Information processing apparatus, recording medium, and computer program product

Abstract

An information processing apparatus and a recording medium are provided. The information processing apparatus includes a processor configured to cause a shared work area and an operation element to be displayed on a display screen of a plurality of terminal apparatuses used by a plurality of users, the shared work area being a shared work area that is accessible to the plurality of users and in which the plurality of users can collaboratively perform work, the operation element being for inputting an instruction related to work in the shared work area by the plurality of users, and the processor displays the operation element that is different in kind according to the plurality of users.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to an information processing device and a recording medium for recording information processing procedures. Background Technology

[0002] Patent document 1 discloses a device that allows users to customize a UI (user interface) including operation buttons, tabs, etc. displayed on a screen. By distributing the customized UI to multiple users, the customized UI can be shared by multiple users.

[0003] Existing technical documents

[0004] Patent documents

[0005] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-192641 Summary of the Invention

[0006] The problem that the invention aims to solve

[0007] Existing technology can provide a shared work area for multiple users. A shared work area refers to a shared work area accessible to multiple users who can collaboratively execute tasks. When a user accesses such a shared work area, the display screen of each user's terminal device shows shared operation components that can be shared by multiple users and used for each user to input processing commands. Each user can input processing commands in the shared work area by operating the shared operation components.

[0008] In this scenario, when working in a shared work area, there may be situations where users want to use controls other than the shared controls. If these controls are not displayed on the shared work area screen, users will have to perform complicated procedures to access them.

[0009] For example, in a shared task area used for tasks related to electronic documents, a user (let's call them user A) must perform a task specific to user A. This task can be, but is not limited to, attaching a stamp containing user A's name to an electronic document. It should be noted that a stamp refers to an object to be attached to the electronic document.

[0010] To perform a task specific to user A, user A only needs to operate the corresponding action related to the processing of that task. However, the action involved in a user-specific task is sometimes difficult to display as a shared action in the shared task area. That is, if such an action were displayed as a shared action in the shared task area, other users besides user A would be able to perform the user A-specific task.

[0011] Therefore, the operations required for user A's specific tasks need to be displayed as separate operations from shared operations in user A's dedicated personal task area. Thus, since user A cannot perform user A's specific tasks in the shared task area, user A must transfer the electronic document to their personal task area and then operate the operations displayed in that area to perform user A's specific tasks.

[0012] The purpose of this invention is to reduce the number of operations a user needs to perform before using operations other than those shared between users in a shared work area, compared to the case where operations other than those shared between users are not displayed in a shared work area that is a shared work area.

[0013] Methods for solving problems

[0014] According to a first aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus is provided, comprising a processor. The processor displays a shared work area and operating devices on a display screen of a terminal device used by a user. The shared work area is a shared work area accessible to multiple users who can collaboratively perform tasks. The operating devices are used for the user to input instructions related to tasks within the shared work area, and the processor displays different types of operating devices depending on the user.

[0015] According to a second aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus of the first aspect is provided, wherein the operating element is a personal operating element for inputting instructions for a user-specific task.

[0016] According to a third aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus of the second aspect is provided, wherein the processor determines the content of the instruction input by the user via the user's personal operating device based on the instruction from the user.

[0017] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus of the second or third aspect is provided, wherein the processor determines, based on the instruction from the user, whether to display the personal operating component on the display screen of the terminal device used by the user.

[0018] According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus of the fourth aspect is provided, wherein the processor determines whether to display the personal operating device of the specific user among the plurality of users on the display screen of the terminal device used by the specific user, based on the display status of the personal operating device of the user other than the specific user among the plurality of users.

[0019] According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus of a second or third aspect is provided, wherein the processor enables shared operation devices that can be shared by the plurality of users to be displayed on the display screen, and, when the name attached to the shared operation device indicates a user-specific operation, enables the individual operation device to be displayed on the display screen.

[0020] According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus of the second aspect is provided, wherein the processor provides each user with a personal work area as a work area dedicated to that user, and the personal operation element displayed on the display screen of the terminal device used by the user includes operation elements of the same type as those displayed when the user accesses the personal work area.

[0021] According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, a recording medium is provided that records an information processing program, the information processing program causing a computer to perform the following processing: displaying a shared work area and an operator on the display screen of multiple terminal devices used by multiple users, the shared work area being a shared work area accessible to the multiple users and capable of collaboratively performing work by the multiple users, the operator being used for the multiple users to input instructions related to work in the shared work area; and displaying different types of the operator according to the multiple users.

[0022] Invention Effects

[0023] According to the first or eighth method, compared to the case where no operation other than the shared operation that is shared between users is displayed in the shared work area, which is a shared work area, the number of operations that users need to perform before using operation other than the shared operation in the shared work area can be reduced.

[0024] According to the second method, users can input instructions for their specific tasks by operating their personal control panel displayed on the screen in the shared work area.

[0025] According to the third method, the user can decide the content of the instructions entered through the personal operating device.

[0026] According to the fourth approach, users can decide whether to display their personal operations in the shared work area.

[0027] According to the fifth method, a user's personal operating device can be displayed in the shared work area based on the display status of other users' personal operating devices, without requiring the user to decide whether to display their personal operating device in the shared work area.

[0028] According to the sixth method, users do not need to decide whether to display their personal operation in the shared work area, and can display the user's personal operation in the shared work area based on the name attached to the shared operation.

[0029] According to the seventh method, users can perform user-specific tasks in the shared work area that are normally only available in the personal work area. Attached Figure Description

[0030] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of the information processing system of this embodiment; Figure 2 This is a schematic structural diagram of a user terminal; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the server structure provided in the work area; Figure 4 This is a diagram showing an example of the shared work area window and shared toolbar; Figure 5 This is a diagram showing an example of the display of the shared work area window, shared toolbar, and personal toolbar in the first user terminal used by the first user; Figure 6 This is a diagram showing an example of the shared work area window, shared toolbar, and personal toolbar in a second user terminal used by a second user; Figure 7 This is an example of how personal operation buttons are displayed within a tab of the shared toolbar; Figure 8 This is a conceptual diagram showing the contents of the user's database; Figure 9 This is a diagram showing an example of displaying a personal toolbar based on the name of the shared toolbar; Figure 10 This is a diagram showing an example of a personal work area window and operation buttons within the personal work area; and Figure 11 This is a flowchart illustrating the server's processing flow. Detailed Implementation

[0031] Figure 1This is a schematic structural diagram of the information processing system 10 according to this embodiment. The information processing system 10 includes multiple user terminals 12 used by users as terminal devices, and a job area providing server 14 as an information processing device. The user terminals 12 and the job area providing server 14 are connected to each other via communication lines 16, including, for example, Internet lines, LAN (Local Area Network), etc. The information processing system 10 is a collaborative work system in which multiple users can access the job area providing server 14 from the user terminals 12 to collaboratively perform work in a shared job area, as will be described in detail below. In particular, in this embodiment, in the information processing system 10, multiple users collaboratively perform processing related to electronic documents in a shared job area. The electronic documents processed in the information processing system 10 can be managed by the job area providing server 14. That is, the information processing system 10 can be a document management system for managing electronic documents.

[0032] Figure 2 This is a schematic structural diagram of user terminal 12. User terminal 12 is, for example, a tablet terminal such as a personal computer or smartphone, or any computer capable of performing the functions described below.

[0033] The communication interface 20 includes, for example, a network adapter. The communication interface 20 enables communication with the work area providing server 14 via the communication line 16.

[0034] Input interface 22 includes, for example, a touch panel, buttons, a mouse, or a keyboard. Input interface 22 is used to input user instructions into user terminal 12.

[0035] The display 24 includes, for example, an LCD panel. The display 24 displays various screens. In particular, the display 24 displays screens of shared work areas and individual work areas provided by the work area providing server 14 (both described in detail later).

[0036] The memory 26 includes, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), an embedded multi media card (eMMC), a read-only memory (ROM), or a random access memory (RAM).

[0037] Processor 28 refers to a processor in a broad sense, including at least one of general-purpose processors (such as a central processing unit (CPU)) and dedicated processing devices (such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or programmable logic device). Processor 28 can be composed not only of a single processing device, but also through the cooperation of multiple processing devices located in physically separate locations. Processor 28 controls various parts of user terminal 12.

[0038] Figure 3 This is a schematic structural diagram of the server 14 providing services to the work area. The server 14 providing services to the work area may consist of, for example, a server computer.

[0039] The communication interface 40 includes, for example, a network adapter. The communication interface 40 performs the function of communicating with the user terminal 12 via the communication line 16.

[0040] The memory 42 includes, for example, HDD, SSD, eMMC, ROM, or RAM. The memory 42 stores information processing programs for enabling the various components of the workspace server 14 to function. Additionally, the memory 42 stores resources for a shared workspace and resources for a personal workspace. Furthermore, the memory 42 stores electronic documents processed in the shared or personal workspace. Additionally, such as... Figure 3 As shown, memory 42 stores user DB44. The contents of user DB44 will be described below.

[0041] Processor 46 refers to a processor in a broad sense, including at least one of general-purpose processors (such as CPUs) and dedicated processing devices (such as GPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, or programmable logic devices). Processor 46 can be composed not only of a single processing device, but also through the cooperation of multiple processing devices located in physically separate locations. Processor 46 functions as a work area provider 48 according to the information processing program stored in memory 42.

[0042] After authenticating pre-registered users through authentication processing, the job area provision unit 48 provides a shared job area to the authenticated users. A shared job area refers to a shared job area accessible to multiple users, allowing them to collaboratively execute jobs. Specifically, a shared job area is a resource on the Internet, on which multiple users can collaboratively execute jobs when accessed.

[0043] In addition, the work area provision unit 48 can also provide personal work areas to authenticated users. A personal work area is a work area dedicated to each user. That is, a personal work area is set up for each user, and each user can only access their own personal work area and cannot access the personal work areas of others. A personal work area is also a resource on the Internet, and the user corresponding to that resource can perform work on that resource by accessing it.

[0044] In this embodiment, users can perform tasks related to electronic documents in a shared work area or a personal work area. The electronic document, the object of the task in the shared work area or personal work area, is an electronic document sent from each user terminal 12 to the work area providing server 14 and stored in the memory 42 of the work area providing server 14. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the shared work area or personal work area is an area for performing tasks related to electronic documents, but the shared work area or personal work area of ​​the present invention is not limited to an area for performing tasks related to electronic documents. For example, the shared work area or personal work area can be an area where multiple users collaboratively perform tasks related to image data or music data.

[0045] The work area providing unit 48 provides a shared work area or a personal work area to the user based on the user's selection. Specifically, the work area providing unit 48, based on the access destination of the user logged into the work area providing server 14, causes the display 24 of the user's user terminal 12 to display a screen related to the shared work area (i.e., a shared work area window) or a screen related to the personal work area (i.e., a personal work area window). The shared work area window and the personal work area window are the "place" where the user performs work on electronic documents. It should be noted that, in this specification, causing the display 24 to display a shared work area window (or a personal work area window) is sometimes described simply as causing the display 24 to display a shared work area (or a personal work area). In addition, when the work area providing unit 48 causes the display 24 of the user terminal 12 to display certain screens, it means that the work area providing unit 48 sends the display instructions related to the screen to the user terminal 12, thereby causing the processor 28 of the user terminal 12 to display the screen on the display 24.

[0046] The following describes the display screen shown on the monitor 24 of the user terminal 12 when the user accesses the shared work area. Figure 4 This diagram illustrates an example of the display of the shared job area window 60 and the shared toolbar 70 on the display 24 of the user terminal 12. The shared job area window 60 is shared by multiple users, with a few exceptions. That is, when multiple users access the shared job area from multiple user terminals 12, the same shared job area window 60 is displayed on the respective display 24 of each of the multiple user terminals 12.

[0047] The shared work area window 60 has a document display unit 62. The document display unit 62 displays thumbnails T related to the electronic documents in the shared work area. For example, the document display unit 62 can display a thumbnail T of a single electronic document, or it can display a thumbnail T of a folder containing multiple electronic documents. The document display unit 62 also displays thumbnails T related to electronic documents selected by the user, based on the instructions of the user accessing the shared work area.

[0048] When a user interacts with (e.g., clicks) a thumbnail T, an editing screen for editing the electronic document corresponding to that thumbnail T is displayed on the monitor 24 of the user's terminal 12. In this embodiment, as an exception to the sharing of the shared work area window 60 among multiple users, the electronic document editing screen is not shared among multiple users; the editing screen can only be viewed by the user who opened it. It should be noted that the editing screen can also be shared by multiple users.

[0049] Additionally, the shared job area window 60 displays icons 64 representing multiple users who have accessed the shared job area (in other words, who are collaboratively working in the shared job area). Each icon 64 contains information that identifies the user, such as their name. Based on the icons 64, each user can see which other users are accessing the shared job area.

[0050] When a user interacts with thumbnail T to open the editing screen of an electronic document, the icon 66 indicating the user will be displayed in association with the thumbnail T of the electronic document. In this embodiment, as... Figure 4 As shown, icon 66 appears near or overlaps with thumbnail T. This allows other users to know who has opened the editing screen of the electronic document represented by thumbnail T.

[0051] Additionally, the work area providing unit 48 displays the shared toolbar 70 along with the aforementioned shared work area window 60 on the display 24 of the user terminal 12. The shared toolbar 70 includes one or more shared operation buttons 72 as shared operation elements. The shared operation buttons 72 are operation elements for multiple users to input instructions related to tasks in the shared work area. Specifically, processing related to electronic documents is associated with the shared operation button 72. When a user operates a shared operation button 72, an instruction command to execute the processing corresponding to that shared operation button 72 is input to the work area providing unit 48. The work area providing unit 48 executes the processing related to the electronic document according to the instruction command.

[0052] The shared toolbar 70 may include multiple tabs 74. Each tab 74 contains one or more shared operation buttons 72. Users can select one tab 74 from the multiple tabs 74; the shared operation buttons 72 contained in the selected tab 74 are displayed, while the shared operation buttons 72 contained in the unselected tabs 74 are not displayed. It should be noted that by distributing multiple shared operation buttons 72 across multiple tabs 74, the display area of ​​the shared toolbar 70 containing multiple shared operation buttons 72 is reduced, and the visibility of the shared work area window 60 is improved. Furthermore, for example, by grouping multiple shared operation buttons 72 associated with the same type of instruction commands into one tab 74, or by grouping multiple shared operation buttons 72 that may be used in the same business into one tab 74, users can operate the shared operation buttons 72 efficiently.

[0053] The shared toolbar 70 (i.e., the shared operation button 72) is shared by multiple users accessing the shared work area. Therefore, the same shared toolbar 70 is displayed on the monitor 24 of the user terminals 12 used by multiple users accessing the same shared work area.

[0054] The work area providing unit 48 can modify the content of the shared toolbar 70 according to instructions from each user. For example, the work area providing unit 48 can add or remove shared operation buttons 72 from the shared toolbar 70, change the shared operation buttons 72 contained in the shared toolbar 70 to other shared operation buttons 72 associated with other instructions, change the name of the tab 74, or move the shared operation buttons 72 contained in a tab 74 to other tabs 74. Since the shared toolbar 70 is shared by multiple users, changes to the shared toolbar 70 based on instructions from a particular user are reflected to all other users. In other words, if a first user changes the content of the shared toolbar 70, when a second user accesses the shared work area as another user, the shared toolbar 70 whose content was changed by the first user will be displayed on the second user's user terminal 12.

[0055] It should be noted that in this embodiment, the shared toolbar 70 (i.e., the shared operation button 72) cannot be set to be hidden. However, the display of the shared toolbar 70 can also be switched individually for each user based on instructions from each user.

[0056] Figure 5 This diagram illustrates an example of the display of the shared work area window 60, shared toolbar 70, and personal toolbar 80 on the display 24a of the user terminal 12 used by the first user. The work area providing unit 48 enables the display 24a to display the aforementioned shared work area window 60, shared toolbar 70, and personal toolbar 80. The personal toolbar 80 includes one or more personal operation buttons 82 as personal operation elements. Similar to the shared toolbar 70, the personal toolbar 80 may also include multiple tabs. The personal operation buttons 82 are also operation elements for the user to input instructions related to the work in the shared work area, and each personal operation button 82 is associated with a processing related to an electronic document. When the user operates a personal operation button 82, an instruction command to execute the processing corresponding to that personal operation button 82 is input to the work area providing unit 48, and the work area providing unit 48 executes the processing related to the electronic document according to the instruction command.

[0057] Unlike the shared toolbar 70 (i.e., the shared operation button 72), the personal toolbar 80 is not shared by multiple users accessing the shared work area, but is used exclusively by one user. Therefore, even if the first user and the second user access the same shared work area, the personal toolbar 80 used by the first user will only be displayed on the monitor 24a of the first user's user terminal 12, and not on the monitor 24a of the second user's user terminal 12.

[0058] Each user can decide for themselves the content of the processing associated with their personal operation button 82. In other words, the work area providing unit 48 can determine the content of the instructions input through the user's personal operation button 82 based on the instructions from the user. The personal toolbar 80 is not shared by multiple users, therefore, the personal toolbar 80 can contain personal operation buttons 82 that are associated with the processing involved in the user's specific task (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "personal business") using the personal toolbar 80. For example, Figure 5The personal toolbar 80 shown includes personal operation buttons 82a and 82b. Personal operation button 82a is associated with the process of attaching a stamp bearing the first user's name (an object attached to an electronic document) to an electronic document; personal operation button 82b is associated with the process of opening a memo pre-edited by the first user and related to the electronic document; both processes are associated with operations specific to the first user utilizing the personal toolbar 80. Since personal operation buttons 82a and 82b are not displayed on the display 24 of the user terminal 12 of users other than the first user, there is no concern that other users may attach a stamp bearing the first user's name to an electronic document, nor is there concern that other users may see the first user's memo.

[0059] Because each user decides the processing content associated with their own personal operation button 82, the work area providing unit 48 can display different types of personal operation buttons 82 on the display 24 of each user's user terminal 12 according to multiple users. Different types of personal operation buttons 82 refer to personal operation buttons 82 associated with different processing. For example, ... Figure 5 As shown, on the display 24a of the first user's user terminal 12, along with the shared work area window 60, there are also personal operation buttons 82a associated with the process of attaching a stamp bearing the first user's name to an electronic document, and personal operation buttons 82b associated with the process of opening the first user's memo. Figure 6 As shown, on the display 24b of the user terminal 12 of the second user who accesses the same shared work area, along with the shared work area window 60, there are also personal operation buttons 82c associated with the processing of attaching a stamp bearing the name of the second user to an electronic document.

[0060] exist Figure 5 as well as Figure 6 In the example, the personal operation button 82 is contained within the personal toolbar 80, which is displayed separately from the shared toolbar 70, but as... Figure 7 As shown, the personal operation button 82 can also be included in a tab 74a within the shared toolbar 70. Although tab 74a is included in the shared toolbar 70, like the personal toolbar 80, it is not shared by other users.

[0061] By including the personal operation button 82 within tab 74a of the shared toolbar 70, the personal toolbar 80 is no longer needed outside of the shared toolbar 70, thus reducing the display area and improving the visibility of the shared work area window 60. Furthermore, by including the personal operation button 82 within tab 74a, the user can determine whether the last action performed was related to the personal operation button 82 or the shared operation button 72. Specifically, if tab 74a containing the personal operation button 82 is displayed in the shared toolbar 70, the user can determine whether the last action performed was related to the personal operation button 82; if tab 74a (other than tab 74a) is displayed in the shared toolbar 70, the user can determine whether the last action performed was related to the shared operation button 72.

[0062] In addition, each user can switch between displaying and hiding their personal toolbar 80 (i.e., personal operation button 82). By hiding the personal operation button 82, accidental operation of the personal operation button 82 can be prevented.

[0063] The work area providing unit 48 can determine how to display the personal operation button 82 and whether to display it at all based on instructions from each user. For example, the work area providing unit 48 sends a query to each user, asking them to choose whether to display the personal operation button 82 in a personal toolbar 80 separate from the shared toolbar 70, to display the personal operation button 82 in a tab 74a of the shared toolbar 70, or not to display the personal operation button 82. Based on each user's answer to the query, the unit determines how to display the personal operation button 82 (including whether to display it).

[0064] The work area provision unit 48 stores the information related to each user's personal operation button 82 in the user DB44 in the memory 42. Figure 8 This is a conceptual diagram illustrating the content of user DB44. For example... Figure 8 As shown, in user DB44, the user ID of the user who has registered in the job area server 14, the display mode of the personal operation button 82 set by the user, and the type of the personal operation button 82 set by the user (the content of the processing associated with the personal operation button 82) are stored in an interconnected manner. It should be noted that the types of buttons used in the personal job area will be described below.

[0065] The work area providing unit 48, referring to the user DB44, determines the display method and type of the personal operation buttons 82 for each user, and then displays the personal operation buttons 82 on the display 24 of each user's user terminal 12. If a user issues a change instruction regarding the display method or type of the personal operation buttons 82, the work area providing unit 48 updates the content of the user DB44 according to the change instruction.

[0066] In addition, the work area providing unit 48 can also decide whether to display the personal operation button 82 of a specific user among the multiple users who are not specifically users on the display 24 of the user terminal 12 used by the specific user, based on the display status of the personal operation button 82 of the user among the multiple users who are accessing the same shared work area.

[0067] For example, when the display mode of the personal operation button 82 of all users other than the specific user who access the same shared work area is set to display the personal operation button 82, the work area providing unit 48, referring to user DB44, displays the specific user's personal operation button 82 on the display 24 of the specific user's user terminal 12 regardless of the specific user's personal operation button 82 display mode. This is because if other users accessing the same shared work area display their personal operation buttons 82, it is assumed that there is a high probability that individual user services need to be performed in that shared work area. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the work area providing unit 48 displays the specific user's personal operation button 82 when the display mode of the personal operation button 82 of all users other than the specific user who access the same shared work area is set to display the personal operation button 82. However, it may also display the specific user's personal operation button 82 when the display mode of the personal operation button 82 of users other than the specific user who access the same shared work area is set to display the personal operation button 82.

[0068] On the other hand, the work area providing unit 48 refers to user DB44 and, when the display mode of the personal operation button 82 of any user other than the specific user (or users other than the specific user who are less than a predetermined proportion) in the shared work area accessed by the specific user is set to not be displayed, determines the display mode of the personal operation button 82 of the specific user based on the display mode setting of the personal operation button 82 of the specific user.

[0069] Additionally, the work area providing unit 48 may also display individual operation buttons 82 on the display 24 of the user terminals 12 of multiple users accessing the shared work area, provided that the name attached to the shared toolbar 70 or shared operation button 72, which is a shared operation component displayed together with the shared work area window 60, indicates a user-specific operation.

[0070] For example, such as Figure 9 As shown, if the tab 74b of the shared toolbar 70 is named "Approval Business," it can be said that the approval process is more likely to be carried out in the shared job area window 60. Furthermore, approval processes often include personal business. Therefore, in such cases, the job area providing unit 48 causes the display 24 of the user terminals 12 of multiple users accessing the shared job area to display personal operation buttons 82 (in... Figure 9 In the example, this is a personal toolbar 80 containing a personal operation button 82. It should be noted that the name representing a personal service is not limited to names containing "Approval," but could also include names containing "Confirmation," etc. Furthermore, if the name representing a personal service is not the name of a tab 74 in the shared toolbar 70 (for example, it could be the name of a shared operation button 72), the work area providing unit 48 similarly causes the display 24 of each user terminal 12 to display the personal operation button 82. Additionally, if the name of a tab 74b in the shared toolbar 70 represents a personal service, the work area providing unit 48 can also cause the display 24 of the user terminals 12 of multiple users accessing the shared work area to display the personal operation button 82 when any user accessing the shared work area selects tab 74b.

[0071] As described above, the work area providing unit 48 provides a shared work area or a personal work area to the user based on the user's selection. When the user accesses the personal work area, the display screen on the monitor 24 of the user terminal 12 displays the personal work area window and the personal work area operation buttons as operation tools.

[0072] Figure 10 This diagram illustrates an example of a personal work area window 90 and operation buttons 92 within the personal work area. The content of the personal work area window 90 is, for example... Figure 4 The content of the shared work area window 60 shown is largely the same, so detailed descriptions are omitted. However, the individual work area window 90 is not shared by multiple users, therefore icons 64 and 66 (see reference) are naturally not displayed in the individual work area window 90. Figure 4 ).

[0073] The personal work area operation button 92 is also a button dedicated to that user, so each user can decide the content of the processing associated with the personal work area operation button 92. In other words, the work area providing unit 48 can determine the content of the instructions input through the user's personal work area operation button 92 based on the instructions from the user. The personal work area operation button 92 is not shared by multiple users, so the processing related to the personal business of the user's unique work can be associated with the personal work area operation button 92. The type of each user's personal work area operation button 92 (the content of the processing associated with the personal work area operation button 92) is stored in the user DB44 (see reference) along with the user ID representing that user. Figure 8 ).

[0074] Here, personal operation buttons 82 (see reference) are displayed on the monitor 24 of the user terminal 12 used by the user accessing the shared work area, along with the shared work area window 60. Figure 5 (etc.) may also include the same type of operation buttons 92 for the personal work area displayed on the display 24 when the user accesses the personal work area. Thus, the user can perform personal tasks in the shared work area that previously required temporarily moving electronic documents to the personal work area.

[0075] In particular, the types of personal operation buttons 82 can be set to be exactly the same as those of operation buttons 92 used in personal work areas. Therefore, users can use personal operation buttons 82 of the same type as those used in personal work areas in the shared work area, allowing them to perform electronic document-related tasks in the shared work area as if they were working in their own personal work area. It should be noted that in this case, it is not necessary to pre-store information representing the types of personal operation buttons 82 in the user DB44; the work area providing unit 48 can display each user's personal operation buttons 82 based on the types of personal work area operation buttons 92 stored in the user DB44.

[0076] The overview of the work area providing server 14 in this embodiment is as described above. According to this embodiment, different types of personal operation buttons 82 are displayed among multiple users accessing the same shared work area. Therefore, each user can immediately operate the personal operation button 82 without performing any extra operations. In particular, by displaying the shared work area window 60 and the user-specific personal operation buttons 82, for example, it is possible to perform the user's personal tasks related to the electronic document without temporarily moving the thumbnail T displayed on the document display unit 62 to the personal work area.

[0077] The following is in accordance with Figure 11 The flowchart shown illustrates the processing flow of the work area provision unit 48.

[0078] In step S10, after obtaining authentication from the job area providing server 14, the user accesses the shared job area or the personal job area.

[0079] If the user accesses the personal work area, the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, the work area providing unit 48 displays the personal work area window 90 and personal work area operation buttons 92 on the display 24 on the user's user terminal 12. In this case, the user performs tasks related to electronic documents in the user-dedicated personal work area.

[0080] If a user accesses the shared job area, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, the job area providing unit 48 causes the user's user terminal 12 to display the shared job area window 60 and the shared operation button 72 on the display 24. Here, the shared toolbar 70 containing the shared operation button 72 is displayed.

[0081] In step S16, the work area providing unit 48 refers to user DB44 and determines whether all other users accessing the shared work area accessed by that user have enabled the personal operation button 82 to be displayed.

[0082] If all other users display their personal operation buttons 82, proceed to step S18. In step S18, the work area providing unit 48 displays the personal operation buttons 82 together with the shared work area window 60 and the shared operation buttons 72 on the display 24 of the user's user terminal 12.

[0083] If any other user fails to display their personal operation button 82, the process proceeds to step S20. In step S20, the work area providing unit 48 determines whether the name of the shared toolbar 70 or shared operation button 72 displayed in step S14 contains a name indicating a personal service. If the name of the shared toolbar 70 or shared operation button 72 contains a name indicating a personal service, the process proceeds to step S18. An example of a method for determining whether a name indicating a personal service exists is to determine whether the name of the shared toolbar 70 or shared operation button 72 contains specific words such as "approval" or "confirmation."

[0084] If no name representing a personal service is found in the names of the shared toolbar 70 or the shared operation button 72, the process proceeds to step S22. In step S22, the work area providing unit 48 refers to the display mode of the personal operation button 82 set by the user DB44 to determine whether the user setting is to display the personal operation button 82. If the user setting is to display the personal operation button 82, the process proceeds to step S18.

[0085] If the user setting is not to display the personal operation button 82, proceed to step S24. In step S24, the work area providing unit 48 prevents the user's user terminal 12 display of the personal operation button 82 on the display 24.

[0086] The embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. An information processing device comprising: The processor is composed of, This allows the shared work area and controls to be displayed on the user's terminal device. The shared work area is a shared work area that can be accessed by multiple users and whereby the multiple users can collaboratively execute tasks. The operating element has a first operating element type or a second operating element type. The first type of operator is used for the user of the terminal device to input a first instruction related to a task in the shared work area. The first type of operator is shared and used by each of the plurality of users in the shared work area. The second type of operating element is different from the first type of operating element and is provided to the user. The operating element of the second type of operating element is configured as follows: (1) Used to input a second instruction, which is an instruction for a user-specific operation; (2) Not shared by each of the multiple users of the shared work area; (3) Displayed only on the screen of the terminal device used by the user. The processor can selectively display the first operation type and the second operation type operation on the display screen. The processor determines the content of the first instruction or the second instruction input by the user through the user's operating device, based on the first instruction or the second instruction from the user.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, The processor determines, based on instructions from the user, whether to display the device having the first or second operation type on the display screen of the terminal device used by the user.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, The processor determines whether to display the second type of operation of the specific user on the display screen of the terminal device used by the specific user, based on the display status of the operation of the user other than the specific user among the plurality of users.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, When the processor displays the operator having the second operator type on the display screen, provided that the name attached to the operator having the first operator type indicates a user-specific task.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, The processor provides each user with a personal workspace, which serves as the user's dedicated work area. The operation element displayed on the display screen of the terminal device used by the user, having the second operation element type, includes operation elements of the same type as those displayed when the user accesses the personal work area.

6. A recording medium that records an information processing program, said information processing program causing a computer to perform the following processing: A shared work area and operators are displayed on the screens of multiple terminal devices used by multiple users. The shared work area is a shared work area accessible to the multiple users and whereby the multiple users can collaboratively perform tasks. The operators have a first operator type or a second operator type. The first operator type operator is used to allow the multiple users to input a first instruction related to a task in the shared work area. The first operator type operator is shared and used by each of the multiple users in the shared work area. The second operator type is different from the first operator type and is provided to the user. The second operator type operator is configured as follows: (1) Used to input a second instruction, which is an instruction for a user-specific operation. (2) Not shared by each of the multiple users in the shared work area. (3) Displayed only on the screen of the terminal device used by the user. The first type of operation and the second type of operation are selectively displayed on the display screen. The content of the first instruction or the second instruction input by the user through the user's operating device is determined based on the first instruction or the second instruction from the user.

7. A computer program product comprising an information processing program that causes a computer to perform the following processes: A shared work area and operators are displayed on the screens of multiple terminal devices used by multiple users. The shared work area is a shared work area accessible to the multiple users and whereby the multiple users can collaboratively perform tasks. The operators have a first operator type or a second operator type. The first operator type operator is used to allow the multiple users to input a first instruction related to a task in the shared work area. The first operator type operator is shared and used by each of the multiple users in the shared work area. The second operator type is different from the first operator type and is provided to the user. The second operator type operator is configured as follows: (1) Used to input a second instruction, which is an instruction for a user-specific operation. (2) Not shared by each of the multiple users in the shared work area. (3) Displayed only on the screen of the terminal device used by the user. The first type of operation and the second type of operation are selectively displayed on the display screen. The content of the first instruction or the second instruction input by the user through the user's operating device is determined based on the first instruction or the second instruction from the user.

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