JP2001051995A - Document editor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cancel inconvenience caused by exclusive editing control by providing a personal document part in which the right of exclusive editing is set to a specified user inside a shared document. SOLUTION: The shared document shared by plural users is stored in a document storage part 22, a lock information managing part 23 issues the right of exclusive editing to the shared document corresponding to a request from a user, only editing contents based on the exclusive editing right are overwritten and stored in the document storage part 22, and the shared document is edited without conflict. Then, a single shared document is composed of a shared document part to perform this exclusive editing control and a personal document part and the lock information managing part 23 excludes the personal document from a controlled system. Thus, even when the exclusive editing right is set to the shared document part, the user can edit the personal document part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document editing apparatus in which a plurality of users share and edit a plurality of electronic documents, and in particular, edits a shared document only based on an exclusive editing right. The present invention relates to a document editing apparatus including a shared document section that can be edited and a personal document section in which exclusive editing rights for a specific user are set in advance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A shared document editing device is known as a device that can create a document from electronic data, edit the document by a plurality of users (workers) and proceed with the work. Such a shared document editing apparatus is configured by, for example, a client server system, and a plurality of users operating each client apparatus can edit a shared document managed by the server apparatus. ing.

In such an apparatus for editing a shared document, if a plurality of users edit the same shared document at the same time, the consistency of the description content of the shared document is impaired. Therefore, exclusive editing control is performed so that only a user who has been given the exclusive editing right can edit a shared document corresponding to the right. In addition, a document editing apparatus for editing an electronic data document forms an integrated document by displaying a plurality of transparent layers including the description content on a screen, and describes the document by adding a layer to the base description. There is something to add content.

That is, a document is composed of a plurality of transparent layers, and a user can perform arbitrary writing on each layer. By superimposing and displaying these layers on the screen, it is possible to superimpose and display the description content of each layer and display the screen as one document. In addition, when a user adds a new description content such as a comment to a document, a new layer is temporarily created, a comment is written in the new layer, and the new layer is added to the document by a confirmation operation, so that the new layer is added to the document. New description is added.

According to the above document editing apparatus, the user can freely add the description content of the document by adding a layer including the new description content to the document. By deleting the layer, the description contents of the document can be freely deleted. Due to such convenience, the document editing apparatus as described above is also used in a collaborative work system in which a plurality of users edit a shared document by each user to complete the document.

[0006]

However, in the conventional editing apparatus for a shared document, when an exclusive editing right is set for a document, the exclusive editing right is set to another document until the editing right is released. The user cannot add the editing process, which may hinder the progress of the cooperative work.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and provides a personal document section in which exclusive editing rights have been previously set for a specific user in a shared document, thereby enabling exclusive editing control. It is an object of the present invention to provide a document editing device that eliminates inconvenience. Further, the present invention sets a shared document section and a personal document section for each layer with a shared document having a plurality of layer structures, and even a user who does not have exclusive editing right to the shared document section can perform the processing under a certain condition. It is another object of the present invention to provide a document editing apparatus capable of adding a layer to a shared document section and eliminating inconvenience caused by exclusive editing control. Further objects of the present invention will be apparent in the following description.

[0008]

In the document editing apparatus according to the present invention, a shared document shared by a plurality of users is stored in a document storage unit, and the shared information is shared by a lock information management unit in response to a request from the user. Exclusive editing rights are granted by permitting exclusive editing of the document and overwriting and storing only the editing contents based on the exclusive editing right that matches the exclusive editing right issued by the lock information management unit in the document storage unit. Exclusive editing control is performed so that only the authorized user can edit the shared document.

In the document editing apparatus according to the present invention, a single shared document is divided into a shared document section for performing the exclusive editing control and a personal document section for which exclusive editing right for a specific user is set. The lock information management section excludes the personal document section from the control target and performs the above-described exclusive editing control on the shared document section, so that the exclusive editing right is set in the shared document section. However, the authorized user can edit the personal document section regardless of this. The user according to the present invention includes not only a single individual but also a group including a plurality of individuals. For example, the exclusive editing right of the personal document section may be set to a user group.

[0010] In the document editing apparatus according to the present invention, the single shared document is composed of the contents described in the plurality of transparent layers by superimposing a plurality of transparent layers including the description contents on the screen. The document is configured as a document, and a shared document section and a personal document section are set for each layer.

Further, in the document editing apparatus according to the present invention, a user who does not have exclusive editing right to the shared document section is allowed to add a layer to the shared document section, and the lock information management section When a user who has exclusive editing rights for a personal document portion after issuing an exclusive editing right to a shared document portion to a user adds a layer to the shared document portion, the layer is added. The shared document part existing at the time of issuing the exclusive editing right excluding the layer is overwritten and stored with the editing content based on the issued exclusive editing right. Thus, the added layer is prevented from disappearing by the subsequent overwriting, and the layer adding operation is made effective.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be specifically described with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a document editing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In this embodiment, a client apparatus 1 and a server apparatus 2 are connected by a client server system via a communication line.
Is a system in which a plurality of users (including a user group) respectively operating a plurality of client devices 1 cooperate to edit a shared document stored and managed by the user.

The client device 1 includes a document editing unit 10, a lock information storage unit 11, and a communication unit 12, and the server device 2 includes a communication unit 20, a document management unit 21, a document storage unit 22, An information management unit 23 and a lock information storage unit 24 are provided. Note that these functional units 10 to 12 and 20 to 24 are configured by executing a program according to the present invention using computer hardware resources.

The document editing unit 10 has a means for receiving a user input such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a screen for displaying a shared document to be edited, and describes the shared document displayed on the screen based on a user operation. It also has a function of editing the content and transmitting it to the server device 2 together with the lock information specifying the exclusive editing right to which the edited content has been assigned. The lock information storage unit 11 is composed of a readable and writable memory, and receives an exclusive editing right (particularly, a document name that specifies a shared document targeted for the editing right and a lock that specifies the editing right) transmitted from the server device 2. Lock information including the ID).

The client device side communication unit 12 and the server device side communication unit 20 perform various requests, a shared document to be edited, an exclusive editing right (lock information) via a local network or a communication line such as the Internet. And a function of receiving the contents of the edited document. In this example, the document editing device is configured in a client server format. However, the document editing device according to the present invention can be configured on a single computer. In this case, such a communication line is used. The communication units 12 and 20, which perform communication via the communication unit, are omitted.

The document storage section 22 is composed of a readable and writable memory, and the document storage section 22 holds a shared document having a configuration described later. The document management section 21 stores the document storage section 2
2 for input / output of a shared document and exclusive editing control for the document storage unit 22.
Controls user access to shared documents stored in.

The lock information storage unit 24 is composed of a readable and writable memory, and lock information for specifying the content of the exclusive editing right issued in the exclusive editing control is stored in the lock information storage unit 24. Lock information management unit 2
Reference numeral 3 controls input / output of lock information to / from the lock information storage unit 24, and also determines whether the lock information added to the edited content from the client device 1 matches the lock information held in the lock information storage unit 24. Do.

Next, exclusive editing right control by the document editing apparatus having the above configuration will be described. First, when the client device 1 starts exclusive editing to edit a shared document, the client device 1
To the exclusive editing right acquisition request. If the shared document specified in the request has not already been obtained the exclusive editing right by another client device, the lock information management unit 23 of the server device 2 deletes the shared document in order to prohibit another user from editing. The document is locked, the exclusive editing right for the requested shared document is issued, and the document management unit 21 transmits the shared document in the document storage unit 22 to the client device 1 that has issued the request. When the exclusive editing right is issued, the lock information management unit 23 stores, as the lock information, the name of the shared document to which the exclusive editing right has been issued and the lock ID identifying the exclusive editing right in the lock information storage unit of the server device. 24, and the lock information is transmitted to the client device 1 together with the above-mentioned shared document and held in the lock information storage unit 11.

The user (client device) to which the exclusive editing right has been assigned edits the shared document by the document editing unit 10 and saves (writes) the edited shared document in the server device 2. Then, the edited content can be reflected on the shared document. This saving operation is performed by transmitting the lock information of the exclusive editing right held in the storage unit 11 together with the edited contents to the server device 2, and the lock information management unit 23 stores the lock information in the lock information storage unit 24. After confirming that the stored lock information and the lock information transmitted from the client device 1 are the same, the transmitted edited content is overwritten and stored in the document storage unit 22 by the document management unit 21. .

When the editing operation is completed as described above, the client device 1 releases the exclusive editing right, and the lock of the shared document on the server device 2 is released. The client device 1 transmits the lock information to the server device 2 together with the end notification of the exclusive editing, and the server device 2 deletes the corresponding lock information from the lock information storage unit 24 to obtain a new exclusive editing right for the shared document. To be able to accept the request for acquisition.

The exclusive editing control is performed as described above. In the present invention, however, the shared document section to be subjected to the exclusive editing control as described above and a specific user (including a user group) are controlled. On the other hand, a single document is composed by combining with a personal document part to which exclusive editing right is set, and the combined document is stored in the document storage unit 22 to be used by a plurality of users (client devices).
The editing is performed by. For this reason, the document editing apparatus according to the present invention has various characteristic functions for processing such a composite document, and these characteristics and the composite document will be described below.

In other words, as shown in FIG. 2, in the composite document, one document is composed of a shared document portion and a personal document portion (in the illustrated example, user A
And the user B), and the shared document portion is a portion that can be edited by anyone who has been given exclusive editing rights by the lock information management unit 23 of the server device. The section is a section that can be edited only by a specific user who has been set exclusive editing right for the document section in advance. That is,
The personal document portion is a document portion belonging to a single individual (or group), and is a document portion that cannot be edited by other users.

A user who wants to edit the shared document section can obtain an exclusive editing right for the shared document section by requesting the server apparatus 2, and other users cannot edit the shared document section unless the editing right is released. The user cannot edit the shared document section, but can only browse the shared document section. On the other hand, a user to whom the exclusive editing right for the personal document section is not assigned cannot edit the personal document section, but a user for whom the exclusive editing right is set for the personal document section can freely use the personal document section. Can be edited.

A user who has exclusive editing right to the shared document section, when necessary editing is completed, the document storage section 2
2 is written back (overwritten) to reflect the edited content on the shared document. In this case, the edited shared document portion (and the user has exclusive control of the personal document portion). If the part is also edited, only the edited personal document part) is stored in the document storage part 22. Thus, even if the shared document section and the personal document section are edited by different users, these document sections can be merged as one document without contradiction.

The composite document described above can also be configured as a document format composed of a plurality of layers (layers) as shown in FIG. 3, and is set separately for each layer into a shared document section and a personal document section. I just need. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the composite document is configured by displaying nine transparent layers a to i each including description contents such as a sentence and a comment on a screen, and the layers a to c are shared. The document part (layer), layers d to f are personal document parts (layers) for user A for which user A has exclusive editing rights, and layers g to i are user B for which user B has exclusive editing rights. Is set in the personal document section (layer).

Each of the layers a to i has a structure as shown in FIG. 4. The data of each layer includes an ID for specifying the layer, a creation time when the layer is created, and The attribute includes a personal document part or an attribute indicating which user's personal document part, and description contents described in the layer. Note that these layers a to i are associated with each other in a predetermined order, whereby the description contents of a single document are combined with the description contents of these layers a to i. Hereinafter, the editing process will be described with reference to a composite document including such a plurality of layers as an example.

For example, when the user A obtains the exclusive editing right of the shared document section, the user A can make an arbitrary edit on all of the shared document sections a to c and all of the personal document sections df for the user A. Editing operation becomes possible. Here, the arbitrary operation includes not only editing of the content data of the layer, but also operations of changing the hierarchical relationship between layers, adding a new layer, and deleting a layer. When the result of the editing performed by the user A is overwritten and stored in the document storage unit 22, the document management unit 2
1 temporarily deletes all the shared document sections a to c on the original document in the storage section 22 and all of the personal document sections d to f for the user A, and the shared document section in the document edited by the user A. The data of the personal document sections df for ac and user A are stored. As a result, the content of the editing performed by the user A is reflected on the document stored in the document storage unit 22 without inconsistency.

Further, in this document editing apparatus, while the user A holds the exclusive editing right of the shared document section, the user B can perform the editing operation of the personal document sections g to i for the user B. it can. Then, when the user B saves the document in the document storage unit 22, the document management unit 21 deletes all the personal document portions g to i for the user B on the original document,
This is performed by saving the data of the personal document sections g to i for the user B in the document currently being edited by the user B.

Here, in the document editing apparatus of the present example, the user B can perform an operation of adding a new layer to the shared document sections a to c. This adding operation can be performed by adding a new shared layer or by moving one or a plurality of layers from the personal document sections g to i for the user B to the shared document section. However,
In the case where a layer is added to such a shared document portion, if the edited content is overwritten and saved by the deletion and saved by the user A as described above, the added layer may be deleted. In order to avoid the above, when there is an operation of adding a layer to the shared document section from such an editing right holder of the personal document section, the document management section 21 performs the following processing.

The processing for saving the user A in the personal document sections d to f is the same as that described above.
When the editing process is saved after deleting all existing shared document portions as described above, the user B adds a layer to the shared document portion by the user A. If the editing is performed after the exclusive editing right is acquired for the copy, the layer added to the shared document by the user B is deleted.

Therefore, the time when the user A obtains the exclusive editing right for the shared document section is determined by the lock information management section 2.
3 and when the user A saves the shared document section, the creation time (additional operation time) added to the added layer and the managed exclusive editing right acquisition time are set. The document management unit 21 compares the layers added to the shared document unit after acquiring the exclusive editing right of the shared document unit, without deleting, and deletes only the other layers of the shared document unit. The shared document part in the document being edited is stored on the original document. As a result, a layer can be added to the shared document section by the user B, and the editing form of the document can be diversified.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An editing process can be performed by providing a personal document section in which exclusive editing rights have been set in advance for a specific user in a shared document, thereby realizing document editing that eliminates inconvenience due to exclusive editing control. it can. Further, according to the present invention, the shared document has a plurality of layer structures, so that even a user who does not have exclusive editing right to the shared document section can add a layer to the shared document section under certain conditions. In addition, it is possible to implement document editing that eliminates inconvenience due to exclusive editing control.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a document editing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a document including a shared document section and a personal document section.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a document in a layer format including a shared document section and a personal document section.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a data structure of a document in a layer format.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Client device 2: Server device 10: Document editing unit 11: Lock information storage unit 12: Communication unit 20: Communication unit 21: Document management unit
22: Document storage unit, 23: Lock information management unit,
24: lock information storage unit,

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Akira Kurosawa 430 Sakai Nakaicho, Ashigara-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Green Tech Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. ) Inventor Tomohiro Sato 430 Sakai, Nakagawacho, Ashigarakami-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture Green Tech Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5B009 QB18 RB33 SA14 TB13 VC01 5B082 FA17

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A document storage unit that stores a shared document shared by a plurality of users, and a lock information management unit that issues an exclusive editing right that permits exclusive editing of the shared document in response to a request from a user. And that only the edit content based on the exclusive edit right that matches the exclusive edit right issued by the lock information management unit is overwritten and stored in the document storage unit, so that only the users who have the exclusive edit right can share it. In a document editing apparatus for editing a document, a single document is composed of a shared document section and a personal document section in which exclusive editing right has been set for a specific user. Exclusive editing control is performed, and personal documents are excluded from the control. Document editing apparatus according to claim. 2. The document editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the single document is a document having the contents described in the plurality of transparent layers including a plurality of transparent layers including the description contents displayed on a screen. And a shared document section and a personal document section are set for each layer. 3. The document editing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the lock information management unit has exclusive editing right to the personal document unit after issuing exclusive editing right to the shared document unit to the user. When a layer is added to the shared document part by the user, the shared document part existing at the time of issuing the exclusive editing right excluding the added layer is overwritten with the editing content based on the issued exclusive editing right. A document editing device for storing.