JP2008146312A - Time stamping system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a time stamp assigning system capable of performing a time stamp assigning / extending process on a document including link information collectively for a linked document.
A time stamp assigning system includes an MFP device, a storage server, a time stamp service, and a storage server client. The MFP device 101 scans a document and generates electronic data. The storage server 102 can store saved documents and related documents. The time stamp service 103 gives / extends the time stamp to the stored document and the related document. The storage server client 104 can perform various input operations and includes a user interface that displays a notification from the time stamping system.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a time stamping system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a time stamp assigning system capable of attaching a time stamp to electronic data such as image data and storing the electronic data in a storage server connected via a network.

  With the implementation of the so-called “e-document law”, it has become possible to convert a document previously stored in paper into electronic data, and store and manage it as a document file. For this reason, data obtained by digitizing a paper document by a scanner or the like (for example, a digital document in HTML format) has been accepted as an official document under certain conditions.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for ensuring the validity of a digital document handled as such an official document is known.
As one example, there is a technique for providing an electronic signature to a digital document and proving the creator who digitized the paper document.
As another example, there is a technique for proving when electronic data has existed and whether alteration or tampering has occurred since that time by adding a time stamp to the electronic data. Timestamps have become very important in recent years because they can also be used as public third party guarantees by using government-approved vendor time stamps. .

  Conventionally, a technique for managing the expiration date of a time stamp and realizing automatic extension of the time stamp has been considered. As an example related to this technology, a technology for managing the expiration date of a time stamp according to a folder has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-63268 (pages 2-6, FIGS. 2-3)

  As described above, electronic data such as an HTML document has also been accepted as a public document, but the HTML file is linked to another document file and associated with the other document file. There are many things. In such a case, the entire original HTML document can be guaranteed only after the time stamp including the linked document is given. That is, when a homepage is stored on the local PC, there may be a plurality of HTML files. In such a case, one homepage is constituted by all these files. For this reason, it is necessary to give and guarantee a time stamp to all the constituent files.

Conventionally, when adding a time stamp to a document to be newly linked or extending the time stamp of a home page whose time stamp is about to expire, the user must include each linked document. It was necessary to extend the time stamp.
Also, depending on the homepage, the linked document may be an unnecessary link such as an advertisement. The user opens each linked document one by one, confirms the contents, and gives / extends the time stamp. Judgment was made.
Such work is very time-consuming and time-consuming for the user.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and the object of the present invention is to collectively apply time stamp addition / extension processing to a document including link information for a link destination document. It is to provide a time stamping system that can be performed.

  In order to solve the above problem, the time stamp assigning system according to the present invention includes a determination unit that determines whether or not link information is associated with the first document, and a result of the determination by the determination unit. If it is determined that the link information is associated with, the acquisition means for acquiring the expiration date information of the time stamp of the related document that is associated, the expiration date information of the time stamp of the first document, and the time of the related document Comparing means for comparing the expiration date information of the stamp, and extending means for extending the expiration date of the time stamp of the document whose expiration date expires as a result of comparison by the comparing means.

  The time stamp assigning method of the present invention is a method for assigning a time stamp to a document in a time stamp assigning system, and determining whether link information is associated with the first document; and As a result of the determination in the determination step, when it is determined that the link information is associated with the first document, an acquisition step for acquiring the expiration date information of the time stamp of the associated related document, A comparison step that compares the expiration date information of the time stamp with the expiration date information of the time stamp of the related document, and an extension step that extends the expiration date of the time stamp of the document whose expiration date expires earlier as a result of the comparison by the comparison step. It is characterized by providing.

  In addition, the time stamp assigning system of the present invention includes a first storage means for storing a first document to which a time stamp having expiration date information is attached, and one or more second items associated with the first document. A second storage means for storing the document; a first document stored in the first storage means; and one or more second documents stored in the second storage means, and a time stamp The expiration date information is obtained and compared, and the earlier expiration date information is used as the extension confirmation date of the time stamp of the first document. The extension confirmation time limit storage means for storing the time limit and the time limit extension means for extending the validity period of any one of the time stamps of the first document and the second document when the extension confirmation time limit expires. Characterized by comprising and.

  The time stamp extension method of the present invention extends the time stamp of the first document stored in the first storage means and one or more second documents stored in the second storage means. The first document and one or more second documents are read out, the expiration date information of the time stamp is obtained, and the earlier expiration date information is compared with each other to obtain the expiration date information of the first document. The step of storing together with the display of the extension confirmation document, which is a document to which the time stamp of the earlier expiration date information is given as the stamp extension confirmation deadline, and the first document when the stored extension confirmation deadline expires, and 1 Extending the expiration date of any one of the time stamps of one or more second documents.

According to the present invention, since the stored document and the related document are automatically listed, the user selects a document to which the time stamp is to be added / extended from the listed documents, and the time stamp is collectively displayed. Can be granted / extended.
As a result, it is possible to reduce the trouble of the user opening documents one by one, checking the presence or absence of link information, and searching for related documents.
In addition, since it is possible to assign / extend the time stamps of specified documents among saved documents and related documents, the effort to assign / extend the time stamps by opening each related document is reduced. Is done.
In this specification, the term “stored document” means a document as a link source, while the term “related document” means one or more documents linked to the saved document. It shall be.

  A time stamp assigning system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. However, this embodiment is illustrative and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a document management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The document management system includes an MFP device 101, a storage server 102, a time stamp service 103, and a storage server client 104. These components are connected via a LAN or the Internet.

The MFP device 101 is a device having a scanner function, and is used to mean a device having the same functions as those of a multifunction peripheral and a MEAP device.
The time stamp service 103 can provide a time stamp providing function in cooperation with the MFP device 101.
The storage server client 104 can perform operations such as document search, reference, editing, and deletion in cooperation with the storage server 102.

Each component of the document management system such as the MFP device 101, the storage server 102, the time stamp service 103, and the storage server client 104 includes a CPU that controls the functions described above and controls communication with other components.
The MFP device 101, the storage server 102, the time stamp service 103, and the storage server client 104 each include a memory for storing various data and a work memory in addition to a ROM that stores a control program of the CPU.
By such a CPU and memory, each component of the document management system of the present invention is integrated and controlled, and functions mutually.

In the present embodiment, a case where only the time stamp service 103 is connected via the Internet and other components are connected via the LAN will be described. However, all the components are connected via the Internet. Forms are also possible.
An embodiment in which all the components are connected via a LAN is also possible.
Further, a case where only one of these components exists in the document management system will be described, but an embodiment in which a plurality of each component exists is also possible.

  FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of the document management system according to the embodiment of the present invention. This document management system is a client-server type application that operates on an operating system (OS) of a personal computer (PC), and operates in cooperation with the CPU and memory of the PC and server. The document management system is also intended to capture a document from a device such as a scanner or a file on the OS and manage the document with a plurality of users.

  The document management system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a “document input / output processing unit”, a “client system internal processing unit”, a “server system internal processing unit”, and a “database processing unit”. Hereinafter, each part will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

<Document input / output processing section>
First, a document input / output processing unit that performs document input / output and operations will be described.
The document input / output unit includes a user interface unit 201, a command control unit 202, a device control unit 203, a file control unit 204, and an external module communication unit 205.

  The user performs operations such as storing a document in the server 102 and searching / obtaining a document from the server 102 via the user interface unit 201. That is, various operations (for example, acquisition of a document list that needs to be extended) in the time stamp assigning system according to the present invention are performed via the user interface unit 201.

  The command control unit 202 analyzes user operation information received via the user interface unit 201 and performs appropriate processing. If necessary, a command for communicating with the server 102 is created.

  A device control unit 203 controls devices such as the MFP device 101, and performs processing for reading image data from the device side and processing for receiving data transmitted from the device side.

  The file control unit 204 can import and process a document stored in another storage server such as a file server. The file control unit 204 can also perform processing for exporting a file managed on the server 102 to another storage server such as a file server. That is, in the time stamp assigning system of the present invention, file control for a document that requires time stamp addition / extension is performed by the file control unit 204.

  The external module communication unit 205 can perform communication processing with an external application, processing for transmitting a document in the server 102 to the external application, and processing for receiving a document from the external application. For example, the external module communication unit 205 accesses the time stamp service 103 to give / extend the time stamp, or performs processing to pass a document managed by the server 102 to MAPI-compliant e-mail software. Used when.

<Client system internal processing unit>
Next, the client system internal processing unit will be described.
The client system internal processing unit includes various processing units in the client 104, and includes a document management control unit 206, temporary data 207, an image document processing unit 208, a communication control unit 209, index data 210, and setting data 211.

  The document management control unit 206 is the heart of the client side control in the time stamp assigning system of the present invention, and operates the CPU of the PC, and processes corresponding to images and commands passed from the document input / output processing unit Etc.

  The temporary data 207 is an internal data storage unit for storing temporary data (temporary data), and temporarily stores data created in the process of performing image processing, data created in the process of communication with the server, and the like. Store.

  The image document processing unit 208 performs processing such as creation of thumbnails and image conversion as necessary.

  The communication control unit 209 performs control for communicating with the server 102 via the communication network 240. The communication control unit 209 of the present embodiment performs only control specialized for communication processing with the server 102 such as an instruction to the server 102. Note that the control of communication itself such as TCP / IP uses a function provided in the OS.

  The index data 210 is a data storage unit for storing index information (index information), and stores index information set in a plurality of documents in the database in a format such as a file. Even if the index data 210 is actually an OS file system, there is no problem.

  The setting data 211 stores various setting information in the time stamp assigning system of the present invention. The setting information is designated / stored by the user via the user interface unit 201, or held by the system by default. This setting information will be described in detail in step S308 of FIG. 3 and FIG.

<Server system internal processing unit>
Next, the server system internal processing unit will be described.
The server system internal processing unit includes various processing units arranged in the server 102, and includes a communication control unit 221, a search control unit 222, an image document processing unit 223, an OCR engine 224, a document management control unit 225, and temporary data 226. Is provided.

  The communication control unit 221 controls communication with the communication control unit 209 of the client 104 via the communication network 240. Note that the communication control unit 221 of the server 102 can simultaneously communicate with the communication control units of a plurality of clients.

  The search control unit 222 performs a search process requested from the client 104 via the communication network 240 or creates a search index for a document stored in a volume database 228 described later.

  The image document processing unit 223 has the same main function as the function of the image document processing unit 208 in the client 104, but also performs processing for extracting a search index corresponding to the document stored in the volume database 228 from the document. Do. That is, the image document processing unit 223 converts the document into a format that can be easily processed, and extracts index information and fixed character information using the OCR engine 224.

  The document management control unit 225 is the heart of the server side control in the time stamp assigning system of the present invention, and controls all processes related to document management by operating the CPU and memory of the server 102.

  The temporary data 226 is a storage unit for temporary data (temporary data) used by the server 102.

<Database processing part>
Finally, the database processing unit will be described.
The database processing unit includes a database control unit 227, a volume database 228, an attribute database 229, a full text search database 230, and a setting database 231.

  The database control unit 227 operates the CPU of the server 102 and performs predetermined processing. That is, data for database storage is created and stored in the volume database 228, the attribute database 229, the full-text search database 230, and the setting database 231. Further, in response to a request from the client, the corresponding data is extracted from each database and a document to be transmitted to the client is created.

  The volume database 228 is a database that stores document entities. The volume database 228 is conceptual and may actually be an OS file system.

  The attribute database 229 is a database that stores a document index that records information on attributes such as a document name, creation date, and comments, and time stamp expiration date information. The document index will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

  In the full text search database 230, data obtained by extracting text data from a document registered in the volume database 228 and converting it into index information for full text search is registered. Normally, when a full text search operation command is received via the user interface unit 201 of the client 104, the search control unit 222 searches the full text search database 230.

  The setting database 231 has the same function as the setting data 211 of the client 104. The function only needs to exist in either the client 104 or the server 102. In the following processing flow of the present specification, description will be made centering on the setting data 211 of the client 104, but this does not indicate that the function exists only in the client 104.

  The outline of the processing flow of the time stamp assigning system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the overall processing operation in the time stamp assigning system of the present invention. That is, FIG. 3 shows a processing operation until the user performs a scanning process via the MFP device 101 or the like and transmits / stores the image data acquired by the scanning to a server such as the storage server 102. FIG. 3 also shows a processing operation until electronic data such as a document file is transmitted / stored to a server such as the storage server 102 and a flow of setting processing of the time stamp assigning system.

  First, in step S301, the document management control unit 206 determines whether or not the user performs various settings related to the time stamp assignment system. This determination is performed according to the content operated by the user via the user interface unit 201. When making various settings, the document management control unit 206 moves the process to step S308, and when not making various settings, the document management control unit 206 moves the process to step S302.

  In step S <b> 302, the document management control unit 206 acquires setting information designated / set in advance by the user or default setting information included in the system from the setting data 211, and stores the setting information in the temporary data 207. Further, the document management control unit 206 sets a time stamp flag and similarly holds it in the temporary data 207. The time stamp flag is generally set based on information (such as document creation / import or document checkout) received by the user operating the user interface unit 201. The time stamp flag is used to determine whether the user's operation is to newly give a time stamp of the stored document or to extend the time stamp.

  In step S <b> 303, the document management control unit 206 selects a subsequent processing flow by an operation performed by the user via the user interface unit 201. In other words, the document management control unit 206 performs a process flow for newly adding a time stamp of a stored document based on information analyzed by the command control unit 202 in accordance with a user operation content, or a process for extension Select a flow. The document management control unit 206 shifts the process to step S304 when newly giving the time stamp of the stored document, and shifts the process to step S306 when extending the time stamp.

  In step S <b> 304, when a new document is created / imported by a scanning process using the MFP device 101 or the like or a file import process, the user designates a storage destination of the stored document in the volume database 228. The storage location information is designated by the user via the user interface unit 201, and the designated storage location information is temporarily stored in the temporary data 207 and used in step S307 described later.

Note that the storage destination of the stored document may be a folder on the local PC.
In addition, the document management control unit 206 performs overwriting saving of a document, version management, and the like in order to check whether a document having the same file name already exists when the stored document is stored via the file control unit 204. It is also possible.
Further, in the present embodiment, the communication protocol between the server and the client is not particularly specified, but is not particularly limited as long as it is a communication protocol capable of communication between the server and the client, such as HTTP, SOAP, TCP / IP.

  In step S305, when a new document is created / imported as described in step S304, the user designates a document to be stored via the user interface unit 201.

  In step S306, the document management control unit 206 performs processing for assigning / extending a time stamp. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S307, the document management control unit 206 transmits a command for storing the document specified in step S305 to the storage location specified in step S304 to the document management control unit 225 via the communication network 240. The document management control unit 225 stores the document specified in step S305 in the volume database 228.

In step S308, the setting process is performed via the user interface unit 201, and the user can set in advance the timing for performing the expiration date extension process for the time stamp of the related document. In other words, the user can set the timing for performing the extension process to a predetermined timing including “when the document is created” and “according to the shortest expiration date”.
In step S308, the user designates the conditions of related documents (for example, batch extension, manual selection, etc.) on which time stamp extension processing is performed, or displays a list of related documents to be extended. Any related document can be selected.

  An example of the user interface unit 201 specified / set by the user will be described in detail in the description of FIG.

  Hereinafter, a process for giving / extending a time stamp in step S306, an example of a user interface in step S308 and its process, and a process for notifying the user when the time stamp expires will be described.

<Time stamping process>
First, the process for assigning / extending the time stamp in step S306 in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing in detail the flow of processing for assigning / extending a time stamp in the time stamp assigning system of the present invention.

  In step S401, the document management control unit 206 executes processing for newly adding a time stamp to the saved document or processing for extending the time stamp, according to the value of the time stamp flag held in step S302 of FIG. . That is, the document management control unit 206 communicates with the time stamp service 103 via the external module communication unit 205, thereby performing time stamp addition / extension processing on the stored document.

  In step S402, the document management control unit 206 acquires the expiration date information of the time stamp added / extended to the saved document in step S401, and temporarily stores the date information in the temporary data 207.

  In step S403, the document management control unit 206 checks whether there is a link from the stored document to one or more documents, that is, whether there is a related document.

  In step S404, the document management control unit 206 selects a subsequent processing flow according to the result confirmed in step S403. That is, when there is link information, the document management control unit 206 moves the processing flow to step S405, and when there is no link information, the document management control unit 206 moves the processing flow to step S411.

  In step S405, the document management control unit 206 determines whether or not a time stamp is given to the related document. If the related document has a time stamp, the document management control unit 206 moves the process to step S406. If the time stamp has not been given, the document management control unit 206 moves the process to step S412.

  In step S 406, the document management control unit 206 acquires the expiration date information of the time stamp of the related document, and stores the expiration date information in the temporary data 207.

  In step S407, the document management control unit 206 compares the expiration date information of the time stamp temporarily held in step S402 with the expiration date information of the time stamp of the related document acquired in S406. Note that if there are a plurality of expiration date information of the time stamp of the related document acquired in S406, a process of comparing each expiration date information with the expiration date information of the time stamp held in step S402 is performed.

  In step S408, the document management control unit 206 determines the subsequent processing flow according to the comparison result in step S407. That is, when at least one of the time stamps of each related document expires earlier than the time stamp of the stored document, the document management control unit 206 performs the process of step S409. In other cases, the document management control unit 206 performs the process of step S411.

In step S409, the document management control unit 206 lists related documents that have expired time stamps prior to the stored document, and displays the listed contents on the user interface unit 201 as a list. The user confirms the list display, and designates, via the user interface unit 201, for which related document the time stamp is to be extended or not to be extended.
The contents once specified by the user can be stored in a file, registry, etc., and the information stored in the subsequent operations can be used.
In step S410, the document management control unit 206 executes time stamp extension processing for the related document designated by the user in step S409. That is, the document management control unit 206 communicates with the time stamp service 30 via the external module communication unit 205 and then communicates with the server 102 via the communication network 240. Accordingly, the document management control unit 206 transmits a time stamp extension processing command to the document management control unit 225, and the document management control unit 225 executes time stamp extension processing on the related document.

In step S411, the document management control unit 225 sets the expiration date information of the time stamp acquired in step S402 or step S406 as index information of the stored document under a certain condition.
That is, when “when creating a document” is selected as the timing for performing the extension process in step S308, the expiration date information of the time stamp of the stored document acquired in step S402 is set as the index information. On the other hand, if “according to the shortest expiration date” is selected in step S308, the expiration date information of the time stamp that expires earliest among the related documents acquired in step S406 is set as the index information. . The index information is stored in the attribute database 229 as described above.

  This index information means the expiration date information of the time stamp that first expires among the stored documents and the related documents, and is information used in step S502 of FIG.

  Here, returning to step S405, a case will be described in which it is determined that a time stamp is not given to the related document. In this case, in step S412, the document management control unit 206 notifies the user interface unit 201 that a time stamp is added to the related document.

  Thereafter, in step S413, the document management control unit 225 adds a time stamp to the related document, and proceeds to the process of step S411.

<Notification processing to users at time stamp extension time>
In the following, a process for notifying the user of prompting the extension of the time stamp when the time stamp expires will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of a notification process for notifying the user of the extension of the time stamp when the expiration date of the time stamp approaches in the time stamp assigning system according to the present invention.

  In step S501, the document management control unit 225 checks whether or not the processing for the target document in steps S502 to S504 has been completed for all documents stored in a certain folder. The determination as to whether or not the confirmation processing has been completed is performed by processing such as setting an internal flag for the documents for which confirmation has been completed when the documents in the folder are confirmed one by one. The document management control unit 225 confirms the information of the flag, and performs processing after step S502 if processing has not been completed for all documents, and proceeds to processing of step S505 if processing has been completed. To do.

  In step S502, the document management control unit 225 reads the index information set in step S411 in FIG. 4 from the attribute database 229, and confirms whether or not the expiration date is near. It is possible to define a certain period on the system side, such as the expiration date recorded in the index information and the current date being within 10 days, or the user can define whether or not they are close It is also possible for the user to set via the interface unit 201.

  In step S503, the document management control unit 225 proceeds to step S504 if the expiration date is close as a result of the confirmation processing in step S502, and returns to step S501 if the expiration date is not near.

  In step S <b> 504, the document management control unit 225 adds the index information of the documents whose time stamps are almost expired to the “document list that is almost expired” held in the temporary data 226.

  Returning to step S501, when the document management control unit 225 has confirmed the information of all the document indexes, the process proceeds to the process of step S505.

  In step 505, the document management control unit 225 shifts the process to step S 506 if there is information added to the “document list that is almost expired” created in step S 504, and otherwise performs the user notification process. finish.

  In step S506, the document management control unit 225 notifies the user of a “document list that is about to expire”. As a notification method, a method such as notification by e-mail or message display on the user interface unit 201 can be used. Thereafter, the user notification process is terminated.

<Setting process>
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface in the time stamp assigning system.
FIG. 6 shows an example of a user interface for the user to specify / set the setting process in step S308 of FIG.
FIG. 6 shows an example of processing for displaying a list of related documents on the user interface when the time stamp of the related document expires earlier than the expiration date of the time stamp of the stored document.
Hereinafter, an example of the user interface will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 (1) shows an example of a user interface when performing the setting process in step S308 of FIG. Since the time stamp assigning system of the present invention automatically performs the process of extending the time stamp, the user can set the conditions of the document to be extended in advance using this user interface.
In this example, when all related documents are targeted, when a document below the saved document is targeted, when a document above the saved document is targeted, or when the related document is manually selected It is possible to select when selecting with. Note that a document at a lower level than a saved document means, for example, electronic data stored in a subfolder when an HTML document is stored in a local PC. Further, the document at a higher level than the saved document means, for example, the remaining electronic data obtained by excluding the document at a lower level than the above-mentioned saved document from all the electronic data linked to the HTML document. .

  FIG. 6B shows an example of a user interface when a document whose time stamp is to be extended is manually selected from related documents. Here, an example is shown in which document A is given as an example of a stored document, and “abc.html” and “def.jpeg” are displayed in a list as related documents of document A. The related documents to be displayed in a list can be all linked documents, and among all the linked documents, only related documents to which a time stamp has been assigned can be used. Furthermore, it is also possible to display only a list of related documents that are determined to have a time stamp that expires earlier than the expiration date information of the time stamp of the stored document.

(Other embodiments)
Needless to say, the object of the present invention can also be achieved by supplying a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by executing the program code read by the computer. In addition, an OS (operating system) running on a computer performs part or all of actual processing based on an instruction of a program code, and the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing. Needless to say.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the document management system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a system block diagram of a document management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the whole processing operation | movement in the time stamp provision system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows in detail the flow of the process which performs the provision / extension of a time stamp in the time stamp provision system of this invention. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of a notification process for a user urging extension of a time stamp when the time stamp expires in the time stamp assigning system according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the interface which a user sets in the time stamp provision system by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 MFP device 102 Storage server 103 Time stamp service 104 Storage server client 201 User interface part 202 Command control part 203 Device control part 204 File control part 205 External module communication part 206 Document management control part 207 Temporary data 208 Image document processing part 209 Communication Control unit 210 Index data 211 Setting data 221 Communication control unit 222 Search control unit 223 Image document processing unit 224 OCR engine 225 Document management control unit 226 Temporary data 227 Database control unit 228 Volume database 229 Attribute database 230 Full text search database 231 Setting database 240 Communication network

Claims (13)

Determining means for determining whether link information is associated with the first document;
As a result of determination by the determination unit, when it is determined that link information is associated with the first document, an acquisition unit that acquires expiration date information of a time stamp of the associated document,
Comparing means for comparing the expiration date information of the time stamp of the first document with the expiration date information of the time stamp of the related document;
And a means for extending a time stamp of a document whose expiry date expires as a result of comparison by the comparing means. In a time stamp giving system, a method for giving a time stamp to a document,
A determination step of determining whether link information is associated with the first document;
As a result of the determination by the determination step, when it is determined that link information is associated with the first document, an acquisition step of acquiring expiration date information of a time stamp of the associated document,
A comparison step of comparing the expiration date information of the time stamp of the first document with the expiration date information of the time stamp of the related document;
And a step of extending the expiration date of the time stamp of the document whose expiration date expires early as a result of the comparison in the comparison step.   A program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 2. First storage means for storing a first document with a time stamp having expiration date information;
Second storage means for storing one or more second documents associated with the first document;
Read the first document stored in the first storage means and the one or more second documents stored in the second storage means to obtain the expiration date information of the time stamp An extension confirmation that stores earlier expiration date information compared with each other together with the display of the extension confirmation document that is a document given the timestamp of the earlier expiration date information as the extension confirmation deadline of the time stamp of the first document. A term storage means;
A time stamp giving system comprising: a time extension means for extending an expiration date of any one of the time stamps of the first document and the second document when the extension confirmation time limit expires . The term extension means confirms the earlier expiration date information, and extracts the first document and the one or more second documents whose earlier expiration date information is within a certain period until expiration. Output means for outputting a display of the extracted first document and the one or more second documents to a user device;
Extension for receiving from the user device an indication as to which of the time stamps of the first document that is output and the time stamp of the document indicated by the display of the one or more second documents is to be extended. 5. The time stamp assigning system according to claim 4, further comprising: an instruction receiving unit.   Whether the time stamp of the one or more second documents is extended when the first document is created or when the time stamp is output to the user device by the output means. 6. The time stamp assigning system according to claim 5, wherein the time stamp assigning system is selectable via an apparatus.   The first document and the one or two when the time stamp of the one or more second documents is designated to be extended when output to the user device by the output means. Among the above-mentioned second document time stamp expiration dates, the time stamp expiration date that first expires is stored as the extension confirmation time limit of the first document, and the information of the stored first document 7. The time stamp assigning system according to claim 6, wherein based on the extension confirmation time limit, the time stamp of the first document is output to the user device that the time stamp is about to expire. A method for extending a time stamp of a first document stored in a first storage means and one or more second documents stored in a second storage means,
The first document and the one or more second documents are read out to acquire the expiration date information of the time stamp and compare each to obtain the earlier expiration date information as an extension of the time stamp of the first document Storing as a confirmation deadline together with the display of the extended confirmation document, which is a document given a time stamp of the earlier expiration date information;
Extending the expiration date of one of the time stamps of the first document and the one or more second documents when the stored extension confirmation time limit expires. How to extend the time stamp. Extracting the display of the first document and the one or more second documents for which the earlier expiration date information is within a certain period until expiration;
Outputting a display of the extracted first document and the one or more second documents to a user device;
Extending the expiration date of a time stamp of a document selected from the first document output to the user device and the document indicated by the display of the one or more second documents. The method for extending a time stamp according to claim 8. A program for extending a time stamp of a first document stored in a first storage means and one or more second documents stored in a second storage means,
The first document and the one or more second documents are read out to acquire the expiration date information of the time stamp and compare each to obtain the earlier expiration date information as an extension of the time stamp of the first document Storing as a confirmation deadline together with the display of the extended confirmation document, which is a document given a time stamp of the earlier expiration date information;
Extending the expiration date of any one of the time stamps of the first document and the one or more second documents if the stored extension confirmation time limit is within a certain period until expiration. A program characterized by being executed. Extracting the display of the first document and the one or more second documents whose stored extension confirmation deadline is within a certain period until expiration;
Outputting a display of the extracted first document and the one or more second documents to a user device;
Extending the expiration date of a time stamp of a document selected from the first document output to the user device and the display of the one or more second documents. The program according to claim 10. A program for causing a computer for extending the expiration date of a time stamp to function as first storage means, second storage means, extension confirmation time limit storage means, and time limit extension means,
The first storage means stores a first document provided with a time stamp having expiration date information;
The second storage means stores one or more second documents associated with the first document;
The extension confirmation time limit storage means reads the first document stored in the first storage means and the one or more second documents stored in the second storage means, The expiration date information of the stamp is acquired and compared to each other, and the earlier expiration date information is used as the extension confirmation date of the time stamp of the first document. Remember with the document display,
The expiration date extension means extends the expiration date of one of the time stamps of the first document and the second document when the extension confirmation time limit expires. A program for causing a computer for extending the expiration date of a time stamp to further function as an output unit and an extension instruction receiving unit,
The term extension means confirms the earlier expiration date information, and extracts the first document and the one or more second documents whose earlier expiration date information is within a certain period until expiration. And
The output means outputs a display of the extracted first document and the one or more second documents to a user device;
The extension instruction receiving means extends an expiration date of any one of the time stamps of the first document output from the user device and the time stamp of the document indicated by the display of the one or more second documents. The program according to claim 12, wherein the instruction is received.

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