JPH1139295A - Document sharing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable clients belonging to different Groupware systems to share a document as if they belong to the same Groupware. SOLUTION: In a certain Groupware system A, a plurality of clients 2A shares the shared document 3A of a server 1A. The document 3A is transmitted to another Groupware system B by using standardized mail, such as the SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol), etc., at prescribed timing. A shred document 3B received by means of a server 1B is shared by the clients 2B belonging to the Groupware system B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document sharing method for sharing a document such as a database between a plurality of groupware systems employing different document sharing modes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plurality of computers are mutually connected via a network such as a LAN (local area network) to share documents and databases. In such a system, for example, a certain computer serves as a server, and another computer accesses documents and databases existing in the server to acquire the information. Conventionally, various forms of protocols and software have been provided for sharing such documents and databases. A group of computers sharing such a document is called a groupware system.

[0003]

However, the conventional system as described above has the following problems to be solved. Conventionally, a groupware system in an optimal form has been selected and operated according to the type and number of computers belonging to a group or the types and properties of documents and databases to be shared. Various conveniences are achieved inside each groupware system by accessing a common information source. However, usually, between different types of groupware systems,
Such documents cannot be shared due to differences in protocols and the like. Therefore, in a certain groupware system, when information relating to a provided document or database is notified to a computer belonging to another groupware system, a message including such information is individually transmitted using broadcast or the like each time. The technique of doing was adopted.

However, this method cannot be applied to the field of sharing documents for sharing software development and increasing productivity. Further, when trying to improve the efficiency of the task of notifying and communicating necessary information beyond the barriers of the groupware system, a large amount of message communication is required and complicated procedures are required.

[0005]

The present invention employs the following structure to solve the above problems. <Structure 1> When there are a plurality of groupware systems adopting different document sharing modes, a shared document existing in a server of one of the groupware systems is
A document sharing method between groupware systems, wherein the document is transferred to a server of another groupware system and copied using a mail according to a standardized protocol.

<Structure 2> When there are a plurality of groupware systems adopting different document sharing modes,
Synchronization information for matching the contents of the sending and receiving documents is added to a part of the shared document existing in the server of any groupware system, and using a standardized protocol mail, A document sharing method between groupware systems, wherein the document is transferred to a server of another groupware system and copied into a document on a receiving side.

<Configuration 3> When there are a plurality of groupware systems adopting different document sharing modes,
Extract the data after the time stamp recorded for synchronization between the sender and the receiver in the database existing in the server of any groupware system, and separate the data using a standardized protocol mail. A document sharing method between groupware systems, wherein the document is transferred to a server of the groupware system and imported into a database on the receiving side.

<Structure 4> In any one of Structures 1 to 3, the mail according to the standardized protocol is characterized in that target data is converted into text-based data and transmitted / received as a document on a bulletin board. And
A document sharing method between groupware systems.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below using specific examples. <Specific Example> FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a document sharing method according to the present invention. The groupware system A and the groupware system B shown in the drawing are, for example, systems adopting different document sharing modes. As a form of sharing a document on a bulletin board via a network, for example, an application operating on a Windows 95 operating system provided by Microsoft Corporation, such as Microsoft Exchange, is well known.

[0010] The groupware system A shown in FIG. 1 converts a shared document 3A existing in a server 1A into a plurality of clients 2A.
Are shared and used. In addition, the groupware system B uses the shared document 3B existing in the server 1B.
Is shared and used by a plurality of clients 2B. If the document sharing mode of the groupware system A and the groupware system B, that is, the software and protocol for controlling the document sharing are different, for example, the client 2B cannot directly share and access the shared document 3A of the server 1A.

Therefore, in the present invention, the shared document 3A existing in the server 1A is transmitted to the server 1B by using a mail according to a standardized protocol. An example of an email using this standardized protocol is SMTP (Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol) or X. 400 (Mess
age Handling System). These protocols are typical protocols for handling e-mail in conformity with the old CCITT standard.

In these protocols, a transmission target is converted into text-based data and transmitted. The shared document 3A converted into text data by the server 1A is received and restored by the server 1B to be a shared document 3B.
If such mail transmission is performed periodically, for example, at predetermined time intervals, the contents of the shared document 3A existing in the server 1A and the shared document 3B existing in the server 1B can be synchronized and synchronized. The client 2B belonging to the groupware system B can operate as if sharing the shared document 3A existing in the server 1A by accessing and using the shared document 3B existing in the server 1B.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a sharing mode. FIG. 7A shows an example in which a shared document 3A is displayed on a bulletin board 10 provided in the groupware system A shown in FIG. 1, for example. It is assumed that the shared document 3A is created by, for example, text data. in this case,
The shared document 3A is transmitted as an e-mail to the bulletin board 10B of the groupware system B by e-mail using the standardized protocol described above. The shared document 3B thus obtained is used as a shared document on the bulletin board by the groupware system B.

In such a case, the shared document 3A
Each time is rewritten, an e-mail is sent and the bulletin board 10
If the shared document 3B of B is updated, appropriate synchronization can be performed. As a method of synchronization, the shared document 3A
Irrespective of the rewriting process, it is also conceivable to send a fixed periodic mail by a timer.

(B) and (c), although illustration of a bulletin board is omitted, both are data displayed at a location shared by each groupware system. When the shared document 3A is, for example, a document having a relatively large data amount, in this example, only the additional sentence 4 is a mail as the groupware system B
Sent to. A mail may be sent when the additional sentence 4 is written in the shared document 3A, or information for distinguishing the additional sentence from other parts, which will be described later, is added, and the mail is sent at an arbitrary timing. You may make it transmit.

(C) is not only a simple format document,
A database 5A having a relatively complicated configuration is to be shared by other groupware systems. In this case, the method of copying the entire database 5A every time is not efficient because the data transfer amount becomes too large. Therefore, at a predetermined timing, the data added to the one previously transmitted to the other party is extracted as the extraction sentence 6. Then, this is converted into data in a format suitable for mail by a standardized protocol. Then, the data on the receiving side is inversely converted, and the same extracted sentence 6 as the data on the transmitting side is reproduced. By importing this into the database 5B, the database 5B is synchronized with the same contents as the database 5A on the transmission side. By periodically transmitting such mails, the database can be shared between the groupware system A and the groupware system B.

In the above example, a case has been described in which mail is transmitted only from the groupware system A to the groupware system B. However, when a database or the like is shared between the two systems, for example, by performing a bidirectional synchronization process, it becomes possible to share a document that is completely comparable in appearance.

The procedure of the mail transmission / reception processing for synchronization as described above will be specifically described below. FIG.
The transmitting side, for example, the server 1A of the groupware system A
9 is a flowchart of a mail transmission process performed by the user. First, in step S1, it is determined whether it is time to synchronize the shared document 3A. This time is set at an appropriate interval so as not to hinder the document sharing operation. When the synchronization time comes, the process proceeds to step S2, and data after the time stamp is extracted. That is, FIG.
As shown in (b) described above, a process of extracting data relating to an additional sentence of a shared document is shown.

In step S3, the extracted data is written out as text. If the extracted data is in a text format, it may be used as it is, or if the extracted data is in a binary format, it is converted into text data by a predetermined procedure. Next, in step S4, a destination and a subject are set. Convert to 400 format mail data. Then, in step S6, the mail is transmitted.

FIG. 4 shows a processing flowchart on the mail receiving side. In step S1, the receiving side waits for mail reception. When the mail is received, the process proceeds from step S1 to step S2, and it is determined whether the mail is a mail addressed to the synchronization user. If it is a mail addressed to the synchronization user, the process proceeds to step S3, and it is determined whether or not the mail is for synchronizing a document to be shared with the transmission side based on the subject. If applicable, the process proceeds to step S4, where the received mail is SM
Convert from TP format to text format. Alternatively, X.
Convert from 400 format to text format.

Next, in step S5, the creation date, creator, and subject are extracted from the text data, and in step S6, the creation date, creator, and subject are set. Then, in step S7, the text file is imported into a document or database to be shared. Through these processes, the documents on the sending side and the receiving side are synchronized.

The shared document to be synchronized includes not only a text format or a single document format but also a data format document including a plurality of files such as attached files. Many databases have such a structure. When synchronizing such a document on the transmission side and the reception side, the following processing is executed.

FIG. 5 shows a mail transmission processing flowchart. First, in step S1, it is determined whether or not it is a synchronization time. If the synchronization time has come, in step S2, data after the time stamp is extracted. In step S3, it is determined whether there is an attached file. If there is an attached file, the attached file is extracted in step S4. Then, in step S5, the contents of the information are written out as text, and in step S6, the destination and the subject are set. At step S7, the SMTP or X.X. The data is converted into the 400 format, and the mail is transmitted in step S8.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the mail reception processing operation. The receiving side waits for mail reception in step S1, and when the mail is received, determines in step S2 whether the mail is addressed to the synchronization user. Next, in step S3, it is determined whether or not the subject is a specific subject. Convert 400 format to text format. In step S5, the creation date, creator, and subject are extracted from the text data, and in step S6, the creation date, creator, and subject are set. In the next step S7, the text data and the attached file are reproduced, and these are imported into a shared document or a database.
As described above, even for a document having a relatively complicated format such as a database, it is possible to synchronize or process the groupware systems using the mail according to the standardized protocol. In addition, if there is an appropriate mail other than the above example as the mail according to the standard protocol, the mail may be replaced with an appropriate mail.

[0025]

As described above, information such as documents and databases can be shared and operated between groupware systems having different document sharing modes.
Also, in order to transmit necessary information to clients of different groupware, information is conventionally broadcast to all clients, but according to the present invention, the information belongs to another groupware. By sending one mail to the server, necessary information can be displayed on the bulletin board or the like. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the load on the provider or the network that provides the information.

Further, since the information received by each server is managed collectively, it is not necessary for each individual to manage the same data, and a useless storage memory can be saved in the entire system. Further, it is possible to handle not only text data but also all kinds of data, and it can be widely used in various document sharing systems.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a document sharing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a sharing mode.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of a mail transmission process.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of a mail receiving process.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of a mail transmission process.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of a mail receiving process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1A, 1B Server 2A, 2B Client 3A, 3B Shared document

Claims (4)

[Claims] When there are a plurality of groupware systems adopting mutually different document sharing modes, a shared document existing in a server of one of the groupware systems is converted into another document by using a standardized protocol mail. A document sharing method between groupware systems, wherein the document is transferred to a server of the groupware system and copied. 2. When there are a plurality of groupware systems adopting mutually different document sharing modes, the contents of the sender and receiver documents are added to a part of the shared document existing in the server of one of the groupware systems. A group, which is added with synchronization information for matching a document, transferred to a server of another groupware system by using a mail according to a standardized protocol, and copied into a document on a receiving side. Document sharing method between wear systems. 3. When there are a plurality of groupware systems adopting mutually different document sharing modes, recording is performed for synchronizing a database existing in a server of any one of the groupware systems with a sender and a receiver. A groupware system characterized by extracting data after the specified timestamp, transferring the data to a server of another groupware system using a mail according to a standardized protocol, and importing the data into a database on the receiving side. How documents are shared between 4. The mail according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the mail according to the standardized protocol transmits and receives target data as text-based data as a document on a bulletin board. Document sharing method between groupware systems.