business operator, when sending the invoice DS by mail, multiple mail pieces can be avoided, so postal charges can be kept to a minimum.

The import timing setting information allows document file D to be imported automatically at set intervals. Documents are often exchanged between businesses at set intervals. For example, most order-receiving companies that sell product P, such as Company B CB, typically request payment for the product P sold over a set period for each purchaser. Specifically, it is common to request payment on a monthly basis, for example. This is because if payment were required for each transaction in which product P is sold, not only would the order-receiving company's billing work become cumbersome, but the ordering company's payment work would also become cumbersome.

When billing for product P at a set period, the receiving company needs to create at least one invoice DS. However, if there are many types of product P or if product P has been sold many times, creating one invoice DS can be a cumbersome process. This is because one invoice DS contains a large amount of information, and many tasks are required to collect the information to be recorded on one invoice DS and to confirm the recorded information. For this reason, even if the billing destination is the same business entity, it is common to create an invoice DS to bill for the price each time the price to be paid is determined, for example, for each transaction. As a result, the reality is that an aggregated document file D is often divided into multiple divided document files D with the same delivery destination. This means that combining multiple divided document files D into an aggregated document file D is very effective in providing higher quality services.

Since the combined divided document files D are treated as one document file D, it is assumed that the destinations of the divided document files D to be combined are the same. However, in addition to the destination, conditions that the divided document files D to be combined must satisfy may be set. The conditions may be set based on one or more of the document type (attributes), date, and transaction number. The transaction number is identification information that can uniquely identify a transaction, and is assigned by one of the business operators involved in the transaction.
The conditions may be set by the service provider WA, or may be arbitrarily set by the business operator. In other words, for example, the business operator may prepare setting information for combining divided document files D as setting information that can be arbitrarily set. In identifying the destination, it is desirable to use at least a customer code. In addition to the customer code, one or more of an email address, an address, and a department name may be combined.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of an automatic document capture process executed by the document processing control unit.
When the document processing control unit 114 refers to the import setting information and automatically imports the target document file D, it executes an automatic document import process, an example of which is shown in Fig. 10. This automatic document import process is executed, for example, every time a specified period of time has elapsed or every time a specified timing arrives. Here, the automatic document import process will be described in detail with reference to Fig. 10. It is assumed that the document processing control unit 114 executes the process.

First, in step S11, the document processing control unit 114 reads out the import setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 186. In the following step S12, the document processing control unit 114 selects one of the read import setting information. Then, the process proceeds to step S13, where the document processing control unit 114 determines whether the import timing specified by the selected import setting information has arrived. If the current date and time is after the date and time specified by the import timing, the import timing has arrived, the determination in step S13 becomes YES, and the process proceeds to step S14. If not, the determination in step S13 becomes NO, and the process proceeds to step S20.

In step S14, the document processing control unit 114 checks the files stored in the target folder specified by the import setting information as the import storage area 36. In the next step S15, the document processing control unit 114 determines whether or not the target document file D to be imported is in the target folder. If one or more target document files D are present in the target folder, the determination in step S15 becomes YES and the process proceeds to step S16. If not, that is, if the target document file D does not exist, the determination in step S15 becomes NO and the process proceeds to step S20.

In step S16, the document processing control unit 114 imports the target document file D by reading it out. In the following step S17, the document processing control unit 114 passes the imported document file D to the automatic division unit 116 and instructs it to divide the document file D by delivery destination through automatic recognition. On the other hand, the document processing control unit 114 instructs the data management unit 115 to store the document files D by delivery destination. In response to this instruction, each document file D is automatically sorted by the data management unit 115 and stored in the company-specific storage unit 201. In this way, in step S17, the document processing control unit 114 performs processing to automatically sort and store the imported document files D.

In the next step S18, the document processing control unit 114 instructs the data management unit 115 to generate package information. In the following step S19, the document processing control unit 114 sets up the notification control unit 119 for each stored document file D to send an email to the business to which the document file D is to be delivered. As a result, the notification control unit 119 generates an email for each document file D notifying that a downloadable document file D has been generated, in accordance with the contents of the import setting information set by the business to which the document file D was imported.

In step S20, which follows, the document processing control unit 114 determines whether or not there is any other selected import setting information. If there is any unselected import setting information, the determination in step S20 becomes YES and the process returns to step S12. As a result, one of the unselected import setting information is newly selected. On the other hand, if there is no unselected import setting information, the determination in step S20 becomes NO and the automatic document import process ends.

The distribution, i.e., sending, of document file D imported by executing this automatic import process is managed by distribution management information. In the distribution management information, it is also possible to set sending of document file D in printed form, as shown in FIG. 8. Printing of document file D for sending in printed form may be performed by document processing control unit 114, for example, in step S17. The printing can be performed by data management unit 115 by instructing data management unit 115 to print with reference to distribution management information. In response to this instruction, data management unit 115 determines whether printing is necessary for each document file D, and causes printing to be performed according to the result of this determination.

When printing is to be performed, the data management unit 115 generates image data, for example, from the document file D, and passes the generated image data to the access control unit 118 together with a command to instruct printing. As a result, the image data is sent to the printer 5 via the access control unit 118 and the DB communication unit 20, and is printed by the printer 5 on paper media, etc.

The document file D may be printed by an instruction from an operator. For example, the designation of the storage location where the document file D is stored corresponds to the designation of the attributes of the document file D. By designating the target period, among the document files D stored in the designated storage location, the document files D stored during the target period can be identified by referring to the entity information JI and the storage information AI. Thus, the operator can print the document file D he/she wishes to print at any time. The operator's instruction may be made possible by operating the input unit 17 shown in FIG. 4, but may also be made possible by a terminal connected to the AP server 1 via a LAN. When the instruction from the terminal is made possible, the request from the terminal is received by the DB communication unit 20 and passed to the document processing control unit 114 via the access control unit 118.

The aggregate document file D may also be sent from a business operator terminal. For this reason, the individual setting information KS may be able to specify whether or not to enable identification of the destination by automatic recognition, the timing at which sending is enabled, etc. If such specification is possible, the process executed when importing the document file D will be similar to the automatic import process described above.

Hereinafter, the processes executed by the document processing control section 114 and the data management section 115 will be further described with reference to the explanatory diagrams shown in FIGS.
FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the processes executed by the document processing control unit and the data management unit when a document file transmitted from a business terminal is imported.

For the sake of convenience, in FIG. 11, the user who sends document file D from the business terminal is shown as sender US, and document file D is shown to be directly imported from sender US into document processing control unit 114. Sender US can be an employee of either order-receiving company 3 or ordering company 4, and is not limited to only one of them. Document file D is shown as "storage item HB". Also, numbers 1 to 5 in FIG. 11 indicate the order in which the actions described following that number are performed. For example, "1. Registration request" indicates the first action among the actions preceded by a number. Here, the explanation will follow the order of the numbers.

The sender US designates the storage item HB, which is the document file D, and inputs the individual setting information KS to instruct registration. This instruction causes a registration request to be made to the document processing control unit 114, and the document file D is sent together with, for example, the individual setting information KS, and is imported into the document processing control unit 114. The destination AS and storage conditions HJ, which are information shown in FIG. 11, are both information included in the individual setting information KS. The sender BM is information that represents, for example, a business terminal, and this information is linked to the customer code when the sender US logs in.

The document processing control unit 114 passes the captured stored item HB, sender BM, and individual setting information KS to the data management unit 115 and instructs it to store the stored item HB. In response to this instruction, the data management unit 115 extracts information on the business corresponding to the destination AS from the company master KM and each company registration information KT, using the destination AS. It also extracts the storage setting information HS corresponding to the destination AS. The data management unit 115 refers to the information extracted from the company master KM or the company registration information KT, the individual setting information KS, and the storage setting information HS to determine the storage location of the stored item HB and generate entity information JI and storage information AI. At this time, a storage information ID 121, an entity file ID, etc. are also generated.

After generating the package information of the entity information JI and the storage information AI, the data management unit 115 registers the stored item HB in the object list OL corresponding to its attributes. This object list OL is the object list OL identified by the destination AS. After this registration, the data management unit 115 stores the stored item HB and the package information in the individual storage area SA corresponding to the destination AS. After this storage, the data management unit 115 generates operation content information for the operation that stored the stored item HB, and adds it to the operation record information KI. In this way, the operation that stored the stored item HB is recorded as history.

If the stored item HB is a document file D of the main document, for example, after the operation record information KI containing the operation content information is added, the document processing control unit 114 causes an email to be sent to the destination of the stored item HB to notify that the stored item HB has been newly registered. To this end, the notification control unit 119 is passed the destination corporate name, person in charge name, and email address, as well as a message template and information specifying the timing of sending.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the processes executed by the document processing control section and the data management section when a registered document file is acquired by a delivery destination.
In Fig. 12, similarly to Fig. 11, the user who causes the business operator terminal to acquire the document file D is shown as the recipient UJ, and the recipient UJ is shown to receive the stored item HB directly from the document processing control unit 114. Like the sender US, the recipient UJ can be an employee of either the order-receiving company 3 or the order-placing company 4, and is not limited to only one of them. Also, the numbers 1 to 6 in Fig. 12 indicate the order in which the actions described following the number are performed. For example, "1. List acquisition request" indicates the first action among the actions preceded by a number. Here again, the explanation will be given following the order of the numbers.

The recipient UJ, for example, specifies extraction criteria YC and instructs the display of a list of stored items HB that satisfy the extraction criteria YC. This instruction causes a command to be sent along with the specified extraction criteria YC, resulting in a list acquisition request being made to the document processing control unit 114. This command causes the document processing control unit 114 to pass along extraction criteria YC and recipient information USJ, which is information representing the recipient UJ that received the command, to the data management unit 115. For convenience, the recipient information USJ is assumed to be a customer code.

The data management unit 115 reads out the recipient information USJ and the object list OL specified by the extraction condition YC from the object list storage unit 185. From among the stored items HB registered in the read object list OL, it further extracts stored items HB that satisfy the extraction condition YC. The data management unit 115 then creates a stored item list HL that shows a list of the extracted stored items HB. When extracting stored items from among the stored items HB registered in the object list OL, package information is also referenced as necessary.

The created storage list HL is passed to the document processing control unit 114. The document processing control unit 114 creates a web page that contains the stored item list HL, for example, and transmits the created web page to the recipient UJ. The web page allows the user to select a stored item HB from the list and to download the selected stored item HB.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a Web page screen on which a storage item can be selected and the selected storage item can be downloaded.
This web page, as shown in FIG. 13, displays information about the stored item HB that can be selected and downloaded in a table format. The information includes the file name, download, folder, and delivery date and time. The file name is the file name of the stored item HB, and the folder represents the path to the folder in which the stored item HB is stored. For example, the folder in the row with the file name "Lump-sum invoice 202009-5.PDF" is "Lump-sum invoice/2020/September." This indicates that the stored item HB with this file name is stored in the "September" folder, which is a subfolder of the "2020" folder, which is a subfolder of the "Lump-sum invoice" folder.

Download also indicates whether the corresponding storage HB has been downloaded or not. In FIG. 13, "Not yet" indicates that the download has not been performed. For storage HBs that have been downloaded, "Completed" is displayed instead of "Not yet." Distribution date and time indicates the date and time when the storage HB became available for distribution.

Each row has a check box. This check box is used to select the stored item HB to be downloaded. On the web page, as shown in FIG. 13, a button with the character string "download all" is placed as a button to instruct downloading. Also, each file name is a link button with link information to the stored item HB embedded in it. As a result, the stored item HB can be downloaded by clicking on any file name, or by operating one or more check boxes to display check marks, and then clicking the "download all" button. If the "download all" button is clicked when no check marks are displayed, all stored item HBs with information placed thereon will be downloaded.

When a file name or the "Bulk Download" button is clicked, the document processing control unit 114 is notified of this. In response to this notification, the document processing control unit 114 displays a pop-up PU1 for confirming with the recipient UJ whether or not it is OK to actually perform the download, as shown in FIG. 13. The pop-up PU1 has an "OK" button for instructing the recipient UJ to perform the download, and a "Cancel" button for instructing the recipient UJ to cancel the download. This causes the recipient UJ to click one of the two buttons. Thus, the document processing control unit 114 actually downloads the specified storage item HB after confirming that the recipient UJ has clicked the "OK" button.

When an operation to instruct the download of the stored item HB is performed on a web page, information indicating the selected stored item HB is sent from the receiver UJ as an object acquisition request along with a command requesting the download. In response to this request, the document processing control unit 114 passes the information indicating the stored item HB to the data management unit 115 and instructs the extraction of the stored item HB specified by the information. As a result, the data management unit 115 extracts the stored item HB stored as a file in the individual storage area SA and passes it to the document processing control unit 114. As a result, the document processing control unit 114 downloads the stored item HB specified by the receiver UJ to the receiver UJ.

The data management unit 115 passes the storage item HB to be downloaded to the document processing control unit 114, and creates or updates distribution information DI by downloading the storage item HB. The created or updated distribution information DI is stored in the individual storage area SA.

If this is the first download of the stored item HB, new distribution information DI is created, and if this is the second or subsequent download, the existing distribution information DI is updated. When the distribution information DI is updated, the number of downloads is incremented. This makes it possible to check the status of the download of the corresponding stored item HB.

After creating or updating the distribution information DI, the data management unit 115 creates operation content information by downloading the stored item HB, and adds the created operation content information to the operation record information KI. This records the operation of downloading the stored item HB as a history.

As described above, if the storage item HB downloaded by the recipient UJ is the main document file D, the service supports the exchange of subordinate document files D and messages. With this support, the service not only supports the exchange of the main document file D, but also the desired information transfer between businesses that occurs as a result of the exchange of the main document file D.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a Web page screen for enabling registration of a subsidiary document file.
This Web page is created and sent by, for example, specifying a document file D of a subordinate document or a destination of a message. On this Web page, information on the document file D of a subordinate document previously registered is arranged in a table format, and an "upload" button is arranged. When the "upload" button is clicked, a pop-up PU2 is displayed that allows the user to specify the document file D to be registered, i.e., uploaded, and to input a message as a comment. The Web page shown in FIG. 14 is created by the document processing control unit 114 passing the recipient information UJI, the destination AS, and extraction conditions different from those shown in FIG. 11 to the data management unit 115, and acquiring the necessary information from the data management unit 115. The pop-up PU2 is also sent from the document processing control unit 114 to the recipient UJ in response to a notification of the click on the "upload" button.

As shown in FIG. 14, the pop-up PU2 has a display area HA1 in which information about the document file D specified for uploading is arranged in a tabular format. The pop-up PU2 also has an area HA2 for specifying the document file D, and an input box HA3 for entering comments. Two buttons are provided, each with the strings "Upload" and "Close" written on it. The area HA2 has a "Select file" button.

The document file D to be uploaded can be specified by dragging and dropping the document file D into the document file D area HA2, or by clicking the "Select file" button and specifying the document file D. The information of the document file D specified in this way is placed in the display area HA1.

A message can be entered as a comment in the input box HA3 by displaying a cursor (not shown) in the input box HA3. This allows the recipient UJ to enter the message he or she wishes to convey to the recipient as a comment in the input box HA3.

An input box HA4 is also located above the pop-up PU2. This input box HA4 is for specifying the storage destination of the specified document file D, etc. To make this specification easier, a pull-down button PB is located at the end of the input box HA4. This pull-down button PB is for displaying a list of storage destinations selectable by the recipient UJ as a pull-down menu. This allows the recipient UJ to select the storage destination of the specified document file D from among the storage destinations indicated in the pull-down menu that is displayed when the recipient UJ clicks the pull-down button PB.

The "Upload" button is a button for instructing uploading of the specified document file D or the input message. The "Close" button is a button for instructing to delete the pop-up PU2. After selecting a storage destination and specifying at least one of the document file D and inputting a message, clicking the "Upload" button uploads the specified document file D or message. The document processing control unit 114 causes the uploaded document file D or message to be stored in the individual storage area SA that includes the selected storage destination via the data management unit 115.
The message is converted into a file and stored as an actual file JF. The file name is automatically generated using, for example, a part of the message entered as a comment, or the upload date and time. Package information is also generated separately.

Note that the document files D of the subordinate documents uploaded from the destination and the messages may be stored in a storage location separate from the main document file D. For this reason, the storage setting information HS may be capable of distinguishing documents into main documents and subordinate documents and specifying a hierarchical logical structure for storing the document files D for each.

The document file D and messages (comments) uploaded in this way can be downloaded by the business designated as the destination, for example, in the same manner as in FIG. 12. Using extraction conditions similar to extraction condition YC, the business can also specify the range of downloadable document files D and comments (messages). This allows the business that has sent, for example, an invoice DS, which is the main document, to check the payment statement, which is a subsidiary document, and even messages from the destination. The exchange of such subsidiary document files D and messages is also realized by the document processing control unit 114. Both the subsidiary document files D and messages correspond to the corresponding information in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the document file D that will be the main document is determined in advance, and when the document file D is registered, the existence of the document file D is notified by email to the business entity that is to download it. However, the notification method is not limited to email. For example, when the AP server 1 is accessed and logged in, the existence of the newly registered document file D may be notified by using a pop-up or the like.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that only one email address is registered as the destination of the notification email, but multiple email addresses may be registered. Accordingly, multiple department names or person in charge names may be registered. For email addresses, for example, email addresses for the target department and email addresses for related departments may be divided, and multiple target departments and related departments may be registered. In that case, the department name inserted in the message may be only the name of the target department.

In this embodiment, user registration is performed for each business, but one business may be able to perform multiple user registrations. That is, for example, user registration may be performed by department or by person in charge of the business. In the example shown in FIG. 6, user registration may be performed by the accounting department and the president of CA of Company A. In that case, the customer code may be, for example, a unique code common to CA of Company A with a subcode that differs depending on the department or person in charge. When such a customer code is used, the company code existing in the company master KM can be used as the customer code, or as part of it.

The combining using character recognition may be performed on existing document files D, not on divided document files D. For example, when downloading document files D (storage items HB), document files D extracted from a selected range or document files D that satisfy specified conditions may be combined, and the combined document file D may be downloaded. In other words, character recognition may be used to identify document files D to be combined from among existing document files D. When combining existing document files D, it is desirable to leave the existing document files D as they are, since the business operator may wish to combine other document files D. In such a case, the combining of existing document files D may be performed, for example, by having the data management unit 115 pass the document file D to be subjected to character recognition to the automatic division unit 116.

Since the existing document file D has been sent to the destination, the information to be recognized in order to identify the document file D to be merged does not include the customer code indicating the destination. However, the department name, email address, etc. may be included in the information. The document type, date, and transaction number may also be included in the information. The sender's customer code may also be included in the information. Any character string that appears in common in the document files D to be merged may also be included in the information.
By combining document files D, business operators can obtain a more desirable document file D (aggregated document file D) according to the work content, etc. It is also possible to obtain an aggregated document file D that is optimal for the work. Combining reduces the number of document files D to be handled, making management easier. For these reasons, combining document files D has advantages both in terms of work and management.
As an example of combining document files D, it is possible to combine document files D of the same type. It is also possible to limit the range of document files D to be combined depending on a period. For example, in the case of an invoice DS, it is possible to combine document files D sent from each company in July, and use the combined aggregated document file D for making payments to each company.

1 AP server, 2 DB server, 3, 3-1 to L Order receiving company, 4-1 to K Ordering company, 11 CPU, 18, 200 Memory unit, 111 Distribution control unit, 112 Company registration unit, 113 Authentication unit, 114 Document processing control unit, 115 Data management unit, 116 Automatic division unit, 117 Setting management unit, 118 Access control unit, 119 Notification control unit, 181 Company registration information storage unit, 182 Company master storage unit, 183 Package information storage unit, 184 Operation record information storage unit, 185 Object list storage unit, 186 Setting information storage unit, Company-specific storage unit 201 Company-specific storage unit, CA Company A, CB Company B, CC Company C, D Document file, SA Individual storage area, ST Storage, WA Service provider

Claims (5)

a file acquisition means for acquiring a document file created by a second business entity for delivery to the first business entity;
a presentation means for presenting the document file to a first employee of the first business entity by transmitting file information representing the document file to a first terminal used by the first employee;
a file transmission control means for controlling transmission of the document file presented by the presentation means to the first terminal;
a storage unit that stores import setting information that specifies the timing for importing the document file;
the file acquisition means, by referring to the import setting information stored in the storage unit, accesses a storage location designated in advance by the second business whenever a predetermined period of time has elapsed or whenever a predetermined timing has arrived, thereby automatically acquiring the document file stored in the storage location, and by referring to the import setting information, designates a timing at which the acquired document file can be transmitted to the first terminal .
Information processing device. a storage control unit for controlling storage of the document file to be sent to the first business in a dedicated storage area secured in one or more storage devices for each of the first business entities;
The storage control means stores the document files created by a plurality of different second business operators for delivery to the same first business operator in the same storage area, and stores each of the document files created by the same second business operator for delivery to a plurality of different first business operators in a different storage area.
The information processing device according to claim 1 . a notification control means for, when a new document file that can be presented by the presentation means is generated, notifying a first business entity that is a destination of the document file that the document file is generated;
The information processing device according to claim 1 , further comprising: the file transmission control means is capable of controlling, when at least one of another document file corresponding to the document file and a message is transmitted as corresponding information from the first terminal, to a second terminal used by a second employee of the second business entity;
4. The information processing device according to claim 1. the presentation means is capable of extracting document files that satisfy the extraction condition received from the first terminal from among the transmittable document files, and transmitting file information of the extracted document files to the first terminal.
5. The information processing device according to claim 1.

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