Information Processing Apparatus, Computer Program Product, and Recording Medium

Abstract

The invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a computer program product, and a recording medium. When the present invention edits a first document while referring to a second document opened by a document display application, without additional operations by the editor, subsequent viewers who view the edited first document can grasp the second document referred to by the editor when editing the first document. When the editor edits an object document (20a) that is the first document, an associated unit (28) presumes another document (20b) that is the second document opened by a document application (22) that is the document display application as the reference document referred to by the editor during editing, and associates reference document information indicating the reference document with the edited part of the object document (20a). If a viewer opens the object document (20a) using the document application (22) and selects the edited part, the reference document information associated with the edited part is displayed on a display (14).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a recording medium. Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a technique for retrieving information of interest to a viewer from within an electronic document has been proposed.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing apparatus that designates a search annotation in an electronic document with an attached annotation as additional information, and retrieves other annotations given from the same viewpoint as the search annotation from within the electronic document. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses an information processing apparatus that retrieves annotations given by a specific editor from within an electronic document with an attached annotation as additional information.

[0004] [Prior Art Documents]

[0005] [Patent Documents]

[0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-199484

[0007] Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-199485 Summary of the Invention

[0008] [Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

[0009] In addition, when an editor edits a first document that is an electronic document to be edited, the editor sometimes refers to a second document, which is another electronic document opened by a document display application. In such a case, it is sometimes difficult for a viewer who subsequently views the edited first document to grasp which document the second document is that the editor referred to when editing the first document.

[0010] An object of the present invention is to enable a viewer who subsequently views an edited first document to grasp the second document that the editor referred to when editing the first document without any additional operation by the editor when editing the first document while referring to the second document opened by a document display application.

[0011] [Means for Solving the Problems]

[0012] The invention according to Technical Solution 1 is an information processing apparatus including a processor that, when editing a first document displayed on a display, associates information indicating the second document with an edited editing part of the first document when a second document different from the first document is opened by a document display application, and displays the associated information indicating the second document on the display when the editing part is selected.

[0013] The invention of Technical Solution 2 is the information processing apparatus described in Technical Solution 1. When the processor edits the first document, information representing a part of the second document opened by the document display application is associated with the editing part. When the editing part is selected, information representing a part of the associated second document is displayed on the display.

[0014] The invention of Technical Solution 3 is the information processing apparatus described in Technical Solution 1. When the first document is edited, a plurality of the second documents are opened by the document display application. When the processor edits by copying at least a part of any one of the plurality of second documents to the first document, information representing the second document as the copy source is associated with the editing part.

[0015] The invention of Technical Solution 4 is the information processing apparatus described in Technical Solution 3. The processor associates information representing a part within the page, i.e., the intra-page part, of the second document that is the copy source with the editing part. When the editing part is selected, information representing the second document that includes information representing the intra-page part is displayed on the display.

[0016] The invention of Technical Solution 5 is the information processing apparatus described in Technical Solution 1. When the first document is edited, a plurality of the second documents are opened by the document display application. Editing for adding an attribute to at least a part of any one of the plurality of second documents is performed in advance. When the processor adds an attribute of the same type as the attribute given to at least a part of the second document to an editing part of the first document that has the same content as at least a part of the second document, information representing the second document is associated with the editing part of the first document.

[0017] The invention of Technical Solution 6 is the information processing apparatus described in Technical Solution 5. The processor associates information representing a part within the page, i.e., the intra-page part, of the second document that has been edited in advance with the editing part of the first document. When the editing part is selected, information representing the second document that includes information representing the intra-page part is displayed on the display.

[0018] The invention of Technical Solution 7 is the information processing apparatus described in Technical Solution 4 or 6. When the editing part is selected, the processor displays the second document in which the intra-page part is highlighted on the display.

[0019] The invention of Technical Solution 8 is the information processing apparatus described in Technical Solution 1. When the processor edits the first document and multiple second documents are opened by the document display application, the information indicating the second document specified by the editor among the multiple second documents is associated with the editing part.

[0020] The invention of Technical Solution 9 is the information processing apparatus described in Technical Solution 1. The processor does not associate the information indicating the second document according to the editing content of the editing part.

[0021] The invention of Technical Solution 10 is the information processing apparatus described in Technical Solution 1, further including: a memory that defines a job document storage area for storing documents used for the job currently being processed by the operator, and simultaneously displays the stored documents on the display. When the first document is stored in the job document storage area, the processor associates the information indicating the second document stored in the job document storage area with the editing part.

[0022] The invention of Technical Solution 11 is a recording medium that stores an information processing program. The information processing program is used to cause a computer to perform: when editing a first document displayed on a display, when a second document different from the first document is opened by a document display application, associate the information indicating the second document with the edited editing part of the first document, and when the editing part is selected, display the information indicating the associated second document on the display.

[0023] [Advantages of the Invention]

[0024] According to the invention of Technical Solution 1 or 11, when editing the first document while referring to the second document opened by the document display application, without additional operations by the editor, the viewer who subsequently views the edited first document can grasp the second document referred to by the editor when editing the first document.

[0025] According to the invention of Technical Solution 2, the viewer who subsequently views the edited first document can grasp a part of the second document referred to by the editor when editing the first document.

[0026] According to the invention of Technical Solution 3, among the multiple second documents opened by the document display application when editing the first document, the second document referred to by the editor can be determined based on the copy processing by the editor.

[0027] According to the invention of Technical Solution 4, among the multiple second documents opened by the document display application when editing the first document, the in-page part of the second document referred to by the editor can be determined based on the copy processing by the editor.

[0028] According to the invention of Technical Solution 5, among the multiple second documents that can be opened by a document display application when editing a first document, the second document referred to by the editor can be determined based on the processing of assigning attributes to the editor.

[0029] According to the invention of Technical Solution 6, among the multiple second documents that can be opened by a document display application when editing a first document, the in-page part of the second document referred to by the editor can be determined based on the processing of assigning attributes to the editor.

[0030] According to the invention of Technical Solution 7, a viewer can grasp the in-page part referred to by the editor in the displayed second document.

[0031] According to the invention of Technical Solution 8, among the multiple second documents that can be opened by a document display application when editing a first document, the second document referred to by the editor can be determined based on the editor's designation.

[0032] According to the invention of Technical Solution 9, a specific editing content can be made not associated with a second document.

[0033] According to the invention of Technical Solution 10, when the first document and the second document are stored in a job document storage area, information indicating the second document can be associated with the first document. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment.

[0035] Figure 2 It is a diagram showing a first screen of a document application.

[0036] Figure 3 It is a diagram showing a screen of a display object document and a reference document.

[0037] Figure 4 It is a diagram showing a screen of a display association dialogue.

[0038] Figure 5 It is a diagram showing a situation of copying a part of a reference document to an object document.

[0039] Figure 6 It is a diagram showing a situation of annotating an object document with an attribute identical to the attribute annotated on a part of a reference document.

[0040] Figure 7 It is a diagram showing a screen when selecting an editing part.

[0041] Figure 8 It is a diagram showing a screen of a display reference document selection dialogue.

[0042] Figure 9A figure showing a screen for displaying a reference document.

[0043] Figure 10 A figure showing a screen for emphasizing and displaying a part of a reference document.

[0044] Figure 11 A flowchart showing the processing flow of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

[0045] Explanation of symbols

[0046] 10: Information processing apparatus

[0047] 12: Communication interface

[0048] 14: Display

[0049] 16: Input interface

[0050] 18: Memory

[0051] 20: Electronic document

[0052] 20a: Object document

[0053] 20b: Other document

[0054] 22: Document application

[0055] 24: Processor

[0056] 26: Display control unit

[0057] 28: Association unit Detailed implementation manner

[0058] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus 10 is a personal computer, but the information processing apparatus 10 can be any device as long as it has the functions described below. For example, it can also be a mobile terminal such as a tablet terminal or a smart phone.

[0059] The information processing apparatus 10 is a terminal used by an editor of an electronic document. Moreover, the information processing apparatus 10 is also a terminal used by a viewer who views the electronic document edited by the editor. As described above, in the present embodiment, the case where both the editor and the viewer use the information processing apparatus 10 is described, but the editor and the viewer can also use different information processing apparatuses 10. Specifically, the editor can use the first information processing apparatus 10 to edit an electronic document, send the edited electronic document from the first information processing apparatus 10 to the second information processing apparatus 10, and in the second information processing apparatus 10, the edited electronic document is viewed by the viewer. In this specification, when the editor and the viewer are not distinguished, the two are collectively referred to as an operator or a user.

[0060] The communication interface 12 includes, for example, a wired or wireless Local Area Network (LAN) adapter or the like. The communication interface 12 functions to communicate with other devices via communication lines such as a LAN or the Internet. For example, electronic documents can be transmitted and received between the information processing device 10 and other devices via the communication interface 12.

[0061] The display 14 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display or the like. Various screens are displayed on the display 14. In particular, the screen of the document application 22 described later is displayed on the display 14.

[0062] The input interface 16 includes, for example, a mouse, a keyboard, or a touch screen or the like. The input interface 16 is used to input instructions from the user to the information processing device 10.

[0063] The memory 18 includes, for example, a hard disk, a Solid State Drive (SSD), an embedded Multi Media Card (eMMC), a Read Only Memory (ROM), or a Random Access Memory (RAM) or the like. The memory 18 can be provided separately from the processor 24 described later, or at least a part thereof can be provided inside the processor 24. In the memory 18, information processing programs for operating each part of the information processing device 10 are stored.

[0064] As Figure 1 shown, the electronic document 20 is stored in the memory 18. The electronic document 20 can be created by the information processing device 10 or received from other devices via the communication interface 12. In the present embodiment, each electronic document 20 includes one or more pages. In addition, a page at this time is a conceptual page defined in the electronic document 20 and is a different concept from a physical page printed on one side of a printing medium when actually printing the electronic document 20.

[0065] As described above, the editor edits the electronic document 20 using the information processing device 10. In the present embodiment, the editor edits the electronic document 20 while referring to other electronic documents 20.

[0066] Here, the electronic document 20 that will be the object to be edited by the editor is referred to as the object document 20a, and the other electronic documents 20 that are the second documents other than the object document 20a are referred to as other documents 20b. The object document 20a can be any data as long as it can be edited by the editor using the information processing device 10. For example, it can be document data, image data, or program data, etc. Moreover, the other document 20b can be any data as long as it is data that can be referred to when the editor edits the object document 20a. The other document 20b does not need to be editable. Similarly to the object document 20a, the other document 20b can also be, for example, document data, image data, or program data, etc.

[0067] Moreover, a document application 22 is installed in the memory 18. The document application 22 is an application that can operate on the information processing device 10 and is an application for displaying the electronic document 20 on the display 14 and editing the electronic document 20 (in this embodiment, especially the object document 20a). For example, the document application 22 can use a text editor (Docuworks) of Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. However, the document application 22 in the information processing device 10 used by the editor can be any application as long as it is an application that can display and edit the electronic document 20, and the document application 22 in the information processing device 10 used by the viewer can be any application as long as it is an application that can display the electronic document 20.

[0068] Figure 2 It is a diagram showing a first screen displayed on the display 14 during the execution of the document application 22. In the first screen, a window of the document application 22 is displayed. The window can be roughly divided into a folder pane 40 and a document pane 42. The folder pane 40 shows the folder structure in the information processing device 10, and the document pane 42 shows at a glance the thumbnails of the electronic documents 20 saved in the folder selected in the folder pane 40.

[0069] The folder structure displayed in the folder pane 40 can also be defined by the file system of the information processing device 10 (for example, Explorer of Microsoft Corporation). For example, Figure 2 the user folder and its lower-level ABC project folder and order folder are folders defined by the file system of the information processing device 10. However, in the document application 22 of this embodiment, a work space folder, which is a folder dedicated to the document application 22, can be used.

[0070] The job space folder is a storage area for job documents, which are electronic documents used for the job the user is currently processing. Specifically, the job space folder simulates the user's workplace (such as on a desk), aiming to provide an overview of all the jobs being processed at a glance, that is, to improve the comprehensibility of jobs. This is in contrast to the hierarchical structure of general folders (such as the user folder, etc.) or their sub-folders that can also be utilized in other applications, which aims to organize and streamline the electronic document group 20. If the job space folder is selected in the folder pane 40, the job space simulating the desk is displayed in the document pane 42, and the electronic document group 20 saved in the job space folder is simultaneously displayed (in thumbnail display in this embodiment). Figure 1 the electronic document group 20 saved in the job space folder is simultaneously displayed (in thumbnail display in this embodiment).

[0071] To ensure the comprehensibility of jobs, only the electronic document 20 is saved in the job space folder. That is, the job space folder does not contain a hierarchical structure with a group of sub-folders. Suppose the job space folder has a folder hierarchical structure internally. In that case, it is impossible to arrange all the electronic documents 20 for the current job on a single job space for a comprehensive view. At this time, to grasp the overall picture of the job space folder, an inter-level movement operation is required. In contrast, the job space folder has a flat structure that only contains the electronic document 20. Therefore, there is no need to move between levels, and all the electronic documents 20 in the job space folder can be comprehensively displayed on the job space.

[0072] The job space folder is used as a temporary workplace. In contrast, the storage of the electronic document 20 is organized and carried out using the hierarchical structure of the general folder.

[0073] Regarding the job space folder, access from the file system of the information processing device 10 is not envisaged. Copying of the electronic document 20 to the job space folder, or moving and deleting the electronic document 20 saved in the job space folder to other folders, can only be performed by the document application 22. When the electronic document 20 is copied from another folder to the job space folder by the document application 22, information indicating the source folder is attached to the electronic document 20. Thus, for the electronic document 20 saved in the job space folder, processing using the attributes of the original location can be carried out. For example, if it is known that the electronic document 20 was originally saved in the ABC project folder, the user can understand that the electronic document 20 is data related to the ABC project.

[0074] Consider the following situation: in the middle of a user's operation in the work space, it is necessary to perform other operations with higher priority on the work space. At this time, if the electronic document group 20 used in the current operation on the work space can be temporarily organized (retreated) to a certain place to vacate the work space, and the electronic document group 20 for the new operation is placed in the vacated work space, the operation efficiency will be good. Moreover, if the previously organized electronic document group 20 can be expanded again in the work space after the inserted operation is completed, and the interrupted operation can be restarted, it will be convenient.

[0075] Therefore, the document application 22 has an organization function for organizing the work space. If the user instructs to execute the organization function, the document application 22 generates an organized folder and saves the electronic document group 20 displayed in the work space in the organized folder. In this embodiment, the organized folder is a subfolder of the work space folder, which is an exception to the principle that the work space folder does not have subfolders internally. The organized folder is different from the folder that constitutes the hierarchical structure for document sorting and arrangement. It is a folder with a limited function such as a temporary retreat destination of the work space. In the above example, it is recognized that only such an organized folder is configured at a lower level of the work space folder. In addition, different from the folder that forms the hierarchical structure for document sorting and arrangement, there is no special meaning in the organized folder being "lower" than the work space folder. If the organized folder is marked as the organization destination of the document group in the work space in the attribute information of the organized folder, etc., the organized folder may not be configured at a lower level of the work space folder.

[0076] The electronic document group 20 saved in the organized folder can be expanded again on the work space based on an instruction from the user.

[0077] In this embodiment, it is assumed that at least a part of the other document 20b and the object document 20a are both saved in the work space folder. For example, as Figure 2 shown, it is assumed that four electronic documents 20, namely Document A to Document D, are saved in the work space folder, where Document A is the object document 20a, and Documents B to D are the other documents 20b. In addition, the object document 20a and the other documents 20b may not necessarily be saved in the work space folder.

[0078] The user can select the electronic document 20 by double-clicking the electronic document 20 displayed in the document pane 42, etc., so that the selected electronic document 20 can be displayed. Moreover, as Figure 3As shown, it is also possible to simultaneously display (i.e., arrange) multiple electronic documents 20. Moreover, multiple electronic documents 20 can be opened, with one electronic document 20 being displayed in full screen and the other electronic documents 20 being set to the background-open state, and the displayed electronic document 20 can be switched according to a screen switching instruction from the user. By simultaneously opening the target document 20a and other documents 20b, the editor can edit the target document 20a while referring to the other documents 20b.

[0079] In the document application 22, the target document 20a is edited by attaching various annotations as additional information. Annotations include attachment annotations for attaching new objects to the target document 20a and attribute annotations for attaching attributes to elements within the target document 20a. As types of attachment annotations, for example, there are text annotations for attaching text, sticky note annotations for attaching sticky notes (which may also carry text), graphic annotations for attaching graphics (such as straight lines, broken lines, quadrilaterals, ellipses, polygons, cloud shapes, stamps), and image annotations for attaching images, etc. As types of attribute annotations, for example, there are marker annotations for attaching marker attributes to text within the target document 20a, date-time annotations for attaching edit date and time information, and link annotations for attaching link information to other files, etc.

[0080] Of course, the editing method of the target document 20a is not limited to the attachment of annotations. For example, text replacement, etc. can also be directly performed.

[0081] Returning to Figure 1 , the processor 24 refers to a general processing device, including at least one of a general processing device (such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), etc.) and a dedicated processing device (such as a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or a programmable logic device, etc.). Regarding the processor 24, it is also possible to use not one processing device but to be constituted by the cooperation of multiple processing devices located physically far apart. The processor 24 cooperates with the information processing program stored in the memory 18 to perform functions such as Figure 1 shown, to perform the functions of the display control unit 26 and the associated unit 28.

[0082] The display control unit 26 performs display control of various screens displayed on the display 14. Specifically, the display control unit 26 performs display control of windows, etc. of the document application 22.

[0083] When the editor edits the target document 20a using the document application 22, the association unit 28 associates information indicating another document 20b presumably referred to by the editor during the editing with the edited part in the target document 20a. Hereinafter, another document 20b presumably referred to by the editor when editing the target document 20a is referred to as a reference document. In the present embodiment, since both the target document 20a and another document 20b are opened by the document application 22, when the editor edits the target document 20a, the association unit 28 presumes another document 20b opened in the document application 22, which is a document display application, as the reference document presumably referred to by the editor during the editing, and associates information indicating the reference document (hereinafter referred to as "reference document information") with the edited part of the target document 20a.

[0084] For example, as Figure 3 shown, when document A as the target document 20a and document B as another document 20b are simultaneously displayed on the display 14 by the document application 22, the editor adds a text annotation A to document A T . That is, it is assumed that the target document 20a has been edited. At this time, the association unit 28 presumes document B as another document 20b as the reference document, and associates the reference document information indicating the reference document (i.e., document B as another document 20b) with the text annotation A as the edited part. T .

[0085] The reference document information can be associated in any form, but in the present embodiment, the association unit 28 associates the reference document information as the attribute information of the text annotation A T . As the reference document information, it includes the file path of the reference document (i.e., location information indicating the location of the reference document in the file system of the information processing apparatus 10), partial information indicating a part (e.g., the opened page) of the reference document opened by the document application 22 when the editor edits the target document 20a, or opening method information indicating the opening method (e.g., full-screen display or magnification ratio) of the reference document of the document application 22 when the editor edits the target document 20a, etc., but is not limited thereto. For example, when a part within the page of the reference document presumably referred to by the editor, i.e., the in-page part, can be determined as described later, the in-page part information indicating the in-page part may also be included.

[0086] In addition, if another document 20b is opened by the document application 22, information indicating the other document 20b, i.e., the file path of the other document 20b, partial information indicating an opened part (e.g., a page), and opening method information, etc., are stored in a temporary storage area in the memory 18 in the following form, that is: the information can be recognized as information related to the other document 20b currently opened by the document application 22. When the editing of the object document 20a is performed, the association unit 28 obtains information related to the other document 20b (i.e., the reference document) currently opened by the document application 22 from the temporary storage area and associates it with the editing part as reference document information.

[0087] In this embodiment, the document editing application for editing the object document 20a and the document display application for displaying the other document 20b are the same application (i.e., the document application 22), but the document editing application and the document display application can also be different applications. At this time, when the editing of the object document 20a is performed, the association unit 28 can either determine the other document 20b opened by all other document display applications as the reference document and associate the reference document information with the editing part of the object document 20a, or only determine the other document 20b opened by a predetermined specific document display application as the reference document and associate the reference document information with the editing part of the object document 20a.

[0088] Moreover, Figure 3 In the example of, when the editing of the object document 20a is performed, the other document 20b is opened by the document application 22 and displayed on the display 14, but as long as the other document 20b determined as the reference document is opened by the document application 22, it may not necessarily be displayed on the display 14. For example, even when the object document 20a is displayed full screen and the other document 20b is opened in the background, the association unit 28 can, when the editing of the object document 20a is performed, determine the other document 20b opened in the background as the reference document and associate the reference document information with the editing part. The reason is that the following situation is also considered, that is: the editor opens both the object document 20a and the other document 20b, switches the screen while referring to the other document 20b and edits the object document 20a at the same time.

[0089] When the editing of the object document 20a is performed, when multiple other documents 20b are opened by the document application 22 and the association unit 28 cannot determine which one of the multiple other documents 20b is the reference document, the association unit 28 can also determine the other document 20b specified by the editor among the multiple other documents 20b as the reference document and associate the reference document information indicating the determined reference document with the editing part of the object document 20a.

[0090] The method for the editor to specify a reference document can be any method. In this embodiment, when the object document 20a is edited and multiple other documents 20b are opened by the document application 22, the display control unit 26 causes Figure 4 the association dialogue 50 as shown to be displayed on the display 14 for the editor to specify the reference document.

[0091] In the association dialogue 50, the multiple other documents 20b opened by the document application 22 when the object document 20a is edited are displayed in a selectable form. Preferably, information indicating the multiple other documents 20b can be displayed in the association dialogue 50. Figure 4 In the example of, the file path and page number of each other document 20b are shown. The editor can specify the reference document by selecting the reference document from the displayed multiple other documents 20b and pressing the OK button. In the association dialogue 50, multiple reference documents can also be selectable. That is, the editor can also associate multiple reference documents with the editing part by specifying multiple reference documents.

[0092] In addition, when the object document 20a is edited and multiple other documents 20b are opened by the document application 22 and the association unit 28 cannot determine which one of the multiple other documents 20b is the reference document, the association dialogue 50 may not be displayed, but the association unit 28 takes all the other documents 20b opened as the reference documents and associates multiple reference document information corresponding to the multiple reference documents with the editing part.

[0093] Moreover, when the object document 20a is saved in the job space folder, the other document 20b determined as the reference document can also be limited to the other document 20b saved in the job space folder. That is, when the object document 20a is edited and the first other document 20b saved in the job space folder and the second other document 20b saved in another folder other than the job space folder are opened by the document application 22, the association unit 28 can also determine the first other document 20b saved in the job space folder as the reference document.

[0094] In the document application 22, at least a part of the other document 20b can be copied, that is, copied to the object document 20a. The operation for copying can be, for example, the following operation: after designating a part or all of the other document 20b as the copy target part and registering it to a specific clipboard (for example, pressing the Ctrl + C keys on the keyboard), designating the editing part of the object document 20a for a specific paste operation (for example, pressing the Ctrl + V keys on the keyboard). Or, it can also be as Figure 5As shown, a part of the other document 20b is selected. With the mouse cursor aligned with the selected part, while pressing the left mouse button, the mouse cursor is moved to the editing part of the target document 20a, and the operation of pressing the left mouse button is released at the editing part (i.e., the drag-and-drop operation). Figure 5 In the example of Figure 5 , the string "123,456 yen" in the other document 20b is a part of the copy target. The drag-and-drop operation is performed on the string until the text annotation A which is the editing part of the target document 20a. T . As a result, the string "123,456 yen" of the text copy is within the text annotation A T .

[0095] When at least a part of the other document 20b is copied to the target document 20a, it can be said that the editor edited the target document 20a with reference to the other document 20b as the copy source. That is, the other document 20b as the copy source is the reference document. Therefore, when multiple other documents 20b are opened by the document application 22, when at least a part of one of the other documents 20b is copied to the target document 20a, the association unit 28 determines the other document 20b as the copy source as the reference document, and associates the reference document information with the editing part of the target document 20a.

[0096] In particular, when a part within the page of the other document 20b, that is, the in-page part, is the copy source, it can be said that the editor edited the target document 20a with reference to the in-page part of the other document 20b as the copy source. That is, at this time, the association unit 28 can lock the part referred to by the editor to a part within the page of the other document 20b. Therefore, when a part within the page of the other document 20b, that is, the in-page part, is the copy source, the association unit 28 can also associate the reference document information including the in-page part information with the editing part of the target document 20a, and the in-page part information represents the in-page part as the reference document of the other document 20b. In addition, as the in-page part information representing the in-page part, for example, it can also be text data representing a string that becomes the copy source within the reference document, or position information (such as relative coordinate information) representing the position of the in-page part.

[0097] Sometimes, editing for assigning attributes is performed in advance on at least a part of the other document 20b. For example, sometimes the attribute annotation is assigned in advance to at least a part of the other document 20b. At this time, when an attribute of the same type as the attribute assigned to at least a part of the other document 20b is added to the editing part of the target document 20a having the same content as at least a part of the other document 20b, it is highly likely that the editor added the same attribute to the target document 20a with reference to the other document 20b.

[0098] Therefore, when multiple other documents 20b are opened by the document application 22, when an attribute of the same type as the attribute pre - attached to at least a part of one of the other documents 20b is attached to an edited part of the object document 20a that has the same content as at least a part of the other document 20b, the association unit 28 determines the other document 20b as a reference document and associates reference document information with the edited part of the object document 20a.

[0099] In this embodiment, attaching an attribute of the same type as the attribute pre - attached to the other document 20b to the edited part means attaching an attribute annotation of the same type as the attribute annotation pre - attached to the other document 20b. For example, as Figure 6 shown, when a markup annotation is pre - given to the string "123,456 yen" which is part P l of the other document 20b, when the editor attaches a markup annotation to the string "123,456 yen" contained in the text annotation A T of the object document 20a and which has the same content as part P l , the association unit 28 determines the other document 20b as a reference document. Additionally, at this time, even if the characteristics such as the color or thickness of the markup annotation attached to part P l are different from the characteristics of the markup annotation attached to the edited part, the association unit 28 can determine that an attribute of the same type as part P l is attached to the edited part.

[0100] In particular, when an attribute of the same type as the attribute pre - attached to a part within a page of the other document 20b, that is, a part within the page, is attached to an edited part that has the same content as the part within the page, it can be said that the editor referred to the part within the page of the other document 20b when editing the object document 20a. That is, similar to when copying the part within the page of the other document 20b to the object document 20a, at this time, the association unit 28 also locks the part referred to by the editor to a part within the page of the other document 20b. Therefore, when an attribute of the same type as the attribute pre - attached to a part within a page of the other document 20b, that is, a part within the page, is attached to an edited part that has the same content as the part within the page, the association unit 28 can also associate reference document information including part - within - page information with the edited part of the object document 20a, and the part - within - page information represents the part within the page that is the reference document of the other document 20b.

[0101] When the editor edits the object document 20a and the other document 20b is opened by the document application 22, the association unit 28 can also not associate reference document information with the edited part according to the editing content of the edited part of the object document 20a.

[0102] First, when the editing content of the editing part is considered to be completely irrelevant to other document 20b, the reference document information may not be associated with the editing part. For example, when the editing content is the editing date and time of the target document 20a. In this embodiment, when the date and time annotation is attached to the editing part, the association unit 28 does not associate the reference document with the editing part.

[0103] Second, when the editing content of the editing part itself indicates other document 20b, the information representing the other document 20b may not be associated with the editing part. For example, when the editing content is the case of pasting the link of other document 20b in the target document 20a, or the case of attaching other document 20b as an attachment to the target document 20a. In this embodiment, when the link annotation is attached to the editing part, the association unit 28 does not associate the reference document with the editing part.

[0104] As described above, if the editor edits the editing part of the target document 20a, the association unit 28 determines the other document 20b opened by the document application 22 during the editing as the reference document, and the reference document information representing the determined reference document is automatically (that is, without additional operations by the editor) associated with the editing part.

[0105] Hereinafter, the processing of the information processing apparatus 10 when the viewer views the target document 20a will be described. In the following description, it is assumed that the editor edits the target document 20a while referring to the reference document, and the reference document information is associated with the editing part of the target document 20a.

[0106] First, if the viewer opens the target document 20a using the document application 22, the display control unit 26 displays the target document 20a on the display 14. In addition, the application for the viewer to open the target document 20a is not limited to the document application 22, and as long as it has the functions described below, it may also be other applications. In particular, it may be a document display application that does not have the function of editing the electronic document 20.

[0107] If the viewer selects the editing part of the target document 20a, the display control unit 26 displays the reference document information associated with the editing part on the display 14. In this embodiment, as Figure 7 shown, if the viewer aligns the mouse cursor with the text annotation A as the editing part T and presses the right mouse button, the display control unit 26 displays the context menu 52 on the display 14. In the context menu 52, in addition to the buttons for inputting normal instructions such as cut, copy, paste, or delete, it also includes the button "Open the reference source document".

[0108] When the viewer presses the button "Open the reference source document" included in the context menu 52, the display control unit 26 will Figure 8 display the reference document selection dialogue 54 as shown in the display 14.

[0109] In the reference document selection dialogue 54, the reference document information is displayed in a list form. This reference document information represents one or more reference documents associated with the editing part selected by the viewer, that is, the text annotation A T . In this embodiment, in the reference document selection dialogue 54, the file path and page number of each reference document are displayed as the reference document information. Of course, as the information representing the reference document displayed in the reference document selection dialogue 54, when the opening method information or the in-page part of the reference document referred to by the editor has been determined, the in-page part information (such as a string or position information) representing the in-page part may also be included.

[0110] By confirming the file path of each reference document displayed in the reference document selection dialogue 54, the viewer can grasp which other document 20b the editor referred to when editing the selected editing part. Moreover, by confirming the page number of each reference document, the viewer can grasp which page of which other document 20b the editor referred to when editing the selected editing part.

[0111] Furthermore, if the viewer double-clicks on any reference document or the like in the reference document selection dialogue 54 to make a selection, the display control unit 26 will, as Figure 9 shown, display the selected reference document 60 on the display 14. By displaying the reference document 60 on the display 14, the viewer can confirm the detailed content of the reference document 60 that the editor referred to when editing the selected editing part. Appropriately, the display control unit 26 can display the page represented by the page number included in the reference document information. Moreover, when the reference document information also includes the opening method information, the display control unit 26 can display the reference document 60 in the opening method represented by the opening method information. Thus, the viewer can confirm the reference document 60 in the state in which the editor referred to it when editing the selected editing part.

[0112] In addition, as Figure 8 shown, the reference document selection dialogue 54 may also include a button "Delete the association of the selected document". If the viewer clicks on any reference document or the like to set it in the selected state and then presses the button "Delete the association of the selected document", the processor 24 of the information processing apparatus 10 releases the association between the reference document in the selected state and the editing part. Moreover, the reference document selection dialogue 54 may also include a button "Delete all associations". If the viewer presses the button "Delete all associations", the processor 24 releases the association between all the reference documents associated with the editing part and the editing part.

[0113] In this embodiment, by the viewer pressing the "Open Reference Source Document" button included in the context menu 52 displayed by right-clicking on the editing part, the reference document information associated with the editing part is displayed. However, the method of displaying the reference document information can also be other methods. For example, the display control unit 26 can also correspond to the viewer moving the mouse cursor over the editing part, and pop up and display the reference document information associated with the editing part on the display 14.

[0114] Moreover, when the editing part is selected by the viewer, the display control unit 26 may not display the file path or page number of the reference document, but display the reference document 60 itself on the display 14 based on the reference document information. At this time, the reference document 60 itself displayed on the display 14 becomes information representing the reference document. Moreover, it is desirable for the display control unit 26 to display the reference document 60 of the part represented by a part of the reference document information. At this time, a part (for example, one page) of the reference document 60 displayed on the display 14 itself becomes information representing a part of the reference document. Furthermore, it is desirable for the display control unit 26 to display the reference document 60 in a form corresponding to the opening method indicated by the opening method information of the reference document information.

[0115] When the reference document information associated with the editing part selected by the viewer has the in-page partial information, it is desirable for the display control unit 26 to emphatically display the in-page part of the reference document 60 represented by the in-page partial information when displaying the reference document 60 on the display 14. Thus, the viewer can easily grasp the in-page part that the editor referred to when editing the selected editing part.

[0116] Regarding the form of the emphatic display, it can be as Figure 10 shown, displayed in a state of annotating a mark on the in-page part P P of the reference document 60, or the reference document 60 can be magnified and displayed with the in-page part P P as the center. Of course, the in-page part P P can also be emphatically displayed in other forms.

[0117] Hereinafter, according to the Figure 11 flowchart shown, the processing flow of the information processing apparatus 10 of this embodiment will be described. In particular, the processing flow of the association unit 28 for associating the reference document information with the editing part will be described.

[0118] In step S10, the editor opens the object document 20a using the document application 22. Here, it is assumed that the object document 20a is saved in the work space folder.

[0119] In step S12, the editor edits the editing part in the target document 20a. Here, it is assumed that the editor adds an additional note to the target part for editing.

[0120] In step S14, the association unit 28 determines whether the note added in step S12 is an object to be processed, that is, determines whether the note is an object related to the associated reference document information. For example, when the note is a note such as a date annotation note that does not become an object related to the associated reference document information, the process ends. When the note added in step S12 is an object to be processed, the process proceeds to step S16.

[0121] In step S16, the association unit 28 determines whether the other document 20b saved in the work space folder is opened by the document application 22. When the other document 20b is not opened by the document application 22, and when the other document 20b is opened by the document application 22 but the other document 20b is not saved in the work space folder, the process ends. When the other document 20b saved in the work space folder is opened by the document application 22, the process proceeds to step S18.

[0122] In step S18, the association unit 28 determines whether the reference document that the editor referred to when editing the editing part can be determined from the other document 20b. When there are multiple other documents 20b opened by the document application 22 and the reference document cannot be determined, the process proceeds to step S20.

[0123] In step S20, the display control unit 26 causes the association dialogue 50 (refer to Figure 4 ) to be displayed on the display 14. The association dialogue 50 is used to enable the editor to specify the reference document. In the association dialogue 50, the editor selects the reference document from among the multiple other documents 20b.

[0124] In step S22, the association unit 28 associates the reference document information including the file path, partial information, and opening method information of the reference document related to the reference document selected in step S20 with the note of the editing part given in step S12.

[0125] In step S18, when there is one other document 20b opened by the document application 22, when at least a part of one of the multiple other documents 20b is copied to the editing part, and when there are multiple other documents 20b opened but an attribute of the same type as the attribute pre-added to the other document 20b is added to the editing part of the target document 20a with the same content as the other document 20b, the reference document can be determined, so the process proceeds to step S24.

[0126] In step S24, the association unit 28 determines whether it is possible to determine the in-page portion of the reference document referred to by the editor when editing the editing portion. When there is only one other document 20b opened by the document application 22, the in-page portion cannot be determined, so the process proceeds to step S26.

[0127] In step S26, the association unit 28 associates the reference document information including the file path, partial information, and opening method information of the reference document related to the reference document determined in step S18 with the annotation of the editing portion assigned in step S12.

[0128] In step S24, when at least a part of the other document 20b is copied to the editing portion, and when an attribute of the same type as the attribute pre-attached to the other document 20b is attached to the editing portion of the target document 20a having the same content as the other document 20b, the in-page portion can be determined, so the process proceeds to step S28.

[0129] In step S28, the association unit 28 associates the reference document information related to the reference document determined in step S18 with the annotation of the editing portion assigned in step S12. The reference document information includes the file path, partial information, and opening method information of the reference document, and further includes the in-page portion information indicating the in-page portion determined in step S24.

[0130] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described, but the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, and various changes can be made as long as the gist of the present invention is not deviated from.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus, characterized in that, Comprising: A processor, configured to: When the first document displayed on the display is edited and a second document different from the first document is opened by a document display application, determine whether the edited part of the first document exists in the second document; When the edited part of the first document exists in the second document, associate the information representing the second document with the edited part of the first document, wherein the associated information representing the second document includes at least one of the following: the file path of the second document, a part of the second document opened by the document display application when editing the first document, and the opening method information of the opening method of the second document by the document display application when editing the first document; And When the edited part of the first document is selected, display the associated information representing the second document on the display.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein When the first document is edited, the processor associates the information representing a part of the second document opened by the document display application with the edited part; When the edited part is selected, display the information representing a part of the associated second document on the display.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein When the first document is edited, a plurality of the second documents are opened by the document display application; When the processor edits by copying at least a part of any one of the plurality of second documents to the first document, associate the information representing the second document as the copy source with the edited part.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein The processor associates the information representing a part within the page, i.e., the in-page part, of the second document as the copy source with the edited part; When the edited part is selected, display the information representing the second document including the information representing the in-page part on the display.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein When the first document is edited, a plurality of the second documents are opened by the document display application; Perform pre-editing of additional attributes on at least a part of any one of the plurality of second documents; When the processor adds an attribute of the same type as the attribute given to at least a part of the second document to the edited part of the first document having the same content as at least a part of the second document, associate the information representing the second document with the edited part of the first document.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein The processor associates the information representing a part within the page, i.e., the in-page part, of the second document that has been pre-edited with the edited part of the first document; When the edited part is selected, display the information representing the second document including the information representing the in-page part on the display.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4 or 6, wherein when the editing part is selected, the processor displays the second document with the emphasized part in the page on the display.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the processor edits the first document and when a plurality of the second documents are opened by the document display application, the information indicating the second document designated by the editor among the plurality of the second documents is associated with the editing part.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor does not associate the information indicating the second document according to the editing content for the editing part.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein It further includes: a memory that defines a job document storage area for storing documents used for the job currently being processed by the operator, and the stored documents are simultaneously displayed on the display, when the first document is stored in the job document storage area, the processor associates the information indicating the second document stored in the job document storage area with the editing part.

11. A recording medium stores an information processing program, and the information processing program is characterized in that it causes a computer to perform: when editing a first document displayed on a display and when a second document different from the first document is opened by a document display application, determining whether the edited part of the first document exists in the second document; when the edited part of the first document exists in the second document, associating the information indicating the second document with the edited part of the first document, and the associated information indicating the second document includes at least one of the following: the file path of the second document, a part of the second document opened by the document display application when editing the first document, and the opening method information of the opening method of the second document by the document display application when editing the first document; and when the edited part of the first document is selected, causing the associated information indicating the second document to be displayed on the display.

12. A computer program product includes a program for causing a computer to perform the following steps: when editing a first document displayed on a display and when a second document different from the first document is opened by a document display application, determining whether the edited part of the first document exists in the second document; when the edited part of the first document exists in the second document, associating the information indicating the second document with the edited part of the first document, and the associated information indicating the second document includes at least one of the following: the file path of the second document, a part of the second document opened by the document display application when editing the first document, and the opening method information of the opening method of the second document by the document display application when editing the first document; and When the editing part of the first document is selected, the information representing the second document associated therewith is displayed on the display.

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