JP2009015511A - Metadata management apparatus, program, and metadata management method - Google Patents

Abstract

When product content is described according to a standard dictionary, the ambiguity of the dictionary definition can be eliminated, and information creators can share information to unify the description method.
This is registered by a user belonging to the work instruction system F0 stored in the workflow DB 32, and has the same attribute as the attribute defined in the dictionary element, and is supplementary information for the attribute. The metadata is stored in the metadata DB 33 in association with the work instruction system for each identifier assigned to the set of properties. As a result, the content description method can be managed in association with the standard dictionary as metadata that embodies the content creation work instruction system, so when describing product content according to the standard dictionary, the ambiguity of the dictionary definition is reduced. It is possible to eliminate information and to share information for unifying the description method among content creators.
[Selection] Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a metadata management device, a program, and a metadata management method.

  A hierarchical database represented by an object-oriented database (OODB) or an object-relational database (ORDB) has a hierarchical structure in which the lower level inherits the properties of the higher classification. In this hierarchical database, the properties increase in the lower classification according to inheritance. Inheriting the property of the higher class to the lower level is generally called “inheritance”, and such a technique is described in many documents such as Non-Patent Document 1.

  In an object-oriented database, a classification in a hierarchy is often called a “class”. On the other hand, in an object-relational database (ORDB), this is equivalent to a table that allows inheritance, and an attribute (property), that is, an upper table, is formed from an upper table to a lower table between tables having a hierarchical relationship. The column header information is inherited to the lower table. Data having the same attribute type belonging to the classification of each hierarchy is called “instance”, and the set is called “population” of data. The population of data is usually stored in a structure called a table in a relational database (RDB) or ORDB. An array of attributes constituting the table is called a table header.

  One of the hierarchical databases is the ISO13584 Parts Library standard (hereinafter referred to as the PLIB standard), which is an international standard for implementing an electronic catalog system that electronically provides product information. This PLIB standard is an object-oriented description method for product or part library data consisting of a plurality of "Parts" (usually translated as "separate volumes") and the semantics of the exchange file format, that is, what terminology Is an international standard that defines whether or not to use description methods and data types. The content of PLI standard Part 42 (part 42) is the same as IEC 61360-2 (part 2). This standard is a mechanism for classifying products in an object-oriented manner, clarifying attribute groups that characterize individual classifications, and exchanging content for the classification as a file. Of course, the concept of attribute inheritance is included in this. Yes. In addition, this standard is created by quoting ISO6523 “Structure for Identification of organizations and organization parts”, and in particular, using the ICD (International Code Designator) defined by ISO6523, a globally unique identifier for an attribute. Can be allocated.

  As an international dictionary according to such a data model of the PLIB standard, there are ISO13584-501 related to measuring instruments, ISO13584-511 related to bolts / nuts, and the like. In addition, as industry standard dictionaries, there are ECALS dictionaries and JeMarche dictionaries in Japan. Development of such dictionaries is also active all over the world.

  Furthermore, in recent years, several systems based on the PLIB standard have been proposed (Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Object-Oriented Concepts, Databases, and Applications, Edited by Won Kim, 1989, ACM Press JP 2004-177996 A JP 2004-178015 A

  By the way, standard dictionaries developed in conformity with the PLIB model are generally defined among standardization organizations, industrial associations, and trading companies. The number of cases will increase.

  For this reason, there are cases where the content creator on the supplier side has a rough definition of standard dictionary elements, lacks accuracy because conditions are not defined, and makes content creation difficult.

  In addition, the content creation instruction is given from the user company side to the supplier contact department, and a person in charge may be assigned for each part type in the supplier company. For this reason, the content description method itself often varies. Needless to say, there is variation within one supplier, and it becomes even more pronounced when crossing suppliers.

  That is, the ambiguity of the dictionary definition and the inconsistency in the description method among content creators are factors that degrade the data quality of the content.

  In order to solve such problems, in general, a content creation guide is created and information is often shared between organizations. However, there is a problem that the burden on the creator of the manual is large, and since it is a document, it is difficult for the content creator to associate the information with information defined in the original dictionary.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is possible to eliminate the ambiguity of the dictionary definition when describing product content according to a standard dictionary, and to share information for unifying the description method among content creators It is an object of the present invention to provide a metadata management device, a program, and a metadata management method that can enable the above.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the metadata management apparatus of the present invention includes a property for describing product specification information as content and an attribute which is a detailed information field defining the property of the property. A dictionary storage means for storing a dictionary element defined by a standard dictionary having at least one identifier attached to the property set, and a work instruction system among users who create the content as the identifier. Work instruction system storage means for storing in association with each other, registered by the user belonging to the work instruction system, and having the same attribute as the attribute defined in the dictionary element, and supplementing the attribute Metadata, which is information, is created for each of the identifiers. It comprises a metadata storage means for storing in association with the chain of command, the.

  The program of the present invention includes a dictionary element defined by a standard dictionary having a property for describing product specification information as content and an attribute which is a detailed information field defining the property of the property, and a set of the property A dictionary storage function for associating and storing at least one identifier attached to the storage unit in the storage unit, and a work instruction system between the users who create the content stored in the storage unit in association with the identifier Instruction system storage function and metadata registered by the user belonging to the work instruction system and having the same attribute as the attribute defined in the dictionary element and is supplementary information for the attribute Is associated with the work instruction system for each identifier. A metadata storage function of storing the storage unit Te, causes the computer to execute.

  Further, the metadata management method of the present invention includes a dictionary element defined by a standard dictionary having a property for describing product specification information as content and an attribute which is a detailed information field defining the property of the property, A dictionary storing step of associating and storing at least one identifier attached to the set of properties in the storage unit, and a work instruction system between users who create the content are associated with the identifier and stored in the storage unit. The work instruction system storing step to be stored, and registered by the user belonging to the work instruction system, having the same attribute as the attribute defined in the dictionary element, and supplementary information for the attribute A certain metadata is set for each identifier and the work instruction system. Including a metadata storage step of storing the storage unit in association.

  According to the present invention, metadata that is registered by a user belonging to the work instruction system and has the same attribute as the attribute defined in the dictionary element and is supplementary information for the attribute is stored in the property. By storing each identifier assigned to the set in association with the work instruction system, the content description method can be managed in association with the standard dictionary as metadata that is embodied according to the work instruction system for content creation. When product content is described according to the standard dictionary, ambiguity of the dictionary definition can be eliminated, and information sharing for unifying the description method among content creators becomes possible. For this reason, knowledge sharing of content creation is promoted between organizations, and it is possible to realize efficient content creation by making use of past knowledge, thereby improving the data quality of the content.

  Exemplary embodiments of a metadata management apparatus, a program, and a metadata management method according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[1. System configuration]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a system construction example of a metadata management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, in the metadata management system, a plurality of client computers (hereinafter referred to as client terminals) 3 are connected to a server computer (hereinafter referred to as a server) 1 via a network 2 such as a LAN (Local Area Network). Assume a server-client system The client terminal 3 is a general personal computer or the like.

  FIG. 2 is a module configuration diagram of the server 1 and the client terminal 3. The server 1 and the client terminal 3 include a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 that performs information processing, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102 that is a read-only memory storing a BIOS, and a RAM (Random Access) that stores various data in a rewritable manner. Memory) 103, functions as various databases, and stores information using HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 104 and storage medium 110 which are storage units for storing various programs, distributes information to the outside, and stores information from outside A medium drive device 105 such as a CD-ROM drive for obtaining, a communication control device 106 for communicating information with other external computers via the network 2, and displaying the processing progress and results to the operator. A display unit 107 such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and the operator The input unit 108 is a pointing device such as a keyboard or a mouse for inputting commands and information to the PU 101, and the bus controller 109 operates by arbitrating data transmitted and received between these units.

  In such server 1 and client terminal 3, when an operator turns on the power, the CPU 101 activates a program called a loader in the ROM 102, and a program for managing the hardware and software of a computer called OS (Operating System) from the HDD 104 is stored in the RAM 103. To start this OS. Such an OS activates a program, reads information, and stores information in response to an operator's operation. As typical OSes, Windows (registered trademark), UNIX (registered trademark), and the like are known. These operation programs running on the OS are called application programs. The application program is not limited to one that runs on a predetermined OS, and may be one that causes the OS to execute some of the various processes described below, or constitutes predetermined application software, an OS, or the like. It may be included as part of a group of program files.

  Here, the server 1 stores a metadata management program in the HDD 104 as an application program. In this sense, the HDD 104 functions as a storage medium that stores the metadata management program.

  On the other hand, the client terminal 3 stores an editing processing program in the HDD 104 as an application program. In this sense, the HDD 104 functions as a storage medium that stores the editing processing program.

  In general, application programs installed in the HDD 104 of the server 1 and the client terminal 3 are various optical disks such as CD-ROM and DVD, various magnetic disks such as various magneto-optical disks and flexible disks, semiconductor memories, and the like. The operation program recorded in the storage medium 110 such as various types of media is installed in the HDD 104. Therefore, the portable storage medium 110 such as an optical information recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a magnetic medium such as an FD can also be a storage medium for storing an application program. Furthermore, the application program may be imported from the outside via the communication control device 106 and installed in the HDD 104, for example.

  In the server 1, when a metadata management program operating on the OS is started, the CPU 101 executes various arithmetic processes according to the metadata management program and centrally controls each unit. On the other hand, in the client terminal 3, when an editing processing program operating on the OS is started, the CPU 101 executes various arithmetic processes according to the editing processing program and centrally controls each unit. Of the various types of arithmetic processing executed by the CPU 101 of the server 1 and the client terminal 3, characteristic processing of the present embodiment will be described below.

  The client terminal 3 outputs the data received from the server 1 to the display unit 107 via a GUI (Graphic User Interface) according to the editing processing program, and is input by the operator on each screen displayed on the display unit 107. Data and commands based on the work performed through the unit 108 and setting contents are received via the GUI and transmitted to the server 1. The edit processing program exhibits various functions according to the authority that the operator has. Although details will be described later, the client terminal 3 in the present embodiment follows the editing processing program, and as shown in FIG. 3, the administrator terminal 11 is used by the administrator and registers various items. Metadata registrant terminals 12 to 15 that are used by metadata registrants and register metadata that will be described later, and content creator terminals that are used by content creators and allow input of created content 16 functions according to the authority the operator has.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the server 1 functions as a metadata management device by following the metadata management program, and is a dictionary element defined in the standard dictionary (in the property described in the PLIB standard described later). And a dictionary DB 31 that is a database that stores template identifiers (corresponding to class BSU in the PLIB standard described later), and a database that stores a flow of work instructions (work instruction system) between user groups for each template identifier. A workflow DB 32 and a metadata DB 33 for storing metadata for dictionary elements are provided.

  Further, the server 1 follows a metadata management program, whereby a dictionary storage unit 21 that is a dictionary storage unit that registers a target standard dictionary and a template identifier input from the administrator terminal 11 in the dictionary DB 31; A workflow storage unit 22 which is a work instruction system storage unit for registering a work instruction flow (work instruction system) input from the administrator terminal 11 in the workflow DB 32, and input from the metadata registrant terminals 12-15. A metadata storage unit 23 serving as a metadata storage unit that stores metadata in association with a dictionary element stored in the dictionary DB 31 and stores the metadata in the metadata DB 33, and a search request issued from the content creator terminal 16 relates to the dictionary element. A metadata search unit 24 that is a metadata search means for searching for metadata; It includes a metadata display portion 25 is a metadata presentation means for displaying a search result by the search unit 24 to the content creator terminal 16.

  Hereinafter, each part is explained in full detail.

  The dictionary DB 31 is a grouping of product standard dictionaries (properties that characterize product classifications and attributes that are detailed information fields that define property properties) and properties that mainly describe product specification information as content. The identifier (template identifier) attached to is stored in association with each other.

  The workflow DB 32 stores a work instruction flow between user groups (work instruction system) in association with each template identifier.

  In the metadata DB 33, metadata for dictionary elements is stored in association with the flow of work instructions.

  The dictionary storage unit 21 has a function of storing a dictionary element and a template identifier in the dictionary DB 31 among standard dictionaries input by the administrator from the administrator terminal 11. The workflow storage unit 22 has a function of registering a user group input by the administrator from the administrator terminal 11 and a work instruction for each template identifier in the workflow DB 32. In the present embodiment, as a dictionary element, a property defined by the ISO13584 / Parts Library (PLIB) standard, which is an international standard for a product part library exchange format, is used. Although details will be described later, the PLIB standard is a data model that defines a dictionary structure such as a parent-child structure of a class, types of properties and attributes thereof, and types of data types.

  In the present embodiment, the PLIB standard is used as the dictionary element. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any dictionary element may be used as long as it has an attribute that is a detailed information field that defines the property properties. In the present embodiment, the class defined by the PLIB standard is used as the template identifier, but it is only necessary to have a structure in which an identifier is attached to a set of properties.

  The metadata storage unit 23 exhibits a function of storing metadata registered from the metadata registrant terminals 12 to 15 belonging to the user group registered in the workflow DB 32 in association with the work instruction system. Note that the metadata has the same attribute as the attribute defined by the dictionary element.

  The metadata search unit 24 receives a search condition input by the content creator from the content creator terminal 16, and from the dictionary DB 31, the workflow DB 32, and the metadata DB 33, a user group to which the content creator belongs and a dictionary given as a search condition. It exhibits a function of searching for metadata associated with an element and / or template identifier.

  The metadata display unit 25 receives the search result from the metadata search unit 24 and displays the result on the content creator terminal 16.

[2. Data structure of dictionary DB 31]
Next, the data structure of the dictionary DB 31 will be described.

(Data structure of dictionary elements and template identifiers)
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the data structure of dictionary elements and template identifiers stored in the dictionary DB 31. As shown in FIG. The dictionary elements and template identifiers shown in FIG. 4 conform to the PLIB standard, and the classification “component data” is a root class, “electronic component” is associated as a child class, and a child class of “electronic component” As a hierarchical structure in which “CMOS” and “resistance” are associated with each other. That is, “electronic components” are subdivided into two categories “CMOS” and “resistance”. Such a hierarchical structure may have any number of levels. In addition, symbols written in parentheses (C0 to C4 in FIG. 4) are codes that represent classes uniquely assigned in the dictionary and are called “class BSU codes” in the PLIB standard. In this form, since it is not limited to having a hierarchical structure, it is referred to as a “template identifier” in a more general sense.

  As shown in FIG. 4, each class defining a hierarchical structure defines a unique property (a portion surrounded by a broken line in FIG. 4). Each class inherits the properties defined in the higher class of the class. For example, the property items possessed by the class “CMOS” are the properties defined by the higher class “part data” (“part number” “contact”) and the properties defined by the class “electronic part” (shown in FIG. 4). And the property defined by the class “CMOS” (“high level output voltage”, “...”). As in the case of the class, a code (“property BSU code” or simply “BSU”) representing a property uniquely assigned in the dictionary is assigned.

  Each property is given an attribute which is a detailed information field (that is, defines a property of the property). The “Name” name itself such as “BSU” or its “product number” or “contact” is also an example of an attribute. In addition, the property definition “Def”, the supplementary item “Note”, and the like are attributes. Although not used in the present embodiment, attributes such as “DataType” indicating the data type of the property and “SourceDoc” indicating the definition of the property itself exist in the PLIB standard.

  In the present embodiment, description will be made using an application example where the dictionary conforms to the PLIB standard. However, this limitation does not preclude the application of the present invention to a database other than the PLIB standard. In the present embodiment, the description has been made based on a hierarchical dictionary. However, if the dictionary has an attribute with a fixed property, the present invention can be applied even to a flat dictionary without a hierarchy. It does not prevent it.

(Instance data structure)
For reference, the data structure of an instance described according to this dictionary will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an instance according to the dictionary of FIG. FIG. 5 shows an instance belonging to the template identifier “CMOS (C3)”. Each row of the instance indicates a part of CMOS specification information (electronic catalog).

[3. Data Structure of Workflow DB 32 and Metadata DB 33]
Next, the data structures of the workflow DB 32 and the metadata DB 33 will be described with reference to FIG.

(Data structure of workflow DB32)
First, the workflow DB 32 will be described. The content F0 surrounded by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 6 is a work instruction (for example, a content creation instruction) between the user group (indicated by a double line in FIG. 6) stored in the workflow DB 32 and the user group corresponding to the template identifier. ) Is a work instruction system (indicated by broken-line arrows in FIG. 6). In FIG. 6, “U company”, “sales department”, “person in charge 1”, and “person in charge 2” are provided as user groups. The blank user group provided at the top is an “instruction start group” provided for convenience. The flow of content creation instruction (work instruction system) flows from the “instruction start group” in the direction of the dashed arrow. The content is actually created by the end group ("charge 1" and "charge 2" in FIG. 6). Such a flow of work instructions between user groups (hereinafter referred to as “work instruction system”) is stored in the workflow DB 32 in association with a template identifier (in FIG. 6, the workflow DB 32 is a template identifier). = A work instruction system corresponding to C3 and C4 is stored).

(Data structure of metadata DB 33)
Next, the metadata DB 33 will be described. M0 shown in FIG. 6 is a data model for dictionary elements stored in the metadata DB 33. Each row of the dictionary element data model M0 indicates a standard dictionary property, and a column indicates its attribute. In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, “BSU”, “Name”, “Def”, and “Note” are employed as attributes. For example, the properties on the first line in FIG. 6 are: BSU = “XJE023”, Name = “Contact”, Def = “Contact for parts”, Note = “Address, phone number, or URL, e-mail” It is. Similarly, the attribute values defined in the standard dictionary are stored for the properties on the second line in FIG. In the example of the dictionary shown in FIG. 4, XJE001 also exists, but for simplicity of explanation, it is omitted from FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the metadata DB 33 also stores properties used for each template identifier.

  Further, in the metadata DB 33, as in M1 to M4 shown in FIG. 6, metadata corresponding to each user of the work instruction system for each property is stored in association with the work instruction flow (work instruction system). Yes. That is, the metadata M1 is registered by the metadata registrant of “U company” using the metadata registrant terminal (U company) 12, and the metadata registrant of “sales department” is registered by the metadata registrant. Registered using the terminal (sales department) 13, the metadata M3 is registered as “metadata registrant 1” using the metadata registrant terminal (charge 1) 14, and the metadata M4 is registered as metadata. The person in charge “2” is registered using the metadata registrant terminal (person 2) 15.

  It is assumed that such metadata M1 to M4 are managed in association with template identifiers as well as the dictionary element data model M0. For example, the metadata M1 is obtained by adding a restriction such as “URL or e-mail” to Note “address, telephone number, URL or e-mail” of XJE023. In this way, values to be described as contents corresponding to the flow of work instructions are detailed.

  That is, there is an effect that the attributes defined in the standard dictionary can be refined by storing metadata for dictionary elements such as M1 to M4 in association with the flow of work instructions. This not only establishes a guideline such as “simply write content uniformly within a supplier company”, but also allows operation such as giving test conditions to property values that must be tested.

  [4. Processing operations of the entire metadata management system]

  Next, the processing operation of the entire metadata management system will be described step by step with reference to the data flow of FIG.

(Various registration processes by administrator operations)
The dictionary information as shown in FIG. 4 input by the administrator through the administrator terminal 11 is registered in the dictionary DB 31 as dictionary elements and template identifiers via the dictionary storage unit 21. Further, the user group and work instruction system as indicated by F0 in FIG. 6 input by the administrator from the administrator terminal 11 is provided via the workflow storage unit 22 as a user group and work instruction system for each template identifier. Registered in

(Metadata registration process by the operation of the metadata registrant)
The metadata as shown by M1 in FIG. 6 input by the metadata registrant of “U company” from the metadata registrant terminal (company U) 12 is associated with the dictionary DB 31 via the metadata storage unit 23. Registered in the metadata DB 33. The metadata as indicated by M2 in FIG. 6 input by the metadata registrant of “Sales Department” from the metadata registrant terminal (sales department) 13 is associated with the dictionary DB 31 via the metadata storage unit 23. Registered in the metadata DB 33. The metadata as indicated by M3 in FIG. 6 input by the metadata registrant “charge 1” from the metadata registrant terminal (charge 1) 14 is associated with the dictionary DB 31 via the metadata storage unit 23. Are registered in the metadata DB 33. The metadata as indicated by M4 in FIG. 6 input by the metadata registrant “charge 2” from the metadata registrant terminal (charge 2) 15 is associated with the dictionary DB 31 via the metadata storage unit 23. Are registered in the metadata DB 33.

(Search / display processing by content creator's operation)
The search conditions input by the content creator from the content creator terminal 16 are sent to the metadata search unit 24, and are given as search conditions from the dictionary DB 31, the workflow DB 32, and the metadata DB 33 to the user group to which the content creator belongs. Retrieve metadata associated with the dictionary elements and / or template identifiers to be found. The metadata display unit 25 receives the search result from the metadata search unit 24 and displays the result on the content creator terminal 16.

  Here, the processing flow in the metadata search unit 24 and the metadata display unit 25 will be described in order.

  First, the flow of processing in the metadata search unit 24 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, when the metadata search unit 24 receives a template identifier to which the content currently edited designated by the content creator belongs and a search condition q (tid, bsu) that is a property for which details are to be browsed ( In step S1), M0 in which the dictionary element is stored is searched according to the search condition q (tid, bsu) (step S2), and it is confirmed whether or not the corresponding property exists (step S3).

  If the result property (Result (0)) does not exist (Yes in step S3), the processing in the metadata search unit 24 ends.

  On the other hand, if the result property exists (No in step S3), the user group (gr) that is the work instruction system to which the searcher belongs is acquired (step S4), and the existing user group in the tid instruction string is obtained. Then, metadata M (i) upstream from gr is acquired (step S5). Here, an example will be described. For example, in the metadata shown in FIG. 6, if the search condition is q (C3, XJE074) and the searcher belongs to the “sales department” group, the user group to which the searcher belongs is gr = “sales department”. The target metadata is M1 and M2 associated with upstream “Company U” and “Sales Department”.

  The metadata search unit 24 searches the acquired M (i) for a property satisfying q (tdi, bsu), and sets the result as Result (i) (steps S6 to S7).

  The processes in steps S6 to S7 are repeated until all acquired M (i) are processed (Yes in step S8).

  When the processing has been completed for all acquired M (i) (Yes in step S8), the processing in the metadata search unit 24 ends.

  For example, when the search condition is q (C3, XJE074) and the searcher belongs to the “sales department” group, when the target metadata M1 and M2 are acquired, as shown in FIG. Get the property list.

  When the processing of the metadata search unit 24 is completed as described above, all the results are delivered to the metadata display unit 25.

  Next, two types of display methods in the metadata display unit 25 will be described with reference to FIG.

(1) Method of Displaying Results Obtained by Metadata Search Unit as-is This display method is a method of displaying all attributes that reach the standard dictionary. For example, A shown in FIG. 9 indicates the result obtained by the metadata search unit 24 as it is when the template identifier = C3, Gr = “sales department”, and BSU = XJG074. The characteristic of this display method is that it is possible to know at which instruction level the allocated metadata.

(2) Method for Displaying Priority on Lowermost Attribute Values This display method is a method for displaying priority on lowermost attribute values. For example, B shown in FIG. 9 is a display in which the attribute value of the lowest layer is displayed with priority when template identifier = C3, Gr = “sales department”, and BSU = XJG023. It is useful to take this form when the lowest level attribute imposes the most stringent restrictions on describing property values.

  Note that, as shown in FIG. 9, the above-described two types of display methods are also applied in the case of Gr = “charge 1”.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the meta data that is registered by the user belonging to the work instruction system and has the same attribute as the attribute defined in the dictionary element and is supplementary information for the attribute. Data is stored for each identifier assigned to a set of properties in association with a work instruction system. As a result, the content description method can be managed in association with the standard dictionary as metadata that embodies the content creation work instruction system, so when describing product content according to the standard dictionary, the ambiguity of the dictionary definition is reduced. It is possible to eliminate information and to share information to unify the description method among content creators, so that knowledge sharing of content creation proceeds between organizations, and efficient content creation is realized by utilizing past knowledge. And by extension, the data quality of the content can be improved.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the system construction example of the metadata management system concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a module block diagram of a server and a client terminal. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of a metadata management system. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the data structure of a dictionary element and a template identifier. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the instance according to the dictionary of FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the data structure of workflow DB and metadata DB. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process in a metadata search part. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of a property list. It is a schematic diagram which shows the display method in a metadata display part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Metadata management apparatus 21 Dictionary storage means 22 Work instruction | indication system | strain storage means 23 Metadata storage means 24 Metadata search means 25 Metadata presentation means

Claims (10)

A dictionary element defined by a standard dictionary having a property for describing product specification information as content and an attribute which is a detailed information field defining the property of the property, and at least one identifier attached to the set of properties Dictionary storage means for storing
A work instruction system storage means for storing a work instruction system between users creating the content in association with the identifier;
Metadata that is registered by the user belonging to the work instruction system and has the same attribute as the attribute defined in the dictionary element, and is supplementary information for the attribute, for each identifier. Metadata storage means for storing the work instruction system in association with the work instruction system;
A metadata management apparatus comprising: When a search condition composed of the identifier and the property transmitted from the user who creates the content is received, the search condition is associated with the user who transmitted the search condition in the work instruction system to which the user belongs and the user located upstream thereof. Metadata search means for searching for the given metadata;
Metadata presenting means for presenting the metadata retrieved by the metadata retrieval means to a user who has transmitted the search condition according to the dictionary element;
The metadata management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The metadata presenting means presents all the attributes;
The metadata management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: The metadata presenting means preferentially presents the value of the attribute in the lowest layer,
The metadata management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: Stores properties for describing product specification information as content and attributes that are detailed information fields that define the properties of the properties. Dictionary elements defined in the standard dictionary and identifiers attached to the set of properties. A dictionary storage function for storing the data in the storage unit in association with
A work instruction system storage function for storing a work instruction system between users who create the content in a storage unit in association with the identifier;
Metadata that is registered by the user belonging to the work instruction system and has the same attribute as the attribute defined in the dictionary element, and is supplementary information for the attribute, for each identifier. A metadata storage function for storing in the storage unit in association with the work instruction system,
A program that causes a computer to execute. When a search condition composed of the identifier and the property transmitted from the user who creates the content is received, the search condition is associated with the user who transmitted the search condition in the work instruction system to which the user belongs and the user located upstream thereof. A metadata search function for searching the stored metadata from the storage unit;
A metadata presentation function for presenting the metadata searched by the metadata search function to a user who has transmitted the search condition according to the dictionary element;
The program according to claim 5, wherein the computer is executed. The metadata presentation function presents all the attributes,
The program according to claim 6. The metadata presentation function preferentially presents the value of the attribute in the lowest layer,
The program according to claim 6. Stores properties for describing product specification information as content and attributes that are detailed information fields that define the properties of the properties. Dictionary elements defined in the standard dictionary and identifiers attached to the set of properties. And a dictionary storage step for storing the data in the storage unit in association with each other.
A work instruction system storage step of storing a work instruction system between users creating the content in a storage unit in association with the identifier;
Metadata that is registered by the user belonging to the work instruction system and has the same attribute as the attribute defined in the dictionary element, and is supplementary information for the attribute, for each identifier. A metadata storage step of storing the storage unit in association with the work instruction system;
A metadata management method comprising: When a search condition composed of the identifier and the property transmitted from the user who creates the content is received, the search condition is associated with the user who transmitted the search condition in the work instruction system to which the user belongs and the user located upstream thereof. A metadata search step for searching the stored metadata from the storage unit;
A metadata presenting step for presenting the metadata retrieved by the metadata retrieval step to a user who has transmitted the search condition according to the dictionary element;
The metadata management method according to claim 9, further comprising:

Images