JP4922247B2 - Electronic document providing method and electronic document server apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic document providing method for browsing an electronic document stored on an electronic document server device side in response to a request from a client device, and particularly reduces the risk of information leakage to the outside. An electronic document provision method that can improve the efficiency of information distribution in the organization and, in turn, the operational efficiency by providing electronic browsing of diverse and large amounts of information while ensuring security and safety. The present invention also relates to a document server apparatus and a computer program related to these methods and apparatuses.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electronic document server apparatus used for browsing electronic documents and electronic forms and a client apparatus connected to the electronic document server apparatus have various limitations such as using dedicated electronic documents and electronic forms. Even when general-purpose hardware or software is used, it is necessary to install or download a dedicated application program.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing browsing of an electronic document from a conventional general electronic document server device 10 to a client device 5.

  There are various types of objects to be browsed, such as electronic forms in the form of documents, electronic documents in the form of documents created by word processing software, and digitized documents obtained by reading paper documents as two-dimensional images. Conventionally, these are normally browsed by the dedicated client device 5 as indicated by bold lines in the figure.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing conventional browsing by downloading an electronic document.

  Here, a so-called PDF (Portable Document Format) format is taken as an example, and browsing by downloading an electronic document is shown.

  In the PDF format, in addition to the original electronic document described above, electronic forms and digitized documents can be handled as a unified format electronic document. Such an electronic document in PDF format is stored in the electronic document database device 17 included in the electronic document server device 10.

  Here, in such a narrowly-defined electronic document, an electronic document in a broad sense including an electronic form, an electronic document, or the like is used, and unless otherwise specified, this is an electronic document. A document format created by word processing software is called an original electronic document.

  In FIG. 2, when browsing the electronic document in such a broad sense, the electronic document server device 10 side interposes application programs in the servlet processing unit 22 and the GUI processing unit 23, and the web browser processing unit on the client device 5 side. 24 is interposed. The document list display processing unit 25 and the download processing unit 26 are realized by a web browser processing unit 24 that uses general-purpose web browser software or the like.

  Then, from the document list display processing unit 25 in the web browser processing unit 24, the user displays a list of electronic documents and selects and designates the electronic document to be browsed. Also, the selected and designated items are once downloaded by the download processing unit 26 to the client device 5 side as indicated by the bold line in the figure, and temporarily stored in the document file storage unit 27, for example. Thereafter, the downloaded electronic document can be displayed and browsed by the document display processing unit 28 having an application program called a PDF viewer or the like as an entity in the client device 5.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for converting into a unified electronic form, such as a PDF electronic document, for viewing. This Patent Document 1 can also be applied to an electronic form that can be a legal book that is managed and stored by a COM (Computer Output Microfilm) film if it satisfies the requirements stipulated by the law (electronic book storage law and others). ing.

  Also, in the case of an electronic form, it is stored in a server device and viewed by related parties via a network, so that the information distribution efficiency in the organization is improved.

JP 2006-343976 A

  However, in the case of FIG. 1 described above, for example, similar equipment is wasted, and the use of a plurality of client devices 5 is complicated.

  Here, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing browsing of an electronic document from the general electronic document server apparatus 10 to the client apparatus 5 as a modification of the above-described FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the configuration shown in FIG. 1 can be considered to share hardware and software for browsing electronic forms, browsing electronic documents, and browsing digitized documents. In FIG. 3, a part of the servlet processing unit 22 and the GUI processing unit 23 are shared.

  However, not all of them can be shared, and therefore there are problems such as development of extra software and complicated operations of users. For example, in FIG. 3, even if the hardware of the client device 5 is shared, it is difficult to share the software used for browsing. Usually, each browsing requires a separate login operation. The login operation requires complicated input such as an ID (IDentification) and a password.

  Furthermore, when browsing a PDF document, it is necessary to first download the entire document file to the client device 5. The downloaded file has a security risk of leakage, and if the entire electronic document file is downloaded even if it is a very small part of the target electronic document, the entire file is leaked. There is a problem that it is dangerous and unfavorable in terms of security.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and provides electronic browsing of a large amount of information while reducing the risk of information leakage to the outside and ensuring security safety. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic document providing method and an electronic document server device that can improve the efficiency of information distribution in an organization and, consequently, the business efficiency.

First, an electronic document providing method according to a first aspect of the present invention is an electronic document providing method for browsing an electronic document stored on an electronic document server device side in response to a request from a client device. The original information in various file formats is converted into a unified format electronic document and stored by the computer device, and further, the client device for browsing the unified format electronic document by a general-purpose browser program in advance. It can be transferred in units and converted into an electronic document of a unique format that can be searched by designating a range within a page, stored, read out the electronic document of the original format , transferred to a client device in units of pages, together with subjected to browse, an authentication process of the download whether the user in the client device, the electronic document server-side computer Done by location, if it is determined that the downloadable by downloading an electronic document of the unified format to the client device, by subjecting the browsing is obtained by solving the above problems.
Since the data is transferred to the client device in units of pages, the risk of information leakage to the outside can be reduced as compared with the case of downloading the entire electronic document. In addition, when handling primitive information in various file formats, it can be converted into a unified format electronic document, stored, and used for viewing, improving the efficiency of information distribution within the organization and thus improving business efficiency. Can be planned. In addition, since it is assumed that browsing is performed by transferring to a client device in units of pages, the download can be limited as much as possible while providing flexible access to the electronic document. Can reduce the risk of information leakage.

Furthermore, by leaving converted beforehand proprietary format as this, transfer processing to the client device in a page unit, also, the search processing to the specified range in the page is facilitated.

Further, in the electronic document providing method, an execution right that individually determines whether or not each of the operations including at least the browsing right, browsing, printing, and searching in the client device can be performed on the original electronic document. Since it can be set for each user and each group, it can be used for browsing. In this case, since the reference right and the execution right can be set in detail, the frequency and range of access to the electronic document can be limited, and the risk of information leakage to the outside can be reduced.

Further, in the electronic document providing method, an execution for individually determining whether or not each of the operations including at least browsing, printing, and searching on the download client device is permitted for the unified electronic document. The right can be set in units of users and groups . In this case, since access to electronic documents , such as downloading, can be finely set with reference rights and execution rights, the frequency and range of the download can be limited, reducing the risk of information leakage to the outside. Can do.

Next, an electronic document server device according to a second aspect of the present invention provides a variety of files in an electronic document providing server device for browsing electronic documents stored on the electronic document server device side in response to a request from a client device. An information reception conversion processing unit that converts primitive information in a format into an electronic document in a unified format, a standardized information storage unit that saves the electronic document in a unified format, and a general-purpose browser program that converts the electronic document in the unified format in advance A document registration conversion processing unit that converts the document into a unique electronic document that can be transferred in a page unit and can be searched by specifying a range within the page, and stores the electronic document in the unique format a registration document information storage unit that reads the electronic document該独own format, transferred page by page to the client device, along with providing the browsing, the client device The authentication process of definitive user download permission performed by the electronic document server-side computing device, if it is determined that the downloadable by downloading an electronic document of the unified format to the client apparatus, subjected to browse By providing a browsing processing unit, the above-mentioned problems are solved. Since the data is transferred to the client device in units of pages, the risk of information leakage to the outside can be reduced as compared with the case of downloading the entire electronic document. In addition, when handling primitive information in various file formats, it can be converted into a unified format electronic document, stored, and used for viewing, improving the efficiency of information distribution within the organization and thus improving business efficiency. Can be planned. Furthermore,
By converting into a unique format in advance, transfer processing to the client device in units of pages and search processing in which a range within a page is designated are facilitated.

  Subsequently, the computer program of the third invention of the present application is to provide a computer program for implementing the electronic document providing method of the first invention or the electronic document server apparatus of the second invention. Thus, the problem is solved.

  According to the present invention, an electronic document can be browsed without being downloaded, and the risk of information leakage can be significantly reduced. In addition, the situation in which downloading of electronic documents is absolutely necessary is very limited, so even if the qualification authentication of the user trying to download, for example, management with ID and password is strict, There is no burden.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an overall hardware configuration of an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

  The electronic document server apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment or the second embodiment described below may be provided in the network 1 or the network 3 as shown in FIG. The electronic document server device 10 is accessed by the client device 5 arranged in a related department. The client device 5 and the electronic document server device 10 are directly connected to the network 1 or can be connected to the network 1 through the network 3 or the gateway device 7 as appropriate, so that such access connection is possible. It has become. The access connection makes it possible to search for information to which the present invention is applied.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of hardware used for each apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  FIG. 5 shows a hardware configuration of a certain kind of computer device that can be used as each device of the electronic document server device 10 and the client device 5. However, each device is not limited to such a device.

  The computer apparatus of FIG. 5 may be a general PC (Personal Computer) apparatus equipped with Windows (registered trademark) of US Microsoft Corporation as an example of the OS (Operating System), and is not particularly limited. . Alternatively, hardware other than the PC device may be used, and hardware such as a so-called workstation such as EWS (Engineering Work Station) may be used. In this figure, the hardware configuration is partially abstracted for the sake of explanation.

  In this embodiment, the client device 5 uses Internet Explorer (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation as a general-purpose browser program. However, the present invention does not specifically limit this. For example, a general-purpose browser program capable of displaying a general-purpose electronic document such as an HTML (hypertext markup language) format or an XML (extensible markup language) format can be used.

  In addition, the format of the electronic document that can be displayed in the general-purpose browser program in this manner, such as the HTML format and the XML format, is hereinafter referred to as a general-purpose format.

  In this figure, a computer device includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 310, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 311, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 312, a LAN-I / F (Inter Face) 313, a MODEM (modulator). -demodulator) 314 and various I / Fs 320 to 322. These are interconnected by a bus 301.

  Further, a screen display device 330 is connected to the bus 301 via the I / F 320. A keyboard 331, a mouse 332, and a printer device 333 that are interconnected by a bus 303 are connected to the bus 301 via an I / F 321.

  Further, an HDD (Hard Disc Drive) device 340, a CD (Compact Disc) drive device 341, and an FDD (Floppy (registered trademark) Disc Drive) device 342 are connected to the bus 301 via the I / F 322. Has been. These are interconnected by a bus 302.

  In the hardware configuration as described above, the storage means and storage devices are RAM 311, ROM 312, HDD device 340, CD drive device 341, FDD device 342, and the like. In such storage means and storage devices, various programs executed by the CPU 310, databases and various files and data accessed in the present embodiment are stored, and can be accessed electronically. For example, an OS, a database, a program for providing an environment using software resources such as JAVA (registered trademark) and JSP (Java (registered trademark) Server Page), an application program according to the present embodiment, a web The browser program is stored in the HDD device 340 and is read out to the RAM 311 and executed by the CPU 310 at the time of execution. Note that the LAN-I / F 313 is used for connection to the network 3 or the network 1, and the application program executed by the CPU 310 is a JAVA (acquired via the network 1 in the client device 5). Also included are registered applet applets and those provided by an ASP (Active Server Page) function in the electronic document server device 10.

  Further, when executing an OS, an application program, or the like, an operator performs character input and various operations with the keyboard 331 while referring to information displayed and output on the screen display device 330, and coordinate input and various operations with the mouse 332. Or input. For example, the mouse 332 is used to select a list of electronic documents to be displayed, to specify a range such as a search in the electronic document being browsed, and to perform various operations by clicking operations or so-called drag and drop operations. Perform operations. Further, necessary information can be printed out from the printer device 333 as appropriate. Needless to say, these outputs and inputs are performed electronically by a program executed by the CPU 310.

  The CD drive device 341 and the FDD device 342 are used for application program installation and other offline information exchange when the present invention is applied.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration according to the electronic document server device 10 of the first embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

  In this embodiment, first, the information reception conversion processing unit 32 converts the original information in various file formats into a unified format electronic document and stores it in the standardized information storage unit 17. Then, in response to a request from the client device 5, the browsing processing unit 35 transfers the stored electronic document to the client device 5 in units of pages as indicated by a bold line in FIG. Served for browsing.

  First, in the present embodiment, a so-called PDF-format electronic document can be imported as source information, and the PDF-format electronic document is stored in advance in the electronic form database 12 as a form-form electronic form. Further, the original information of electronic documents other than PDF format electronic documents handled by general-purpose application programs such as Excel (registered trademark) and Word (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation in the United States is stored in the electronic document database 13 in advance. Stored.

  Further, an electronic document obtained by reading a paper medium document as a two-dimensional image is stored in the electronic document database 14. This digitized document includes not only a PDF format document but also an image file format such as a TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) format or a GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) format. The paper document reading device 15 is a scanner device for reading a document on a paper medium as a two-dimensional image, and the reading result is in a TIFF format, a GIF format or the like, and is converted into a PDF format and digitized. It is stored in the document database 14.

  Each of the databases 12 to 14 and the paper document reading device 15 described above may be built in the electronic document server device 10 or may be external to the electronic document server device 10.

  In the present embodiment, such various electronic forms, electronic documents, digitized documents, and image files obtained by reading paper-based documents are converted into PDF-format unified electronic documents by the information reception conversion processing unit 32. The converted data is stored in the standardized information storage unit 17. Some electronic documents and digitized documents originally have a PDF format, but various adjustments of a subset in the PDF format are appropriately converted.

  Note that the processing in the browsing processing unit 35 is performed by the servlet processing unit 22. The servlet processing unit 22 is programmed around a JAVA (registered trademark) servlet, and handles the GUI processing using the JAVA (registered trademark) GUI environment.

  Next, FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration according to the electronic document server apparatus 10 of the second embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

  In the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment described above, an electronic document converted into a unified format electronic document and stored in the standardized information storage unit 17 is transferred to the client device 5 in units of pages. It is intended for browsing by users.

  However, the PDF registration (unified format) electronic document in the standardized information storage unit 17 is converted in advance into an original electronic document by the document registration conversion processing unit 37 and stored in the registered document information storage unit 18 in advance. Keep it.

  This unique format is a format that can be transferred in units of pages to the client device 5 that is browsed by a general-purpose browser program, and that can be searched by specifying a range within the page (hereinafter simply referred to as a unique format). Preliminarily storing in an original format facilitates transfer of the electronic document in page units by the browsing processing unit 42 when browsing on the client device 5.

  At the time of the filing of the present invention, as a general-purpose browser program, there is Internet Explorer (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation in the United States. In addition, such a general-purpose browser program can display an electronic document in a general-purpose format such as HTML format or XML format. Accordingly, the document registration conversion processing unit 37 converts the above-described original format into one that can be easily converted into such a general-purpose format, thereby facilitating later processing of the browsing processing unit 42.

  In response to a request from the client device 5, the browsing processing unit 42 transfers the electronic document stored in the registered document information storage unit 18 to the client device 5 on a page-by-page basis. Provide for browsing.

  In the browsing processing unit 35 of the first embodiment described above, the corresponding page of the PDF document stored in the standardized information storage unit 17 is displayed by the general-purpose browser program of the client device 5 at the time of transfer to the client device 5. It needs to be converted into a general-purpose electronic document that can be. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the electronic document converted into a unique format that can be easily converted is stored in the registered document information storage unit 18 in advance, the processing in the browsing processing unit 42 can be performed efficiently. it can.

  Note that the processing in the browsing processing unit 42 is performed by the servlet processing unit 22. The servlet processing unit 22 is programmed around a JAVA (registered trademark) servlet, and handles the GUI processing using the JAVA (registered trademark) GUI environment.

  Next, FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part of the present embodiment.

  As shown in this figure, the document registration conversion processing unit 37 described above includes an input data receiving unit 38 that reads an electronic document stored in the standardized information storage unit 17, and a registered document that performs conversion processing on the read electronic document. A conversion unit 39. The registered document conversion unit 39 converts the electronic document in a unified format stored in the standardized information storage unit 17 into an electronic document in a unique format, and stores the electronic document in the registered document information storage unit 18.

  The browsing processing unit 42 includes a document data reference right management unit 44, a document data execution right management unit 45, a registered document information transfer processing unit 46, and a communication processing unit 48. The registered document information delivery processing unit 46 converts the electronic document to be browsed stored in the registered document information storage unit 18 from the original format to the general format in the client device 5 that the user browses with the general-purpose browser program. The data is transferred in units of pages.

  Here, in the standardized information storage unit 17 and the registered document information storage unit 18, a plurality of “cabinets” are provided as appropriate, and a “cabinet (archive)” is provided with a plurality of “drawers” as appropriate. A plurality of “folders” are provided as appropriate, and the electronic document is stored in the corresponding “cabinet”, “drawer”, and “folder”.

  In the present embodiment, the “reference right” refers to information related to a file stored in such “cabinet”, “drawer”, and “folder”, and a lower-layer “drawer” and “folder” provided. It determines whether or not it is possible to display the information regarding. The process for managing the “reference right” and the process based on the “reference right” are performed by the document data reference right management unit 44.

  For example, when a user displays a list of the names of files stored in a certain “drawer” or the names of “folders” provided from the client device 5, the names of those users who do not have reference rights are not displayed. .

  Next, “execution right” refers to execution of operations including at least browsing, printing, and searching in the client device 5 with respect to the stored electronic document in such “cabinet”, “drawer”, and “folder”. The permission of each is determined individually. Processing for managing this “execution right” and processing based on this “execution right” are performed by the document data execution right management unit 45.

  For example, a user displays a list of the names of files stored in a certain “drawer” from the client device 5 and executes any one of operations including at least browsing, printing, and searching for a certain electronic document. If this user does not have the right to execute, this cannot be done.

  In the present embodiment, the “reference right” or the “execution right” as described above is a unique format electronic document saved in the standardized information storage unit 17 or an original document saved in the registered document information storage unit 18. It can also be set for electronic documents. Such “reference right” or “execution right” can be set in units of users and groups.

  Here, for convenience, such groups as units for setting “reference right” and “execution right” are called “reference right group” and “execution right group”. Such “reference right group” and “execution right group” are set, for example, in units of departments to which a user belongs, business units, job types, or positions.

  Next, in the client device 5, the communication processing unit 52, the document data selection unit 54, the document data display unit 55, and the document data operation unit 56 are hardware that is used by the general-purpose browser program centered on the general-purpose browser program. And its firmware.

  In the client device 5, the processing related to the communication processing unit 52, the document data selection unit 54, the document data display unit 55, and the document data operation unit 56 is downloaded from the electronic document server device 10 to the client device 5, and An applet executed in the program may be used. Thereby, more advanced processing becomes possible. However, the general-purpose browser program to be used needs to have a function for executing an applet.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to flowcharts.

  The user can browse the electronic document stored in the registered document information storage unit 18 of the electronic document server device 10 on the client device 5. The registered document information storage unit 18 stores the information in the databases 12 to 14 and the electronic document read by the paper document reading device 15 in the unified format and then in the unique format as described above. .

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the electronic document registration process in the present embodiment.

  When a user registers an electronic document to be browsed in the electronic document server device 10, first, in step S112, the client device 5 inputs an ID and password and performs a login operation. Thereafter, step S114 and step S116 are repeated for each document to be registered.

  In step S114, the information reception conversion processing unit 32 reads the document to be registered, converts it into a unified PDF format, and stores it in the standardized information storage unit 17.

  Here, FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a unified format electronic document stored in the standardized information storage unit 17 in this way in the present embodiment.

  This electronic document information includes page-by-page document data. In addition, security information indicating whether the electronic document can be printed or copied is included.

  In step S116, the input data reception unit 38 of the document registration conversion processing unit 37 reads out the digitized document stored in the standardized information storage unit 17 this time, and then the registered document conversion unit 39 reads the read electronic document. The converted document is converted into a general-purpose electronic document and stored in the registered document information storage unit 18.

  In step S114 or step S116 described above, the reference right and execution right of the electronic document to be registered are also set.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the original electronic document stored in the registered document information storage unit 18 in this way.

  In this unique format, as shown in the figure, the document content data is in units of pages, and in particular, the storage position (address) of the top data and tail data of each page is easy to understand. Therefore, when transferring the electronic document to be browsed stored in the registered document information storage unit 18 to the client device 5, the registered document information delivery processing unit 46 converts the electronic document from the original format to the general-purpose format and transfers it in page units. Processing becomes easy. Further, the registered document information delivery processing unit 46 can easily perform a search specifying a range in the page.

  As described above, the digitized document stored in the registered document information storage unit 18 can be browsed from the client device 5. In addition, the PDF-format electronic document stored in the standardized information storage unit 17 can be downloaded while being authenticated by the user of the client device 5 and handled by the client device 5.

  Here, when an electronic document is registered as described above, information used for authority management in this embodiment is also registered.

  14 to 16 are diagrams showing the reference right information set for each reference right group in the present embodiment. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the reference right information set for each user.

  This reference right group is set in units of departments to which the user belongs, business units, job type units, and job position units. In this embodiment, reference rights can be set in such group units. It has become. “Reference right group 1” to “reference right group 3” shown in FIGS. 14 to 16 are examples of such reference right groups. Whether or not reference is possible is set in units of such reference right groups and in units of “document types” such as “in-house newsletter”, “patent information”, and “management information”.

  For example, a group of reference rights such as department units such as general affairs department and sales department, business units such as general affairs managers of each department, section managers of each department or other heads of directors, and setting specific reference rights. You may make it perform.

  Also, the reference right group to which each user belongs is set as shown in FIG. “User 1” to “User 3” are examples of users. In addition, belonging reference right groups of “user 1” to “user 3” are set.

  18 to 20 are diagrams showing execution right information set for each execution right group in the present embodiment. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing execution right information set for each user. Further, FIG. 22 is a diagram showing execution restriction information set for each electronic document.

  This execution right group is set in units of departments to which the user belongs, business units, job types, and job title units. In this embodiment, execution rights can be set in such group units. It has become. “Execution right group 1” to “Execution right group 3” shown in FIGS. 18 to 20 are examples of such execution right groups. Whether or not execution is possible is set in units of such execution rights, and in units of “operation type” such as “document content display”, “document printing (document content printing)”, “document editing”, and “document download”. It has come to be.

  Similar to the reference rights group, for example, such execution rights groups are defined by departmental units such as the general affairs department and sales department, business units such as general affairs managers of each department, divisional managers of each department, and other department heads. A specific execution right may be set.

  Further, the execution right group to which each user belongs is set as shown in FIG. “User 1” to “User 3” are examples of users. In addition, belonging execution right groups of these “user 1” to “user 3” are set.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 22, the setting of whether to restrict execution and the setting of the execution right group to be targeted are set in units of “document types” such as “in-house newsletter”, “patent information”, and “management information”. It is possible.

  In FIG. 22, for example, “patent information” has “O” set in the “Execution restriction” section, and “Execution restriction target execution right group” is “Execution right group 2”. In this case, the execution right of “execution right group 2” is limited with respect to “patent information”.

  Note that the electronic document registration process of FIG. 9 described above is performed in units of electronic documents from the client device 5. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a batch processing method for registering a large number of electronic documents is also prepared in the electronic document server device 10. Also in this batch processing method, when registering individual electronic documents, the same processing as the unified format conversion registration processing in step S114 of FIG. 9 or the unique format conversion registration processing in step S116 is performed in this order. .

  Next, FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing electronic document reference / execution processing in the present embodiment.

  In this flowchart, electronic documents are listed and selected according to the reference rights that the user has, and according to the execution rights, the selected electronic documents are executed, that is, the contents of the selected electronic documents are viewed, printed, searched, edited. , Processing when performing other operations is shown. In the electronic document reference / execution processing, processing for downloading the selected electronic document from the standardized information storage unit 17 of the electronic document server device 10 to the client device 5 is also shown.

  When the user wants to browse the electronic document, first, in step S120, the client device 5 first inputs an ID and a password and performs a login operation. In the present embodiment, any electronic document in any of the databases 12 to 14 can be browsed by being authenticated only once by this login operation.

  In step S122, the user uses the document data selection unit 54 of the client device 5 to perform a search using a search key to search for an electronic document to be browsed, and display a list of electronic documents. Alternatively, a specific “cabinet”, “drawer”, or “folder” is simply designated, and a list of electronic documents stored in this is displayed.

  In step S122, the document data reference right management unit 44 determines whether or not the user can display a list based on whether or not the right of reference is available. In the list display as described above, the user has the reference right. Only certain electronic documents are displayed.

  First, when the user browses the electronic document, the determination based on whether or not the authority of the reference right is permitted is obtained by referring to the reference right information as shown in FIG. 17 and the reference right group to which the user belongs is shown in FIGS. The reference right information as shown in FIG. 16 is used to determine whether or not the right of the current reference right is available based on the reference right information set for each reference right group.

  Subsequently, in step S124, an electronic document to be browsed or others is designated based on the list display. When the electronic document is selected in this way, in step S126, the processing of the registered document information delivery processing unit 46 displays and browses the contents of the selected electronic document according to the execution right possessed by the user, prints, You can search, edit, etc.

  In the present embodiment, it is easy to designate and search a range within a page of the electronic document (content of the electronic document). For example, in the case of an electronic document of a general document, the search range is designated by specifying the start position and end position of the search range by the page position, the line position, and the column position by using the mouse 332 or the like. You can specify and search. For other types of documents, use the mouse 332 or the like to specify the search range by specifying the start position and end position of the search range using the page position and the coordinate position within the page, respectively. Can be searched.

  Here, in step S126, the electronic document server apparatus 10 performs processing for determining whether or not the authority of the execution right of the user shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing execution right determination processing performed in the present embodiment.

  When browsing or editing an electronic document stored in the registered document information storage unit 18, the document data execution right management unit 45 performs browsing or editing of the target electronic document by the user this time. Judgment of permission or not.

  11, in step S152, the execution right group to which the user belongs is obtained from the execution right information as shown in FIG. 21, and the execution right group is obtained from the execution right information as shown in FIGS. Based on the execution right information set for each time, it is determined whether or not the right of execution right is granted.

  If it is determined in step S152 that the execution right is permitted, the process proceeds to step S154. Alternatively, if it is determined that the execution right is not possible, the process proceeds to step S160.

  In step S154, based on the execution restriction information as shown in FIG. 22, it is determined whether or not there is an execution right group to which execution restriction is given in the electronic document to be processed this time. In the example of FIG. 22, when the document type is “patent information”, “execution right group 2” is registered as an execution right group to which execution restrictions are given. “Execution right group 2” has no execution right.

  If it is determined in step S154 that there is an execution restriction on the document type of the current electronic document, the process proceeds to step S156. Or when it determines with there being no execution restrictions, it progresses to step S154.

  In step S156, the execution right group to which the current user belongs is obtained from the execution right information as shown in FIG. 21, and each execution right group is executed according to the execution restriction information as shown in FIG. It is determined whether or not it is the target of. If it is determined that the target is subject to execution restriction, the process proceeds to step S158. If it is determined that the target is not subject to execution, the process proceeds to step S160.

  In the present embodiment, in addition to browsing the electronic document described above, which is indicated by a thick dashed-dotted arrow in FIG. 7, standardized information storage is indicated as indicated by a thick dashed-two dotted arrow in FIG. The electronic document stored in the unit 17 can be downloaded, and the electronic document can be browsed, printed, searched, and edited.

  In the present embodiment, since it is usually used for browsing like a dashed-dotted line, the situation where the above-described electronic document needs to be downloaded is very limited. Therefore, when downloading such an electronic document, even if the qualification authentication of the user, for example, management with an ID or a password is strict, there is no burden on the business.

  When downloading such an electronic document, the processing shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 is performed, and the execution right is determined by the document data execution right management unit 45. In addition, information indicating authority that a user can perform on the electronic document, such as browsing, printing, searching, and editing, may be given to the electronic document to be downloaded.

  For example, if the electronic document to be downloaded is in the PDF format, information indicating the authority of the operation such as printing, editing, and copying can be given. Therefore, when downloading, the document data execution right management unit 45 automatically determines the information according to the execution right of the user and gives it to be included in the data of the PDF electronic document itself. May be.

  For example, with respect to the PDF format, standardization of the specification as well as the specification defined in “PDF 1.7” is being promoted, and standardization by ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is also being promoted. Here, in the general-purpose format such as the PDF format, in accordance with the specifications standardized in this way, the information indicating the authority of the operation as described above is included in the data of the electronic document itself in the general-purpose format. You may make it perform automatically. This standardized specification may be a de facto standard specification.

A block diagram showing browsing of an electronic document from a conventional general electronic document server device 10 to a client device 5 Block diagram showing conventional browsing by downloading electronic documents 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional example of an electronic document server device 10 which is a modification of FIG. The block diagram which shows the whole hardware constitutions of 1st Embodiment and 2nd Embodiment to which this invention was applied. The block diagram which shows the structure of the hardware used for each apparatus of the said embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration according to the electronic document server apparatus of the first embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structure which concerns on the electronic document server apparatus of the said 2nd Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structure of the principal part of the said 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the electronic document registration process in the said 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the electronic document reference and execution process in the said 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the execution right determination process performed in the said 2nd Embodiment. Diagram showing an electronic document in a unified format stored in the standardized information storage unit in the second embodiment Diagram showing an electronic document of a unique format stored in the registered document information storage unit in the second embodiment A first diagram showing reference right information set for each reference right group in the second embodiment. Second diagram showing the reference right information Third diagram showing the reference right information Diagram showing reference right information set for each user in the second embodiment A first diagram showing execution right information set for each execution right group in the second embodiment Second diagram showing the execution right information Third diagram showing the execution right information Diagram showing execution right information set for each user in the second embodiment Diagram showing execution restriction information set for each electronic document in the second embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 3 ... Network 5 ... Client apparatus 7 ... Gateway apparatus 10 ... Electronic document server apparatus 12 ... Electronic form database 13 ... Electronic document database 14 ... Electronic document database 15 ... Paper document reader 17 ... Standardization information storage part 18 ... Registration Document information storage unit 22 ... Servlet processing unit 23 ... GUI processing unit 32 ... Information reception conversion processing unit 35, 42 ... Browsing processing unit 37 ... Document registration conversion processing unit 38 ... Input data receiving unit 39 ... Registered document conversion unit 44 ... Document Data reference right management unit 45 ... Document data execution right management unit 46 ... Registered document information delivery processing unit 48, 52 ... Communication processing unit 54 ... Document data selection unit 55 ... Document data display unit 56 ... Document data operation unit 301-303 ... Bus 310 ... CPU
311 ... RAM
312 ... ROM
313 ... LAN-I / F
314 ... MODEM
320 to 322 ... I / F
330 ... Screen display device 331 ... Keyboard 332 ... Mouse 333 ... Printer device 340 ... HDD device 341 ... CD drive device 342 ... FDD device

Claims (3)

In an electronic document providing method for browsing an electronic document stored on the electronic document server device side in response to a request from a client device,
The computer device on the electronic document server side converts the primitive information in various file formats into an electronic document in a unified format, saves it,
Furthermore, the unified electronic document is converted in advance into a unique electronic document that can be transferred in page units to a client device that is browsed by a general-purpose browser program and can be searched by specifying a range within the page. And save
Read the electronic document of the unique format , transfer it to the client device in page units, and use it for browsing ,
The user device download authentication process is performed by the computer device on the electronic document server device side in the client device, and if it is determined that the download is possible, the electronic document in the unified format is downloaded to the client device for browsing. A method for providing an electronic document, comprising: In response to a request from the client device, in the electronic document providing server device for browsing the electronic document stored on the electronic document server device side,
An information reception conversion processing unit that converts primitive information in various file formats into an electronic document in a unified format;
A standardized information storage unit for storing the electronic document in the unified format;
Document that converts the electronic document in the unified format into an electronic document in a unique format that can be transferred in units of pages to a client device that is browsed by a general-purpose browser program and can be searched by specifying a range within the page. A registration conversion processing unit;
A registered document information storage unit for storing the original electronic document;
The electronic document in the original format is read out, transferred to the client device in units of pages, and used for browsing. At the same time, the download processing is performed by the computer device on the electronic document server device, which performs authentication processing on whether or not the user can download the client device. If determined, a browsing processing unit for browsing by downloading the electronic document in the unified format to the client device ; and
An electronic document server device comprising: Electronic document providing method according to claim 1, and a computer program for implementing the electronic document server apparatus according, to any one to claims 2.

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