JPH0981560A - Distribution method of document data - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Regarding documents distributed and referred to by a large number of users, users should be aware of confirmation of changes, even if the documents are large-scale and frequently changed. Always be able to refer to the latest document contents without doing [Structure] The document data stored in the document data set 105 is distributed to users by a document CD-ROM 107, and if the document data is changed thereafter, the distribution data creation unit 104.
The change notification data created in step 3 is distributed to the users via the change notification FD 108. Then, when referring to the document data, the change notification data set 112, which is a set of the change notification data notified up to that point, is used to display the document data in which the change contents are reflected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document processing system, a data management system, a data communication system, etc. for processing digitized document data in a computer device. In particular, the present invention relates to a document distribution system for distributing electronic document data to users by using a portable storage medium or electronic means such as data communication. Unless otherwise specified, the “document” is a “digitized document”.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Certain documents are very large in quantity and change in content frequently. For example, an office manual that defines the details of various office procedures in an organization such as a company is one example.

It is difficult to maintain the consistency of such documents and consistently manage so that the user can always refer to the latest contents. In particular, when the number of users is large and geographically dispersed, a large number of copies of the changed parts must be printed and distributed at the time of revision, and the cost becomes enormous.
Further, since the page replacement work is performed manually, there is a risk that an error may occur.

In recent years, inexpensive and large-capacity portable storage media (C
With the spread of (D-ROM, etc.), large-scale documents are stored on such media and distributed in electronic form instead of in printed form. By applying image compression technology as such conventional technology,
Some extremely large-scale documents can be stored in one CD-ROM (first conventional technique). In this case, not only the changed parts but also the whole revised document can be distributed at the time of revision, thus eliminating the problem of replacement.

Further, by providing a function of directly searching / displaying the contents of a large-scale document stored in the CD-ROM on the screen of the personal computer, as a general rule, printed matter is not required.

Further, as another example of the prior art, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 4
There is a "document information transfer method" described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 293157. In this conventional technology, in a groupware environment in which a document creator and all users are connected by a computer network, an identification code is added to the document for management, and when the distributed document is updated, it is distributed. By transmitting the difference information for converting the document content before update to the document content after update, the user can automatically update the document, and the amount of transmitted data is reduced.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As in the above-mentioned first prior art, small-scale content changes occur very frequently,
Further, in the case of a document that requires prompt notification of the user about each change, the above-mentioned conventional technique has a problem.

[0008] It takes a considerable amount of cost to create a complete revision while keeping the consistency of a large-scale document as a whole, and a certain period of time is required, so that the user needs to be notified. It is not realistic to recreate and distribute the entire document each time such changes occur. For this reason,
When the first conventional technique is used, the document CD-ROM is revised at regular intervals, and any changes occurring during that period are notified by a printed matter each time.

However, in this method, the contents referred to on the screen by the user do not reflect the changes that have occurred since the last revision, so that not only the contents of the document CD-ROM are referred to on the screen but also the contents thereof. After that, it is necessary to check the separately stored notification document to see if any change is instructed thereafter, and the work efficiency of the user is significantly reduced. In addition, there is a possibility that the wrong (old) contents may be referred to due to the loss or forgetting to confirm the notification document. In particular, in the case of changes that occurred during the creation of the revised version, the description of the changes is for the version before the revision, so it is said that the item number has been changed due to the increase or decrease of the document contents accompanying the revision. , There is a risk that the correspondence relationship is unclear as to whether or not the change is for the item that the user is trying to reference.

Such a problem cannot be solved by the above-mentioned "document information transfer method" which is another example of the prior art. As described above, in a large-scale document targeted by the present invention, it takes a certain period of time to revise the content while maintaining the consistency of the entire document. Apart from the formal revision, it is necessary to inform the user of any changes requiring notification for the time being. As a result, the changes made during the formal revision of the document are not a simple accumulation of the changes notified during that time, and the reference to the document must take into account the change notice for the pre-revision version. It may occur. In order to properly manage such documents, it is necessary to distinguish between the different versions of the document produced by the revision and to identify which version of the document each change was based on. The prior art does not provide such a means. Further, this prior art is premised on transferring all document contents and update information via a computer network, and is a portable storage medium, particularly a read-only medium (CD-ROM etc.) in which stored data cannot be rewritten. )
It does not support distribution of documents using.

An object of the present invention is to solve these problems of the above-mentioned prior art, and to allow a user to automatically refer to the latest document contents on the screen without being aware of confirmation of the changed contents. To provide.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, in the method of distributing document data according to the present invention, when notifying a user of a change to the distributed document data, a change that uniquely identifies each change. Change notification data including an identifier, a document identifier for identifying a document to be changed and its version and a version number, a range of items to be changed in the document, and change contents are transferred via a portable storage medium or data communication. Equipped with means to distribute.

In the document data distribution method of the present invention, when the document data is distributed to the user, in addition to the document content itself, a document identifier for uniquely identifying each document and each revised version of the same document. A version number that identifies the edition, a list of change identifiers that identify all changes that have been reflected in the content since the last revision, and the document content of the version immediately preceding the current revision and the revised document content distributed this time. And a means for distributing the data indicating the correspondence between each item and to the document data by distributing the data via a portable storage medium or data communication.

Further, in the document data distribution method of the present invention, when the user refers to the distributed document, there is provided a means for judging whether or not there is change notification data including a reference item as a change target, and When there is such change notification data, a means is provided for presenting the content obtained as a result of reflecting the change content in the change notification data to the content of the reference item.

Further, according to the document data distribution method of the present invention, the change notification data accumulated on the user side when distributing new document data in which the contents of the existing version of an arbitrary document are revised. A means for automatically deleting the change notification data corresponding to all the changes reflected in the revised document content from the group is provided.

Further, according to the document data distribution method of the present invention, the change notification data accumulated on the user side when distributing new document data in which the contents of an existing version of an arbitrary document are revised. After automatically deleting the change notification data group corresponding to the changes that have been reflected in the document contents from the revision, the changes in the remaining change notification data are for the pre-revision version of the newly distributed document. A means for determining whether or not notification data exists, and if such change notification data exists, among the document contents of the edition before revision,
The change notification data is provided with a unit for extracting and saving / saving the data in the range referred to as the change target.

Alternatively, in the document data distribution method of the present invention, as described above, the data within the range referred to by the change notification data as the change target is extracted and saved / saved from the document contents of the version before revision. Instead of providing the means to do so, when distributing new document data in which the contents of the existing version are revised for an arbitrary document, a means for simultaneously delivering the document data of the version before revision and the document data of the revision after revision. Equipped with.

Further, in the document data distribution method of the present invention, when the user refers to the distributed document, a change notification including the item in the immediately previous version of the document corresponding to the reference item in the document as a change target. When the data exists, the document content of the version before revision corresponding to the reference item is provided with a means for presenting to the user the content obtained as a result of reflecting the content of the change in the change notification data.

[0019]

As described above, in the method of distributing document data according to the present invention, when a document is distributed to users via a portable storage medium or data communication, the distributed document data contains
In addition to the document content itself, a document identifier that uniquely identifies each document, a version number that identifies each revised version of the same document, and a change identifier that identifies all changes newly reflected in the content since the last revision. It includes a list and data showing the correspondence between each item of the document contents of the previous version prior to this revision and the revised document contents distributed this time.

When notifying the user of a change to the distributed document data, the change notification data to be distributed includes, in addition to the change content itself, a change identifier for uniquely identifying each change and a change target. A document identifier and a version number for identifying the document to be edited and its version, and data indicating the range of items to be changed in the document are included. This change notification data is distributed whenever a change is made to the distributed document and is stored in the system on the user side.

Here, when the user tries to refer to a specific distributed document, it is first determined whether or not there is change notification data including the reference item in the change target range in the accumulated change notification data group. To be judged. When such change notification data does not exist, the contents of the reference item in the document are simply presented to the user.

On the other hand, when such change notification data is present, when presenting the reference item to the user, the item content included in the document content is not changed as it is, but is displayed in the item content. Present the contents obtained as a result of reflecting the changed contents of the change notification data.

As a result, regarding the item to be referred to, the user can refer to the latest content data reflecting the content of all relevant change notifications, instead of simply referencing the content of the distributed document. it can.

When the document data obtained by revising the existing document is distributed to the user, the change notification data group accumulated on the user side is regarded as a change newly reflected in the content since the last revision. Judge whether there is nothing identified by the change identifier stored in the document data,
Delete any such change notification data.

With this, it is possible to prevent the change notification data from being accumulated indefinitely by automatically deleting the change notification data group that has been distributed to the user and is no longer needed because it has already been reflected in the document contents. , Storage space can be saved.

Further, after deleting the change notification data corresponding to the change which has been reflected in the revised document contents and becomes unnecessary from the change notification data group accumulated on the user side as described above, the change notification data remains. If there is change notification data that covers the pre-revision version of the newly distributed document in the change notification data set that has been revised, and if such change notification data exists, the pre-revision version Of the document contents of the above, the contents of the range referred to as the change target by the change notification data are extracted and saved / saved.

When the user refers to the distributed document, the corresponding data included in the document data is used, and the item in the document before revision corresponding to the item to be referred to is used. Then, it is determined whether or not there is change notification data for which the item of this pre-revision version is to be changed. If such change notification data exists, the result of reflecting the change contents of the change notification data in the document contents of the pre-revision version corresponding to the reference item that was extracted, saved, and saved. Present the obtained contents to the user. This allows the user to refer to the latest document content that reflects the content of the change notice for the item, even if there is a change notice for the document before revision regarding the item to be referred. it can.

The document data distribution method of the present invention is as follows:
When distributing revised new document data, the revised document data and the revised version of the document data may be simultaneously delivered. If this configuration is adopted, there will always be both the revised version of the document data and the unrevised version of the document data for any document, so when distributing the revised document data as described above, Of the document contents of the previous version, the process of extracting and saving / saving the data of the range referred to as the change target by the remaining change notification data after removing the unnecessary ones becomes unnecessary.

[0029]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a document distribution system to which the document distribution method of the present invention is applied.

The document distribution system to which the present invention is applied is provided in order to refer to the document creating subsystem 101 for creating the document data to be distributed to the user and the change notification data, and the distributed document data to the user. It is composed of a document reference subsystem 109 to be used.

Here, the document creation subsystem 101 is
It is composed of an input / edit processing unit 102, a data management unit 103, and a distribution data creation unit 104.

Here, the input / edit processing unit 102 performs new data creation and revision of document data, and data input and editing processing associated with creation of change notification data. Data management unit 1
Reference numeral 03 collectively manages a set of document data 105 and a set of change notification data 106, and assigns a document identifier and a change identifier.

Further, regarding the document data, the version management of each document is performed, and if necessary, the old version document data before revision is also managed so that it can be taken out.

The distribution data creation unit 104 receives the instruction from the input / edit processing unit and distributes the document CD-to the user.
Document data to be stored in ROM 107 and change notification F
Change notification data to be stored in D108 is created.
(Note: FD is an abbreviation for floppy disk.)
Document CD-ROMs storing these data and change notifications FD are prepared by the number required by the user and are transported to the location of each user by means such as mailing.

The input / edit processing unit 102, the data management unit 103, and the distribution data creation unit 104 which constitute the document creation subsystem 101 are all programs executed on a computer device. Also, document data set 1
05 and the change notification data set 106 are stored as a set of data files in the auxiliary storage device of the computer.

In this embodiment, the system configuration is such that both the document data and the change notification data are stored in a portable storage medium and distributed, but either or both of these data can be transmitted via a data communication such as a computer network. It can also be configured to be distributed via means.

The document reference subsystem 109 is composed of a document search / display processing section 110 and a data management section 111.

Here, the document search / display processing unit 110 is
The content of the reference item designated by the user is searched and extracted from the document data stored in the document CD-ROM 107 and distributed, and the process of presenting it to the user is performed. It is usually presented to the user by displaying it on the computer screen, but if necessary, the reference item portion is also printed. The data management unit 111 mainly collects the distributed change notification data 11
Manage 2. The change notification data stored and distributed in the document FD 108 is added to and accumulated in the change notification data set 112 immediately after arrival. If necessary, when the revised document data is distributed, a process of saving / saving a part of the old document data before revision is performed, and the set 113 of the old document save data is also managed.

The document search / display processing unit 110 and the data management unit 111, which constitute the document reference subsystem 109,
Both are programs executed on a computer device. Further, the change notification data set 112 and the old version document save data 113 are respectively stored as a set of data files in the auxiliary storage device of the computer device.

As described above, the document data may be distributed via data communication instead of the portable storage medium. In that case, the received document data is also stored in the auxiliary storage device. In addition, when distributing the revised version of the document data, it is possible to simultaneously distribute the revised version of the document data as well as the revised version of the document data.
In that case, it is not necessary to save and save the old document data.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the temporal relationship between the revision work of a document and the occurrence of a change. In FIG. 2, the horizontal axis t
Represents time and is represented by a disk-shaped figure.
n and Vn-1 represent the latest revision of a document and the revision before that revision, respectively. Here, the latest version V
The production of n starts at t0, and is completed and distributed at t1. The triangles below the horizontal axis indicate the occurrence of changes.

The contents of Vn, which is the latest version, reflect all the changes that occurred before t0, which is the start of production. Therefore, assuming that the current time point is tx, V at the current time point
The change that must be considered when referencing n is t0
It occurs from tx to tx and is notified. Vn
When referring to the contents of (1), if there is a reference item included in the change target range during these changes, the document contents reflecting the changed contents must be presented to the user.

Here, it should be noted that Vn has not yet existed at the stage before t1 and therefore all the changes generated at this stage are described based on Vn-1 which is the version before revision. is there. That is, if there are changes that occurred between t0 and t1 as shown in FIG. 2, these changes are described as changes to Vn−1, and as described above, the contents of Vn−1 are changed. Of these, at least those parts that are subject to change due to these changes need to be saved and saved for later reference. However, as described above, when distributing the revised version of the document data, it is possible to distribute the revised version of the document data together with the unrevised version of the document data. No need to save.

FIG. 3 shows the document creation subsystem 101.
Created by the document CD-ROM 107 or other medium,
It is a diagram showing a simplified form of the structure of document data distributed via means such as data communication. As shown in FIG. 3, the distributed document data includes a document identifier 301, a version number 302, and a table of contents data 30 in order from the beginning.
3, reflected change list 304, old and new item comparison table 30
5, and document contents 306.

Here, the document identifier 301 is an identifier that is assigned when a document is newly created and that uniquely identifies each document. The version number 302 is a number that uniquely identifies each version of the same document. The table-of-contents data 303 includes headings of items for all items that make up the document content,
It is data that describes the correspondence relationship between the position of the content data that constitutes the item in the document content, and is used when the user selects the reference item. The reflected change list 304 is a list of change identifiers that identify all changes newly reflected in the document contents in the course of the revision work that created this document data. The old / new item comparison table 305 is a table in which the correspondence relationship between the item group that constitutes the document contents of this version and the item group that constitutes the document contents of the old version (previous version) before revision is described. The document content 306 is data consisting of a series of character strings, figures, images, etc. that make up the substantial content of this document.

If the document is not an updated version of an existing document but is newly created, the value of the version number 302 is 1, the reflected change list 304 and the old / old item comparison table 305 are empty.

FIG. 4 is a view showing the structure of 305 in FIG. 3, that is, the old / new item comparison table. As shown in FIG. 4, the old / old item comparison table 305 includes headings of arbitrary items (new edition item headings) that make up the revised new edition document and headings of items that include corresponding contents in the old edition document before revision. It consists of a pair of (old version item headings). Then, the entire old and new item target table is such that, for all items constituting the document content of the new version document, this pair is arranged in the order of appearance of the items.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, since there is no change in the first chapter "1. Introduction" of the document, a pair having this heading is registered at the head for both old and new.

However, Chapter 2 of the new edition document, "2. Precautions when changing the application format" is newly added by the revision, and there is no chapter corresponding to the old edition. Therefore, a pair in which the old version item heading is empty is registered. As a result of the addition of this second chapter, the subsequent chapter numbers are shifted, and the second edition, chapter 3, "3. Procedures for administrative procedures" corresponds to the old edition, chapter 2. Also, the order of the sections that make up this chapter has been changed, and the new edition, Section 1, "3.1 Overview of Entries", the old edition, Section 2, "2.2 Summary of Entries," the new edition, Section 2 “3.2 Documents required in advance” corresponds to Section 1 “2.1 Items to be prepared in advance” of the old version. Although not shown in the example of FIG. 4, when items are merged or divided at the time of revision, a pair having the same new version item heading or the same old version item heading in the old and new item comparison table is displayed. Will result in multiple climbs.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing in simplified form the structure of change notification data created by the document creation subsystem 101 and distributed via a medium such as the change notification FD 108 or via means such as data communication. is there. As shown in FIG. 5, the change notification data includes the change identifier 50 in order from the beginning.
1, target document identifier 502, target version number 50
3, target item range 504, and change content 505.

Here, 501 is an identifier which is assigned each time a change occurs and uniquely identifies each change.
The target document identifier 502 is a document identifier for bereavement of the document referred to by the change notification as a change target. The target version number 503 is a version number that identifies, among the versions of the document identified by the target document identifier 502, the version serving as a reference to be referred to by the change notification as a change target. The target item range 504 is data that designates the range of the item group to be changed by this change, out of the item group forming the document content of the document data specified by the target identifier 502 and the target virgin number 503. Changes 5
Reference numeral 05 denotes a specific content of a change to be made to the document content specified by the target item range 504 (addition of content,
This is data for instructing deletion, correction, addition of comments, etc.).

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a procedure of distribution document data creation processing for creating the document data having the configuration shown in FIG. 3 in the document creation subsystem 101. In the distribution document data creation processing, first, at step 601, the process branches depending on whether a new document is created or a revised version of an existing document is created. If a new document is to be created, the process proceeds to step 602, and if a revised version of the existing document is to be created, the process proceeds to step 607.

In the new document processing starting from step 602, a document identifier for uniquely identifying the new document to be created in step 602 is assigned. Next, in step 603, the document version number is initialized to 1. Next, in step 604, a data group prepared in advance as document data of document contents is read. Next, in step 605, the document data group read in step 604 is assembled to create and edit consistent document contents. Next, step 60
In step 6, table of contents data for searching the created document data is generated, and the process proceeds to step 614.

In the revision process of the existing document starting from step 607, first, in step 607, the existing latest version of the document data is read from the document data set 105. Next, in step 608, the version number of the document is incremented by 1. Next, in step 609, a change notification data group for the existing document to be revised is read from the change notification data set 106. Next, in step 610, the related document contents are revised in consideration of all the change contents included in the change notification data group read in step 609. Next, in step 611, a reflected change list including the change identifiers of all the change notifications reflected in the revision of the document content in step 610 is generated. Next, in step 612, table-of-contents data for searching the revised document data is created. Next, in step 613, a new / old item comparison table showing the correspondence between the document contents before revision and the document contents after revision is created for each item, and the process proceeds to step 614. Finally, in step 614, the document data including the document identifier, the version number, the table of contents data, the reflected change list, the old / new item comparison table, and the document contents obtained as a result of the above steps are written as an output, and the process ends. To do. The written document data will be distributed to the users via a medium such as a CD-ROM or a means such as data communication. Further, this document data may be additionally stored in the document data set 105.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the procedure of a change notification data creating process for creating the change notification data whose plain structure is shown in FIG.

In the change notification data creation process, first, in step 701, a change identifier for uniquely identifying the change notification to be created is assigned. Next, in step 702, the document identifier of the document to be changed and the item range to be changed are input. Here, the version number of the document to be changed is the version number of the existing latest version of the document specified by the document identifier. Next, in step 703, concrete change contents are input and edited. Next, in step 704, the change notification data including the change identifier, the target document identifier, the target version number, the target item range, and the change content obtained as a result of the above steps is written as an output. The written change notification data is FD, CD-ROM
Will be distributed to the user via a medium such as or a means such as data communication. The change notification data may be added to the change notification data set 106 and accumulated.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the document data acceptance processing performed when the distributed document data arrives in the document reference subsystem 109. In the document data acceptance process, first in step 801,
Determine whether the distributed document is a newly created document or a revised version of an existing document. If the distributed document is a newly created document, the process ends without doing anything. Otherwise, the processing of step 802 and thereafter is performed.

In step 802, regarding the document distributed this time, it is checked whether or not the old version data before revision is stored in the old version document fee data set 113.
If it is saved, delete it. Next, step 803.
Then, all the change notification data having the change identifier included in the reflected change list of the distributed document data is deleted from the change notification data group already distributed and accumulated in the change notification data set 112. Next step 8
In 04, it is determined whether or not there is change notification data in which the old document before revision of the current document is to be changed, in the change notification data group that remains without being deleted. If there is no such change notification data, the process ends. In step 805, all the change notification data for which the old version document is to be changed is examined, and the contents of the item group referred to as the change target range by the change notification data among the document contents of the old version document are set to the old version document save data set. 113
Save and save to.

In the present invention, when the revised version of the document data is distributed, the revised version of the document data as well as the unrevised version of the document data can be distributed at the same time. In this case, the deletion processing of the saved document data in step 802 and the saving processing of the old version document data in step 805 are unnecessary.

FIG. 9 is a procedure showing the procedure of the document content reference processing performed when the document reference subsystem 109 refers to the document content of the distributed document data (the latest version of the document data at the present time).

In the document content reference processing, first, step 90
In 1, the document to be searched is selected. Next, at step 902, the table of contents data is read from the selected document data and displayed. Next, at step 903, a reference item is selected from the item group displayed as the table of contents according to the user's designation. Next, in step 904, the selection result of the reference item in step 903 is determined. If any reference item is selected, the process proceeds to step 905, and if "no reference item" is selected, the process ends. In step 905, the contents of the selected reference item are read out, and if necessary, the contents designated by the change notification data are reflected, and then the item contents are displayed. After the display is completed, the process proceeds to step 903 to return to the selection of the reference item again.

FIG. 10 shows a step 905 in FIG.
That is, it is a flow chart showing details of the reference item display processing for displaying the contents of the selected reference item.

In the reference item reference item display processing shown in FIG. 10, first, at step 1001, it is determined whether or not there is change notification data for which the selected reference item is to be changed in the change notification data set 112. If no such change notification data exists, step 1002
If it exists, the process proceeds to step 1006.

In step 1002, the item in the old edition document before revision corresponding to the reference item selected using the promotion item comparison table in the document data (hereinafter referred to as the old edition item)
Ask for.

Next, in step 1003, step 10
It is determined whether or not there is change notification data including the old version item obtained in 02 as a change target. If such change notification data does not exist, the process proceeds to step 1004, and if it exists, the process proceeds to step 1009.

Step 1004 corresponds to the case where there is no change notification that has not been reflected for the selected reference item. In step 1004, the contents of the reference item selected from the document contents are read, and then in step 100
In 5, the item contents are displayed as they are.

Step 1006 corresponds to the case where there is change notification data including the selected reference item in the change target range. In step 1006, the contents of the reference item selected from the document contents are read, and then in step 1007.
At, the change content of the change notification data including this reference item in the change target range is read.

Next, in step 1008, the item contents in which the change specified by the change contents is reflected in the reference item contents are generated and displayed. Here, when the change contents are deletion, addition, correction, etc. of data with respect to the contents of the reference item, the item contents data to which the change indicated by the change contents is added is generated and displayed. On the other hand, when the change content is the addition of a comment to the content of the reference item, both the item content and the change content are displayed on the screen.

Step 1009 corresponds to the case where the change notification data including the old version item corresponding to the selected reference item is included in the change target range. In step 1009,
The contents of the old version item are read from the document contents of the old version document saved in the old version document save data set 112, and then in step 1010, the changed contents of the change notification data including this old version item in the change target range are read.

Next, in step 1011 the item contents in which the change specified by the change contents is reflected on the contents of the old version item are generated and displayed. Here, if the change contents are deletion, addition, correction, etc. of data for the contents of the old version item, the item contents data to which the change indicated by the change contents is added is generated and displayed. On the other hand, if the change content is a comment added to the content of the old version item, both the item content and the change content are displayed on the screen.

Step 1005, 1008 or 1011
After the display is made in, the processing ends.

In the present invention, when the revised version of the document data is distributed, the revised version of the document data as well as the unrevised version of the document data may be distributed at the same time.
In that case, when reading the contents of the old version item in step 1009, not in the document contents of the old version document saved in the old version document save data set 112, but in the document contents of the old version document distributed at the same time as the revised version document. Read the contents of the old version item from.

[0074]

As described above, according to the document distribution method of the present invention, even for a document whose contents are extremely large and frequently changed, the user does not need to be aware of the confirmation of the changed contents. The latest document contents can always be automatically referenced on the screen.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a document distribution system to which a document distribution method of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a temporal relationship between a document revision work and the occurrence of a change.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a simplified configuration of document data to be distributed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a structure of an old and new item target table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a simplified configuration of the change notification data to be distributed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of distribution document data creation processing for creating document data.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a change notification data creation processing procedure for creating change notification data.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure of document data acceptance processing performed when distributed document data arrives.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a document content reference process performed when referring to the content of document data.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure of reference item display processing for displaying the content of the selected reference item.

[Explanation of symbols]

105 ... Document data set, 106 ... Change notification data set (within document creation subsystem), 107 ... Document CD-RO
M, 108 ... Change notification FD, 112 ... Change notification data set (in document reference subsystem), 113 ... Old version document save data set, 301 ... Document identifier, 302 ... Version number, 304 ... Reflected change list, 305 ... Old and new Item target table, 501 ... Change identifier, 502 ... Target document identifier, 503 ... Target version number, 504 ... Target item range

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Kanji Kato 1099, Ozenji, Aso-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Incorporated company Hitachi, Ltd. Systems Development Laboratory

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A document distribution system for distributing document data to users via a portable storage medium or data communication. A document identifier for uniquely identifying each document to be distributed and revision of the same document. When a user is notified of a change to a distributed document, a version number for identifying each version is added, and the document identifier and version number of the document to be changed, the range of items to be changed in the document, and A method of distributing document data, characterized in that change notification data consisting of changes is distributed and stored on the user side. 2. The method of distributing document data according to claim 1, wherein when the user refers to the distributed document, when there is change notification data including a reference item in the item range to be changed. Is a method of distributing document data, characterized in that the contents obtained as a result of reflecting the change contents of the change notification data on the contents of the reference item are presented to the user. 3. The method of distributing document data according to claim 1, wherein when notifying a user of a change to a distributed document, a change identifier for uniquely identifying each change is added, and a predetermined document is When distributing new document data in which the contents of the existing edition are revised, a list of change identifiers for identifying all the changes reflected in the document contents at the time of revision is added to the document data for distribution and used. A method of distributing document data, characterized in that change notification data corresponding to all the reflected changes are deleted from the change notification data accumulated on the person side. 4. The method of distributing document data according to claim 3, wherein a predetermined document is accumulated on the user side when distributing new document data in which the contents of the existing version are revised. After automatically deleting the change notification data group corresponding to the changes already reflected in the document contents by the revision from the change notification data, the unrevised version of the newly distributed document is written in the remaining change notification data. If the target change notification data exists,
A method of distributing document data, characterized in that, out of the document contents of the version before revision, the document contents in the range referred to as the change target by the change notification data are extracted. 5. The method of distributing document data according to claim 3, wherein when distributing new document data in which the contents of an existing version of a given document are revised, the revision is performed together with the revised document data. A method of distributing document data, characterized in that the document data of the previous version is also distributed at the same time. 6. The method of distributing document data according to claim 4 or 5, wherein when distributing new document data in which the contents of an existing version of a predetermined document are revised, When the user refers to the distributed document by adding the data indicating the correspondence between the document contents of the edition and the revised document contents for each item, the reference items in the document If there is change notification data including an item in the document of the pre-revision version corresponding to, as a change target, the change content of the change notification data is reflected in the document content of the pre-revision version corresponding to the reference item. A method of distributing document data, characterized by presenting the contents obtained as a result to users.