File management apparatus, storage medium, file management method, and computer program product

Abstract

A file management apparatus, a storage medium, and a file management method, the file management apparatus including: a holding unit that holds information indicating contents of a plurality of elements that constitute a first file; and a notification unit that, when there is a change in at least one element of the plurality of elements, notifies a participant of a second file associated with the first file of information related to the element in which there is a change in the first file.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a file management apparatus, a storage medium, and a file management method. BACKGROUND

[0002] There are many files that are associated with each other in the world. If one of the files that are associated with each other is changed, sometimes the remaining files also need to be changed in correspondence with this. There is a configuration in which, when a certain file is changed, the participant (for example, the author) of a file associated with the file is notified of the change, and is urged to perform a process required for changing the associated file and the like.

[0003] For example, a file update notification apparatus is disclosed in Patent Literature 1, which judges whether there is a change in file data of a web page or the like, when there is a change, automatically attaches information on the existence of the change to a file associated with the changed file, and performs change notification to a user who can access the file via a communication line.

[0004] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-155731 (Patent No. 3890785)

[0005] There is a method in which, when a first file is changed, only the participant of a second file associated with the first file is notified of the existence of the change in the first file. In this method, the participant needs to confirm the entire first file in order to judge whether the change needs to be reflected in the second file. SUMMARY

[0006] An object of the present invention is to reduce the effort of confirming, as compared with the method of notifying only the participant of a second file associated with a first file of the existence of a change in the first file, whether the change needs to be reflected in the second file.

[0007] The invention according to Aspect 1 is a file management apparatus including: a holding unit that holds information indicating a content of each of a plurality of elements constituting a first file; and a notification unit that, when there is a change in at least one of the plurality of elements, notifies a participant of a second file associated with the first file of information on the first file that is related to the element in which the change exists.

[0008] The invention according to Aspect 2 is the file management apparatus according to Aspect 1, characterized in that the amount of data of the information indicating the content of each of the plurality of elements constituting the first file held in the holding unit is smaller than the amount of data of the element in the first file.

[0009] The invention according to the aspect 3 is the file management apparatus according to any one of the aspects 1 to 2, wherein the information indicating the content of each of the plurality of elements constituting the first file held by the holding unit is a hash value of the content of each of the plurality of elements.

[0010] The invention according to the aspect 4 is the file management apparatus according to any one of the aspects 1 to 3, further comprising: an acquisition unit which repeatedly acquires the first file from a storage location where the first file is stored, wherein the notification unit notifies the information related to the element when there is a change from the information indicating the content of the same element in the first file acquired by the acquisition unit last time to the information indicating the content of the element acquired by the acquisition unit this time.

[0011] The invention according to the aspect 5 is the file management apparatus according to the aspect 4, further comprising: an update unit which updates the information held by the holding unit to the information indicating the content of each of the plurality of elements constituting the first file acquired by the acquisition unit each time, wherein the notification unit notifies the information related to the element when there is a change from the information indicating the content of the element held by the holding unit to the information indicating the content of the element acquired by the acquisition unit first after the update by the update unit.

[0012] The invention according to the aspect 6 is the file management apparatus according to any one of the aspects 1 to 3, wherein the notification unit notifies the participant of the information related to the added element or the deleted element when the addition of a new element to the first file or the deletion of one or more elements of the plurality of elements constituting the first file is performed.

[0013] The invention according to the aspect 7 is the file management apparatus according to the aspect 6, wherein the notification unit notifies the information related to the deleted element with a priority lower than a priority of the information related to the element whose content is changed or a priority of the information related to the added element.

[0014] The invention according to the aspect 8 is the file management apparatus according to the aspect 6 or 7, further comprising: an acquisition unit which repeatedly acquires the first file from a storage location where the first file is stored, wherein the notification unit notifies the participant of the information related to the element as the information related to the added element when the first file acquired by the acquisition unit this time includes an element not included in the plurality of elements constituting the first file acquired by the acquisition unit last time, and the notification unit notifies the participant of the information related to the element as the information related to the deleted element when the first file acquired by the acquisition unit this time does not include an element included in the plurality of elements constituting the first file acquired by the acquisition unit last time.

[0015] The invention according to the aspect 9 is the file management apparatus according to any one of the aspects 8, further comprising: an updating unit which, each time the acquisition unit acquires the first file, updates the information held by the holding unit to information acquired at that time indicating contents of the plurality of elements constituting the first file, when the first file initially acquired by the acquisition unit after the update by the updating unit includes an element not included in the plurality of elements constituting the first file stored in the holding unit, the notification unit notifies the participant of information related to the element as information related to the added element, and when the first file initially acquired by the acquisition unit after the update by the updating unit does not include an element included in the plurality of elements constituting the first file stored in the holding unit, the notification unit notifies the participant of information related to the element as information related to the deleted element.

[0016] The invention according to the aspect 10 is the file management apparatus according to any one of the aspects 1 to 3, wherein the holding unit further holds position information of the plurality of elements each indicating a position within the first file, and when a position of one or more of the plurality of elements is changed, the notification unit notifies the participant of information related to the one or more elements whose positions are changed.

[0017] The invention according to the aspect 11 is the file management apparatus according to the aspect 10, wherein the notification unit, as the information related to the one or more elements whose positions are changed, notifies contents of a range in the first file in which the one or more elements are included.

[0018] The invention according to the aspect 12 is the file management apparatus according to the aspect 11, wherein the notification unit, as the information related to the one or more elements whose positions are changed, notifies information indicating a comparison between contents of the range before the change and contents of the range after the change.

[0019] The invention according to the aspect 13 is the file management apparatus according to any one of the aspects 10 to 12, further comprising: an acquisition unit which repeatedly acquires the first file from a storage location in which the first file is stored, and when a position of one or more of the plurality of elements is changed, when a position of the element within the first file acquired this time by the acquisition unit is changed from a position of the same element within the first file acquired last time by the acquisition unit, the notification unit notifies information related to the element.

[0020] The invention according to the aspect 14 is the file management apparatus according to the aspect 13, further comprising: an updating unit which updates each of the position information of the plurality of elements held by the holding unit so as to indicate the position of each of the plurality of elements constituting the first file at the time of acquisition each time the acquisition unit acquires the first file, and the notification unit notifies information related to the element when the position of the element of the first file acquired first after the update by the updating unit is changed from the position indicated by the position information of the element stored in the holding unit.

[0021] The invention according to the aspect 15 is a storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as: a holding unit which holds information indicating the content of each of a plurality of elements constituting a first file; and a notification unit which notifies a participant of a second file associated with the first file of information related to the element of the first file in which a change has occurred when a change has occurred in at least one of the plurality of elements.

[0022] The invention according to the aspect 16 is a file management method including: a holding step of holding information indicating the content of each of a plurality of elements constituting a first file; and a notification step of notifying a participant of a second file associated with the first file of information related to the element of the first file in which a change has occurred when a change has occurred in at least one of the plurality of elements.

[0023] Effects of Invention

[0024] According to the aspect 1, 15, or 16 of the present invention, compared with a case where a participant of a second file associated with a first file is notified only of a change in the first file, it is possible to reduce the effort of confirming whether the participant needs to reflect the change in the second file.

[0025] According to the aspect 2 of the present invention, compared with a case where each of the elements constituting the first file is held as it is in the holding unit, it is possible to reduce the amount of data held in the holding unit.

[0026] According to the aspect 3 of the present invention, it is possible to detect a change in an element using information indicating the content of the element in the holding unit, and it is possible to make it so that even if the information indicating the content of the element in the holding unit is leaked, a third party cannot know the content of the element as it is.

[0027] According to the aspect 4 or 5 of the present invention, it is possible to notify a participant of information related to an element in which a change has occurred in the content by the last acquisition and the present acquisition of the first file.

[0028] According to a 6th aspect of the present application, the participant can be informed of information about an added or deleted element of the first file.

[0029] According to a 7th aspect of the present application, the participant can be informed of information about an element whose content has been changed or an added element in preference to a deleted element considered to be less important than them.

[0030] According to an 8th or 9th aspect of the present application, the participant can be informed of information about an added or deleted element by the last acquisition and this acquisition of the first file.

[0031] According to a 10th aspect of the present application, the participant can be informed of information about an element whose position in the file has been changed.

[0032] According to an 11th aspect of the present application, the participant can be informed of how the position of an element in the file has changed.

[0033] According to a 12th aspect of the present application, the participant can be informed of a change in the position of an element in the file in a visually intelligible manner.

[0034] According to a 13th or 14th aspect of the present application, the participant can be informed of information about an element whose position has been changed by the last acquisition and this acquisition of the first file. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0035] Embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0036] Figure 1 is a diagram for explaining a case where the configuration of the present embodiment is applied;

[0037] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the file management apparatus;

[0038] Figure 3 is a diagram for explaining generation of a hash value from an element included in a file and a content of the element;

[0039] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating data contents stored in a file information DB (database);

[0040] Figure 5 is a diagram for explaining that a hash value of an element in a file changes when a content of the element has been changed;

[0041] Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example where an element is added to a file;

[0042] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating data contents stored in a relevance DB;

[0043] Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of a screen that displays a notification to a participant;

[0044] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating the state in which a graphic object or a text object is configured in a file, and data stored in a file information DB regarding each of these elements;

[0045] Figure 10 is a diagram showing an example in which the position of an element in a file is changed;

[0046] Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating the data content of a file information DB in an example in which a notification is given of the fact that the position of an element is changed;

[0047] Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating a screen that notifies a participant of the fact that the position of an element is changed;

[0048] Figure 13 is a diagram showing an example in which the degree of association is stored in an association DB.

[0049] Symbol Explanation

[0050] 100 - file management apparatus, 102 - file collection section, 104 - file element extraction section, 106 - file information DB, 108 - change detection section, 110 - associated file information acquisition section, 112 - association DB, 114 - notification section, 200 - ordinance management system, 210 - ordinance DB, 300 - regulation management system, 310 - company internal regulation DB. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] Reference Figure 1 An example of a situation in which the configuration of the present embodiment is applied will be described.

[0052] In Figure 1In the example, a user in a certain company creates a design document A of a certain product, logs in to the file management apparatus 100 and performs maintenance. The product needs to be designed in a manner satisfying various laws or various company-internal regulations, and therefore the design document A is created in reference to other documents such as the laws or the company-internal regulations. For example, the design document A is created in reference to the Road Transport Vehicle Law and the Completion Inspection Enforcement Regulation. The documents referred to by the design document A are both cases where they exist on the company-internal network of the company and cases where they exist outside the company (for example, on the Internet). For example, the Road Transport Vehicle Law is stored in a law DB (database) 210 of a law management system 200 operated by a public office, which exists on the Internet. Also, the Completion Inspection Enforcement Regulation is a company-internal regulation of the company, and is stored in a company-internal regulation DB 310 of a regulation management system 300 existing on the company-internal network. Each law in the law DB 210 and each regulation in the company-internal regulation DB 310 are also updated in real time as they are modified. The law DB 210 or the company-internal regulation DB 310 is an example of a storage location of a document.

[0053] If the Road Transport Vehicle Law and the Completion Inspection Enforcement Regulation are modified, the contents of the design document A need to be updated at times, but do not necessarily need to be updated. For example, when the modified portion of the law or the like is different from the portion on which the contents of the design document A are based, the contents of the design document A do not need to be updated. Also, when it is only known that the law or the like referred to by the design document A is modified, the manager of the design document A needs to check the contents of the modified law or the like in detail to determine the modification position, and research whether or not a change is added to the contents of the design document A based on the modification position. The system of the present embodiment assists a participant of a document such as the manager of the design document A in determining whether or not the document needs to be changed based on the change of the associated document of the document, by providing information of the position where the document such as the law is changed.

[0054] Here, the "document" refers to data in a certain data form, and there is no particular limitation on the data form. For example, the document can be data in a text data form, can be image data in various image data formats, can be moving image data, or can be data in a structured document format such as an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) format or an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) format.

[0055] Also, in the specification, the "participant" of a document refers to an individual or a group participating in the maintenance of the contents of the document. The participant can be, for example, a manager who maintains the contents of the document, or can be a person who has a role of supervising the manager to perform the maintenance. In addition, the "contents" of a document refers to information that a viewer can see when the document is displayed.

[0056] In Figure 2 The structure of the file management apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is exemplified in FIG. 1. The file management apparatus 100 includes a file collection section 102, a file element extraction section 104, a file information DB 106, a change detection section 108, a related file information acquisition section 110, a relatedness DB 112, and a notification section 114.

[0057] The file collection section 102 collects, i.e., acquires files from file DBs. The file collection section 102 is an example of an acquisition unit that acquires files from their storage locations, i.e., arbitrary file DBs. Among the file DBs at the collection site, there are files that exist within the file management apparatus 100, files that exist on an intranet (e.g., a LAN or an enterprise network) of the same company as the file management apparatus 100, and files that exist on the Internet. The file collection section 102, for example, circulates each file DB periodically or in accordance with an internal prescribed cycle rule, like a crawler, and collects a group of files that exist within these file DBs. That is, the file collection section 102 repeatedly acquires each file at a time interval. The file DBs at the collection site can be set in advance in the file collection section 102, or can be searched for from information (e.g., a link embedded in the file) within the files collected by the file collection section 102. Also, instead of setting all the files within these file DBs as collection targets, the files to be set as collection targets can be specified in advance in the file collection section 102. This specification can be performed, for example, by logging information (e.g., a URL) that specifies the files to be collected in the file collection section 102.

[0058] The file element extraction section 104 extracts elements included in the files collected by the file collection section 102. That is, the files to be collected are composed of a plurality of elements, and the file element extraction section 104 extracts each element included in the file. It can be said that the file element extraction section 104 divides the file in units of elements.

[0059] For example, when it is a statute or a regulation book, it has a hierarchical structure such as chapters, articles, sections, and numbers. The file element extraction section 104 extracts each element in the statute in accordance with a prescribed (i.e., predetermined) rule such as a specific level element (e.g., an article) or a lowest level element (e.g., a number if there is a number, or an article if there is no number). Also, there are many cases where a regular file other than a statute or the like has a hierarchical structure such as chapters, sections, and paragraphs, and therefore the file element extraction section 104 extracts elements in these hierarchical structures in accordance with a prescribed rule. Also, when it is a file that is explicitly structured such as an HTML file, the same processing can be performed. Also, there are files that do not have a hierarchical structure among elements but have clear divisions of each element included therein (e.g., a file that does not have chapters but includes a plurality of paragraphs), and the file element extraction section 104 can extract elements from such a file. Also, when a file is composed of a plurality of pages, it can be considered that each page is an example of an element of the file.

[0060] The file information DB 106 is a database that stores information indicating the content of each element extracted from a file by the file element extraction section 104. The file information DB 106 is an example of a holding unit that holds information indicating the content of each element that constitutes a file.

[0061] Here, reference will be made to Figure 3 and Figure 4 to illustrate the processing performed by the file element extraction section 104 (refer to Figure 3 ) and the contents of the data stored in the file information DB 106 (refer to Figure 4 ).

[0062] As illustrated in Figure 3 , for example, as illustrated in the content 314 of the fourth chapter included in the file 312 with the identification name of the implementation regulation of the completion inspection in the company internal regulation DB 310, it is assumed that it includes sections indicated by the numbers 4-1 and 4-2. In this case, the file element extraction section 104 extracts, for example, the title of the fourth chapter "Method of implementation of the examination relating to the inspection of the automobile and the like", the section 4-1 (i.e., the title and the body), and the section 4-2 as elements, respectively. Also, the hash value of the content of each element (i.e., the string data included in the element) is calculated using a prescribed hash algorithm.

[0063] As illustrated in Figure 4 , in the file information DB 106, one history (i.e., one row of data of the table illustrated) is stored for each element extracted by the file element extraction section 104. The history of each element includes each item of the file ID, the element ID, the element content, and the time of data acquisition.

[0064] The file ID is identification information of a file included in the element. In the illustrated example, the name of the file, "Completion of inspection implementation regulations", is shown as the file ID for ease of understanding, but the file ID is not limited thereto.

[0065] The element ID is identification information of the element, and can be information that uniquely identifies the element at least within the file. In the illustrated example, the section number of the element is shown as the element ID.

[0066] The element content is information that represents the content of the element. In the illustrated example, the hash value of the content of the element is set as the value of the element content. The value stored in the item of the element content can be a value that changes in response to at least a change in the content of the element. The hash value satisfies this necessary condition in practice. Naturally, the content of the element itself (for example, the string data of the element itself) also satisfies this necessary condition, and the content of the element itself can be stored as the value of the item of the element content in the file information DB 106.

[0067] If the hash value of the element content is used as the value of the item of the element content, the data amount of the item is greatly reduced compared to the case where the content of the element itself is stored in the item. Furthermore, when the file information DB 106 is located outside of an organization of a user who uses the file management apparatus 100, the hash value is used as the value of the item, and thus it is possible to prevent the content of the element itself from leaking outside of the organization.

[0068] In addition, another example of the value stored in the item of the element content is compressed data in which the element content has been compressed, and encrypted data in which the element content has been encrypted, and the like. If compressed data is used, the data amount of the item is reduced compared to the case where the content of the element itself is stored in the item.

[0069] The data acquisition time is the time at which the file collection section 102 collected the file including the element.

[0070] Return Figure 2The change detection section 108 detects a change in the contents of the elements of the file collected by the file collection section 102 from the history recorded in the file information DB 106. In this detection process, the change detection section 108 calculates a value (e.g., a hash value) representing the contents of each element in the collected file, and determines a history including the combination of the file ID of the file and the element ID of the element from the file information DB 106. Then, it is determined whether the value of the contents of the element in the determined history is the same as or different from the value representing the contents of the element in the collected file. If the values are the same, it is determined that the contents of the element have not changed since the time when the information of the file was logged in the file information DB 106, and if the values are different, it is determined that the contents of the element have changed since that time.

[0071] For example, in the case of the file "Completion Inspection Implementation Regulations" collected this time from the company internal regulations DB 310, the change detection section 108 calculates a hash value from the contents of the element "4-2". Then, it compares the hash value calculated this time with the hash value of the element "4-2" of the file "Completion Inspection Implementation Regulations" held in the file information DB 106 at that time. In the illustrated example, the values are different, so the change detection section 108 determines that there is a change in the contents of the element "4-2" of the file "Completion Inspection Implementation Regulations". Figure 5

[0072] In this way, the change detection section 108 detects an element whose contents have changed from the contents recorded in the history in the file information DB 106 from the elements of the collected file, and transmits information representing the detected element (i.e., the element whose contents have changed) to the associated file information acquisition section 110 and the notification section 114 in the subsequent stage. The information transmitted at this time includes the file ID of the file, the element ID of the detected element, and information representing that the contents of the element have changed.

[0073] ​Also, the change detecting section 108 determines whether there is an added element or a deleted element or both by comparing the element group in the collected file with the history of each element of the file in the file information DB 106. When there is no element in the file information DB 106 that is the same as the element extracted from the collected file (i.e., an element having the same file ID and element ID), the element is an element that did not exist at the point in time when the information of the file was registered in the file information DB 106, and is determined to be an added element. Also, when there is no element in the collected file that is the same as the element of the file in the file information DB 106, the element is determined to be a deleted element. With respect to the collected file, when there is an added element or a deleted element, the change detecting section 108 detects this as a change with respect to the element. When an added element is detected, the change detecting section 108 transmits the file ID of the file, the element ID of the element, and information indicating that the element was added, to the associated file information acquiring section 110 and the notification section 114 that are subsequent stages. Similarly, when a deleted element is detected, the change detecting section 108 transmits the file ID of the file, the element ID of the element, and information indicating that the element was deleted, to the associated file information acquiring section 110 and the notification section 114 that are subsequent stages.

[0074] In Figure 6 In the example shown, the content of the file at the time when the information was last registered in the file information DB 106 is assumed to be the content represented by symbol 400, and the content of the same file that was collected this time is assumed to be the content represented by symbol 402. In this case, the change detecting section 108 detects that the latter has an element "2 of 4-1" that was not present in the former.

[0075] In this way, the change detecting section 108 transmits, with respect to one file that was collected, information of each element that has changed from the point in time when the information was registered in the file information DB 106, an added element, and a deleted element, to the associated file information acquiring section 110 and the notification section 114.

[0076] Also, when the change detecting section 108 does not detect any of an element that has changed, an added element, and a deleted element in the content from the collected file, information with respect to the file is not transmitted to the associated file information acquiring section 110 and the notification section 114. In this case, the associated file information acquiring section 110 and the notification section 114 do not perform processing.

[0077] If the change detection section 108 detects a change in the contents of each element in the file collected this time, the file information DB 106 can update the history of each element of the file. That is, the data acquisition time of the history of each element of the file is changed to the time when the file was collected this time, and as for the element in which a change exists in the contents, the value of the element contents is changed to the changed value (i.e., the value indicating the contents of the element in the file collected this time). Also, as for the added element, the history of the element is added to the file information DB 106. Also, as for the deleted element, the history of the element is deleted from the file information DB 106. In this way, in the manner in which the information of the file in the file information DB 106 is updated each time the file is collected, the change detection section 108 detects a change in the contents of each element, addition, and deletion of the element with respect to the file by comparing the element group of the file collected this time with the element group of the same file at the time of the last collection. The file information DB 106 has a function as an update unit that updates the history of the stored element group itself. Through this update, the file information DB 106 maintains information indicating the contents of each element at the time of the last collection of each file. Also, the change detection section 108 detects a change in the element at the time of the first collection (i.e., acquisition) of the file after the information of each element with respect to the file in the file information DB 106 is updated this time by comparing the element group included in the acquired file with the information of the element group of the file in the file information DB 106.

[0078] If the change detection section 108 receives information indicating a change, addition, or deletion of an element with respect to a certain file, the associated file information acquisition section 110 searches and acquires the information of the file associated with the file from the associativity DB 112.

[0079] In the associativity DB 112, information indicating the associativity of files with respect to each other is registered. In Figure 7The contents of the data held by the relevance DB 112 are illustrated. In this example, information on the correspondence of the reference source file and the reference destination file is registered in the relevance DB 112. In the data illustrated in the figure, the reference source file, i.e., the design book A, indicates the two files, the Road Transport Vehicle Law and the Completed Inspection Enforcement Regulation. The method of constructing the relevance DB 112 is not particularly limited. For example, the manager can register information on the correspondence of the reference source file and the reference destination file in the relevance DB 112 by manual work. Also, the relevance DB 112 or another device can automatically acquire the correspondence of the reference source and the reference destination from information on the reference shown in the citation column or the comment column included in each file or link information, and register it in the relevance DB 112. Also, a device that provides a file editing function to the user can recognize a file B (for example, a file displayed in another window in the editing of the file A) that the user refers to in the editing of the file A, and register the former as the reference source and the latter as the reference destination in the relevance DB 112. In this case, the correspondence of the reference source and the reference destination can be registered in the relevance DB 112 only when a prescribed criterion, such as the number of references being equal to or more than a threshold value or the time of the reference being equal to or more than a threshold value, is satisfied.

[0080] The relevant file information acquisition section 110 acquires the file ID of the reference source file having the file ID included in the information received from the change detection section 108 as the value of the item "reference destination file" from the relevance DB 112. For example, when the file in which the element is changed, added, or deleted is the "Completed Inspection Enforcement Regulation", the relevant file information acquisition section 110 acquires the file ID of the reference source file, i.e., the "design book A", from the relevance DB 112. Figure 7 The relevant file information acquisition section 110 acquires the file ID of the reference source file having the file ID included in the information received from the change detection section 108 as the value of the item "reference destination file" from the relevance DB 112. For example, when the file in which the element is changed, added, or deleted is the "Completed Inspection Enforcement Regulation", the relevant file information acquisition section 110 acquires the file ID of the reference source file, i.e., the "design book A", from the relevance DB 112.

[0081] The notification section 114 receives the file ID of the file in which the element is changed, added, or deleted, the information on the element ID of the element, and the change category (i.e., whether it is any one of the content change, the addition, and the deletion) with respect to each element ID from the change detection section 108. Also, the notification section 114 receives the file ID of one or more files that refer to the file (i.e., the reference source file) from the relevant file information acquisition section 110.

[0082] The notification section 114 sends a notification of urging confirmation to the participant of the reference source file of the file (referred to as file A) in which there is a change (i.e., at least one of a content change, addition, or deletion) in the reference element using the received information. The notification section 114 is an example of a notification unit that notifies information related to the element in which there is a change. The information required to send a notification to a participant can be acquired from the database of the collection source of the reference source file. As such information, for example, there is the mail address of the participant and the user ID of the participant in the file management apparatus 100. When it is the former, the notification is sent as an e-mail to the participant. When it is the latter, the notification is displayed as notification information to the participant when the participant logs in to the file management apparatus 100.

[0083] The notification sent by the notification section 114 to the participant is a notification of urging confirmation of whether the change in the element according to the file A adds a change to the content of the reference source file. The notification includes information that determines the file A (e.g., the name of the file A), information that determines the element (the element ID or the number of the section, clause, paragraph, etc.) of each element in which there is a change in the file, and information of the category of the change. The notification can be, for example, data that represents the contents of the screen displayed on the terminal at the notification as HTML.

[0084] In Figure 8 An example of a notification screen 500 displayed on the terminal at the notification is illustrated in FIG. 5. This example is an example in which the change detection section 108 detects a content change in the element "Chapter 4-2" of the file "Regulation for Implementation of Completion Inspection" and the associated file information acquisition section 110 detects "Design Book A" as the reference source file that refers to the file when the change is detected. The information of the file to be confirmed (in this example, "Design Book A"), the file in which there is a change (in this example, "Regulation for Implementation of Completion Inspection"), the element in which there is a change (in this example, "Chapter 4-2"), and the category of the change (in this example, "change" = content change) is included in the notification displayed on the screen 500. Also, a message of urging confirmation of whether the file to be confirmed, i.e., "Design Book A", needs to be changed is included in the notification. Also, a button 502 for instructing the execution of confirmation is provided in the screen 500. If the participant who sees the screen 500 presses the button 502, the notification section 114 provides, for example, the latest (i.e., after the change) content of the element "Chapter 4-2" of the file "Regulation for Implementation of Completion Inspection" in which there is a change and a screen that displays the content of "Design Book A" that refers to the file to the terminal of the participant. The participant confirms the content of the element "Chapter 4-2" while judging whether there is a need for a change in the content of "Design Book A". Also, in the screen, not only the content after the change of the element "Chapter 4-2" but also the content before the change (i.e., the element content logged in the file information DB 106) can be displayed together. Also, in the screen, information of the difference before the change and after the change can be displayed.

[0085] Thus, the file management apparatus 100 of the present embodiment provides, to the participant who refers to the reference source file of the file in which the change exists, not only information that determines the file but also information that determines the element in which the change has occurred in the file. Thereby, the participant can know which element of the file has changed. The participant studies whether or not the change is required in the reference source file while observing the content of the element in which the change has occurred.

[0086] When there are a plurality of elements in which changes exist in the collected one file, the notification section 114 notifies the participant who refers to the reference source file of the file of information that determines a plurality of elements in which the changes exist. Thus, when the information of the plurality of elements in which the changes exist is notified, the notification section 114 can notify the element whose change category is "deletion" with a priority lower than the priority of the element whose change category is "addition" or "content change". It is considered that the influence on the reference source file of the file is higher in the case where the element of the file is "added" or "content changed" than in the case where the element is "deleted". For example, when a clause is added to an ordinance, it is required to deal with the clause as early as possible in the activities of individuals or businesses. In particular, in the case of an ordinance related to industry, there are many clauses that stipulate prohibited matters, and thus the possibility that a prohibited matter is newly added due to the added clause is high, and the requirement to deal with the addition of the clause as early as possible is high in the files within the business related to the ordinance. Also, when the content of the clause is changed, the possibility that the content of the prohibited matter has changed is high, and thus it is also required to deal with this as early as possible. In contrast, when the clause is deleted, there are many cases where the prohibited matter is abolished. When the prohibited matter is abolished, the degree of the requirement for the processing on the side of the reference source file is lower than in the case where the prohibited matter is added. Thus, the element whose change category is "deletion" is notified with a priority lower than the priority of the element whose change category is "addition" or "content change".

[0087] In addition, the priority evaluation of the notification can be performed, for example, by notifying the information of the element whose priority is higher earlier in the same file. Also, the information of the element whose priority is higher can be displayed in a conspicuous position (i.e., the side (upper side, left side of the tab display, or the like) that is displayed earlier when scrolling is performed) in the list of the information of the elements in which changes exist in the same file. Also, the information of the element whose priority is higher can be displayed in a conspicuous display manner (e.g., larger or bolder characters, or the like).

[0088] In the present embodiment, the file to be the object is not limited to the text-based file such as the ordinance exemplified above. For example, as exemplified above, the file 600 (identification name "thumbnail A") including a picture can also be the object. In this example, the file 600 includes a picture as an element in the file 600. Figure 9 Figures 1-3 ​the respective graphic objects and the text object of the identification name "Explanation Text 1". In the data 610 held in the file information DB 106 with respect to the file 600, with respect to the respective elements of the file 600 and "Explanation Text 1", for example, a file ID, an element ID, a hash value of the element content, and a data acquisition time (omitted from illustration) are included. In the illustrated example, in the case of the file 600 acquired last time and this time on the file collection section 102, Figures 1-3 the content has been changed. This change can be detected from the fact that the hash value of the content of the file 600 acquired this time is different from the hash value of the content of the file 600 held in the file information DB 106. Figure 1 Figure 1 Figure 1

[0089] In the above example, as the change category of the element in the file, a content change, an addition, and a deletion are exemplified. However, there are also files in which a change in the position of the element (for example, a layout of an element group) within the file has a large influence on the meaning of the element, like a sketch or a design drawing. For example, when a design drawing, if the position of a graphic object representing a certain component is changed, the positional relationship of the component with other components changes, and the content represented by the drawing changes. With respect to such a file, the change detection section 108 also detects a change in the position of the element.

[0090] For example, as exemplified in Figure 10 , assume a file 700 in which nine elements, elements 1 to 9, are arranged within one page, and in the case of the file 700 acquired last time and this time, the positions of element 5 and element 9 are replaced. The change detection section 108 detects the change in the positions of element 5 and element 9.

[0091] In order to detect a change in the position of the element, the file element extraction section 104 obtains the position of each element extracted from the collected file within the file. For example, when the file is one page of an image, the coordinates of the element within the page are used to represent the position of the element within the file. For example, a set of coordinates of two vertices on a prescribed diagonal of a circumscribed rectangle (for example, a circumscribed rectangle having sides parallel to the respective sides of the page) that surrounds the element can be set as information representing the position of the element. Also, when the file includes a plurality of pages, a combination of the number of the page including the element and the coordinate information (for example, a set of coordinates of a prescribed circumscribed rectangle) of the element within the page can be set as information representing the position of the element.

[0092] The position information representing the position of each element extracted by the file element extraction section 104 is stored in the file information DB 106. In this case, as Figure 11 ​​​As illustrated, in the file information DB106, in addition to the file ID, feature ID, feature content, and data acquisition time, location information is also logged for each feature. In this example, the feature's location information is the coordinate set of the two vertices on the diagonal of the feature's circumscribed rectangle.

[0093] The change detection unit 108 determines the position of each element in the collected document within the document and compares these positions with the positions indicated by the position information of each element in the document information DB106. Thus, the change detection unit 108 detects elements whose positions have changed from the elements in the document.

[0094] When the location of an element changes, the notification sent by the notification unit 114 to the participants may include a screen displaying the change in the element's location. An example of such a screen is shown below. Figure 12 middle.

[0095] exist Figure 12 The notification screen 800 displays images 810 (showing the original position before the change) and 812 (showing the changed position after the change) of one or more elements whose positions have changed, arranged in a way that clearly shows their sequential relationship. Here, the original position refers to the location stored in file information DB106, and the changed position refers to the location within the currently retrieved file. In this way, by displaying the positions of each element before and after the change in a comparative manner, participants can easily understand which element's position has changed and how.

[0096] Furthermore, images 810 and 812 are Figure 10 The illustrated document 700 contains an image of the range of all elements whose positions have changed. In this example, the positions of elements 5 and 9 have been swapped, so a range containing these two elements is displayed (in the example image, a 2×2 range containing these two elements). If the content of an element is changed, added, or deleted, the participant can know the content change, addition, or deletion simply by displaying the content of that individual element. In contrast, when the position of an element changes, simply displaying the content of that element is insufficient to grasp the change. Therefore, in this example, images 810 and 812 not only display the element whose position has changed, but also show the range surrounding that element within document 700. Furthermore, in this example, the positions of multiple elements have changed, so the range surrounding both of these multiple elements is displayed. Thus, the participant can grasp the group of elements whose positions have changed using a list.

[0097] In addition, such as Figure 13As illustrated, the degree of association between the reference source file and the reference target file can be registered in the association DB 112. The value of the degree of association is input by the administrator of the association DB 112 or can be calculated by a known technique for calculating the degree of association between files. Also, in the case where there is a change in a certain file, when a plurality of reference source files that set the file as a reference target are stored, the notification section 114 can give higher priority to the notification in the reference source file with a higher degree of association among the plurality of files. For example, the notification is sent in order from the participant of the reference source file with a higher degree of association, or the participant of the reference source file with a higher degree of association is given higher emphasis in the notification of information related to the element that has changed, and the like. Also, when a change is added to the reference source file according to the notification by the notification section 114, the database management program that manages the association DB 112 can update the value of the degree of association of the reference source file to a higher value.

[0098] The above describes the structure and processing content of the embodiments. The above-described embodiments are merely examples, and various modifications can be considered within the scope of the present application.

[0099] The file management apparatus 100 described above can also be realized by causing a computer to execute a program that constitutes the functional group of the above-described file management apparatus. Here, the computer has, for example, a circuit structure in which a microprocessor such as a CPU, a memory (main storage) such as a random access memory (RAM) and a read only memory (ROM), a controller that controls a fixed storage device such as a flash memory, an SSD (solid state drive), and an HDD (hard disk drive), various I / O (input / output) interfaces, and a network interface that performs control for connection to a network such as a local area network are connected via a bus or the like. A program in which the processing content of each function is described is saved in a fixed storage device such as a flash memory via a network or the like and installed in the computer. The program saved in the fixed storage device is read out to the RAM and executed by the microprocessor such as the CPU, and the above-described functional module group is realized.

[0100] Also, the file management apparatus 100 can be constituted on a single computer as described above, or can be constituted as a system that includes a plurality of computers that can communicate with each other. When it is the latter, for example, in an extreme example, each element represented by the symbols 102 to 114 can be built on a different computer.

[0101] The above-described embodiments of the present application are provided for the purpose of illustration and description. They are not intended to limit the present application in any way. Further, the present application is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but can be practiced with modification and alteration within the scope of the present application. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive. Other embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and drawings. The embodiments of the present application are only exemplary and do not limit the present application according to the scope of the patent and its equivalents.

Claims

1. A document management device, comprising: The holding unit holds the history of multiple elements constituting the first document, the history of each element including: identification information of the document contained in each element, identification information of each element, information of the content of each element, and the time when the document containing each element was collected. A relational database contains information about the correspondence between the first file and a second file that references the first file; The change detection unit detects whether there are any changes to the collected first document based on the history maintained by the retention unit. When at least one of the multiple elements of the first document is changed, the unit searches the association database and obtains the identification information of the second document associated with the first document. and The notification unit, in response to receiving the identification information of the second document and the information that the first document has been changed from the change detection unit, notifies the participants of the second document associated with the first document of the information related to the changed element in the first document.

2. The document management device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The amount of data representing the content of each of the plurality of elements constituting the first document held in the holding unit is less than the amount of data of that element in the first document.

3. The document management device according to claim 2, wherein, The information held in the holding unit representing the content of each of the plurality of elements constituting the first document is the hash value of each of the plurality of elements.

4. The document management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: The acquisition unit repeatedly acquires the first file from the storage location where the first file is stored. When there is a change in the information representing the content of the element in the first document that the acquisition unit acquires this time, compared to the information representing the same element in the first document that the acquisition unit acquired last time, the notification unit notifies the information related to that element.

5. The document management device according to claim 4, further comprising: The updating unit updates the information held by the holding unit to the information representing the contents of the multiple elements constituting the first file each time the acquiring unit acquires the first file. When there is a change in the information representing the content of the element constituting the first document initially acquired by the acquisition unit after the update unit has been updated, which represents the content of the element stored in the holding unit, the notification unit notifies the information related to the element.

6. The document management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, When a new element is added to the first document or one or more of the elements in the first document are deleted, the notification unit notifies the participant of information related to the added or deleted element.

7. The document management device according to claim 6, wherein, The notification unit notifies information related to deleted elements with a lower priority than information related to elements whose content has changed or information related to added elements.

8. The document management device according to claim 6, further comprising: The acquisition unit repeatedly acquires the first file from the storage location where the first file is stored. When the first file acquired by the acquisition unit this time contains an element that was not included in the multiple elements constituting the first file acquired by the acquisition unit last time, the notification unit will notify the participant as information related to that element as information related to the added element. When the first file acquired by the acquisition unit this time does not contain an element included in the multiple elements constituting the first file acquired by the acquisition unit last time, the notification unit will notify the participant as information related to that element as information related to the deleted element.

9. The document management device according to claim 8, further comprising: The updating unit updates the information held by the holding unit to the information representing the contents of the multiple elements constituting the first file each time the acquiring unit acquires the first file. When the first file initially acquired by the acquisition unit after being updated by the update unit contains an element not included in the plurality of elements constituting the first file stored in the holding unit, the notification unit notifies the participant of information related to that element as information related to the added element. When the first file initially acquired by the acquisition unit after being updated by the update unit does not contain an element included in the plurality of elements constituting the first file stored in the holding unit, the notification unit notifies the participant of information related to that element as information related to the deleted element.

10. The document management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The holding unit also holds the position information of each of the plurality of elements, representing their respective positions within the first document. When the location of any one or more of the multiple elements changes, the notification unit notifies the participant of information related to the one or more elements whose location has changed.

11. The document management device according to claim 10, wherein, The notification unit notifies the first document of the scope containing the range of the one or more elements whose locations have changed, as information related to the change of one or more of the elements.

12. The document management device according to claim 11, wherein, The notification unit serves as information related to one or more of the elements whose locations have changed, providing information comparing the content of the range before the change with the content of the range after the change.

13. The document management device according to claim 10, further comprising: The acquisition unit repeatedly acquires the first file from the storage location where the first file is stored. If the position of any one or more of the multiple elements changes, When the position of an element in the first file acquired by the acquisition unit this time changes from the position of the same element in the first file previously acquired by the acquisition unit, the notification unit notifies the information related to that element.

14. The document management device according to claim 13, further comprising: The updating unit updates the file each time the acquiring unit acquires the first file, using the position information of each of the plurality of elements held by the holding unit to represent the position of each of the plurality of elements constituting the first file at that time. When the position of an element in the first file initially acquired by the acquisition unit after being updated by the update unit changes from the position represented by the position information of that element stored in the holding unit, the notification unit notifies the information related to that element.

15. A storage medium storing a program for enabling a computer to function as a unit: The holding unit holds the history of multiple elements constituting the first document, the history of each element including: identification information of the document contained in each element, identification information of each element, information of the content of each element, and the time when the document containing each element was collected. and A relational database contains information about the correspondence between the first file and a second file that references the first file; The change detection unit detects whether there are any changes to the collected first document based on the history maintained by the retention unit. When at least one of the multiple elements of the first document is changed, the unit searches the association database and obtains the identification information of the second document associated with the first document. and The notification unit, in response to receiving the identification information of the second document and the information that the first document has been changed from the change detection unit, notifies the participants of the second document associated with the first document of information related to the elements that have been changed in the first document.

16. A file management method, comprising the following steps: The process involves maintaining a history of multiple elements constituting the first document, the history of each element including: identification information of the document contained in each element, identification information of each element, information about the content of each element, and the time when the document containing each element was collected. The change detection step, based on the history maintained by the maintenance step, detects whether there is a change in the collected first document. When at least one of the multiple elements of the first document is changed, the identification information of the second document associated with the first document is searched and obtained from the association database, wherein the association database records the correspondence between the first document and the second document referencing the first document. and The notification step, in response to receiving the identification information of the second document and the information that the first document has been changed from the change detection step, notifies the participants of the second document associated with the first document of the information related to the changed element in the first document.

17. A computer program product comprising a program for causing a computer to function as: The holding unit holds the history of multiple elements constituting the first document, the history of each element including: identification information of the document contained in each element, identification information of each element, information of the content of each element, and the time when the document containing each element was collected. A relational database contains information about the correspondence between the first file and a second file that references the first file; The change detection unit detects whether there are any changes to the collected first document based on the history maintained by the retention unit. When at least one of the multiple elements of the first document is changed, the unit searches the association database and obtains the identification information of the second document associated with the first document. and The notification unit, in response to receiving the identification information of the second document and the information that the first document has been changed from the change detection unit, notifies the participants of the second document associated with the first document of the information related to the changed element in the first document.

Images