Computer Program, Server Device, and Method
The system improves document creation services by associating messages and files with case and group IDs, facilitating efficient organization and automated review, thus enhancing user convenience and productivity.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- JP2021092672
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2021-06-02
- Publication Date
- 2025-07-24
- Estimated Expiration
- 2041-06-02
AI Technical Summary
Existing document creation services lack convenience and efficiency in managing and organizing related messages and files associated with specific cases or projects.
A computer program and server device that store messages and files in association with case and group identification information, allowing for efficient management and organization of related documents, including tagging, file versioning, and automated review processes.
Enhances convenience and efficiency by enabling chronological and organized tracking of documents, automated review, and seamless communication within document creation systems.
Smart Images

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Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The technology disclosed in this application relates to a computer program, a server device, and a method for assisting in document creation.
Background Art
[0002] A method for assisting in document creation is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-13524 (Patent Document 1). In the method described in this document, a terminal device of a requester who has logged in to the system and been authenticated uploads a document to be reviewed to a document creation server device, and information regarding the request is transmitted to the terminal device of the assignee via the document creation server device. The terminal device of the requester and the terminal device of the assignee create a document that reflects the opinions of the requester and the review results of the assignee by editing the document stored in the document creation server device. Note that the above Patent Document 1 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Prior Art Documents
Patent Documents
[0003]
Patent Document 1
Summary of the Invention
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
[0004] Recently, in services for assisting in document creation, there has been a demand for improving convenience and the like. Therefore, the technology disclosed in this application provides a computer program, a server device, and a method for assisting in document creation while improving convenience.
Means for Solving the Problems
[0005] A computer program according to one aspect can cause at least one processor to function so as to store a first message received or transmitted by a predetermined account for a certain case and having a first file attached thereto, store a second message received or transmitted by the predetermined account for the certain case and having a second file attached thereto, store a plurality of messages including the first message and the second message that are related to each other for the certain case, in association with case identification information for identifying the certain case, and store a plurality of files including the first file and the second file that belong to the same group and are related to each other for the certain case, in association with group identification information for identifying the group related to the case identification information. A server device according to one aspect can be configured to include at least one processor, and the at least one processor stores a first message received or transmitted by a predetermined account for a certain case and having a first file attached thereto, stores a second message received or transmitted by the predetermined account for the certain case and having a second file attached thereto, stores a plurality of messages including the first message and the second message that are related to each other for the certain case, in association with case identification information for identifying the certain case, and stores a plurality of files including the first file and the second file that belong to the same group and are related to each other for the certain case, in association with group identification information for identifying the group related to the case identification information. A method according to one aspect can be "a method executed by at least one processor, comprising: storing, for a certain case, a first message received or transmitted by a predetermined account and having a first file attached thereto; storing, for the certain case, a second message received or transmitted by the predetermined account and having a second file attached thereto; storing a plurality of messages including the first message and the second message that are related to each other for the certain case, in association with case identification information for identifying the certain case; and storing a plurality of files including the first file and the second file that belong to the same group and are related to each other for the certain case, in association with group identification information for identifying the group related to the case identification information."
[0006] This section of [Summary of the Invention] is described to introduce selected various concepts in a simplified form, and these various concepts will be described later in the section of [Detailed Description of the Invention]. The description in this section of [Summary of the Invention] is not intended to identify important features or essential features of the invention described in the claims, nor is it intended to limit the technical scope of the invention described in the claims. The above-described or other objects, features, and effects of the invention described in the claims will become clearer from the description in the section of [Detailed Description of the Invention] with reference to the accompanying drawings below.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0007]
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[0008] The various systems, methods, and apparatuses described herein should not be construed as being limited in any way. In fact, the present disclosure is directed to any novel features and aspects of each of the various disclosed embodiments, combinations of these various embodiments with each other, and combinations of parts of these various embodiments with each other. The various systems, methods, and apparatuses described herein are not limited to a particular aspect, a particular feature, or a combination of such a particular aspect and a particular feature, and the things and methods described herein do not require the presence of one or more specific effects or the solution of problems. Furthermore, various features or aspects of the various embodiments described herein, or parts of such features or aspects, can be used in combination with each other.
[0009] Although the operations of some of the various methods disclosed herein are described, for convenience, in a particular order, such description by this approach should be understood to encompass rearranging the order of the above operations, unless the particular order is required by the following specific text. For example, a plurality of operations described in sequence may, in some cases, be rearranged or executed simultaneously. Furthermore, for the purpose of simplification, the accompanying drawings do not show the various ways in which the various matters and methods described herein can be used together with other matters and methods.
[0010] The operational theories, scientific principles, or other theoretical descriptions presented herein in connection with the apparatus or method of the present disclosure are provided for a better understanding and are not intended to limit the technical scope. The apparatuses and methods in the appended claims are not limited to apparatuses and methods that operate by the methods described by such operational theories.
[0011] Any of the various methods disclosed herein is implemented using a plurality of computer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readable media and can further be executed on a computer. The one or more media can be a non-transitory computer-readable storage media such as, for example, at least one optical disk, a plurality of volatile memory components, or a plurality of non-volatile memory components. Here, the plurality of volatile memory components includes, for example, DRAM or SRAM. Also, the plurality of non-volatile memory components includes, for example, hard drives and solid state drives (SSDs). Further, the computer includes any computer available in the market, such as, for example, smartphones and other mobile devices having hardware for performing calculations.
[0012] Any of such computer-executable instructions for implementing the technology disclosed herein, together with any data generated and used during the implementation of the various embodiments disclosed herein, can be stored on one or more computer-readable media (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage media). Such computer-executable instructions can be, for example, part of an individual software application or part of a software application accessed or downloaded via a web browser or other software applications (such as a remote computing application). Such software can be executed, for example, on a single local computer (as a process executed on any suitable computer available in the market, for example) or in a network environment (e.g., the Internet, a wide area network, a local area network, a client-server network (such as a cloud computing network), or other such network) using one or more network computers.
[0013] For the sake of clarity, only certain selected aspects of various software-based implementations are described. Other detailed matters well-known in the art are omitted. For example, the techniques disclosed herein are not limited to a particular computer language or program. For example, the techniques disclosed herein can be implemented by software written in C, C++, Java®, or any other suitable programming language. Similarly, the techniques disclosed herein are not limited to a particular computer or a particular type of hardware. Specific details of suitable computers and hardware are well-known and need not be described in detail herein.
[0014] Furthermore, any of such software-based embodiments (e.g., including a plurality of computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to execute any of the various methods disclosed herein) can be uploaded, downloaded, or accessed remotely by suitable communication means. Such suitable communication means include, for example, the Internet, the World Wide Web, an intranet, a software application, a cable (including an optical fiber cable), magnetic communication, electromagnetic communication (including RF communication, microwave communication, infrared communication), electronic communication, or other such communication means.
[0015] Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the same reference numerals are assigned to common components in the drawings. Also, it should be noted that components shown in one drawing may be omitted in another drawing for the sake of convenience of explanation. Furthermore, note that the attached drawings are not necessarily drawn to an exact scale.
[0016] 1. Example of a document creation system A document creation system according to an embodiment is, briefly speaking, a system that provides a service for assisting in creating a document (hereinafter referred to as "document creation service") to a user via at least one information processing device. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a document creation system according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the document creation system 1 can include one or more terminal devices (information processing devices) 20 that can be connected to a communication network (communication line) 10, one or more document creation server devices (information processing devices) 30 that can be connected to the communication network 10, and one or more mail server devices (information processing devices) 40 that can be connected to the communication network 10.
[0017] In FIG. 1, as examples of one or more terminal devices 20, three terminal devices 20A to 20C are illustrated, as examples of one or more document creation server devices 30, two server devices 30A and 30B are illustrated, and as examples of one or more mail server devices 40, two mail server devices 40A and 40B are illustrated. However, as one or more terminal devices 20, one or more terminal devices 20 other than the above can be connected to the communication network 10, as one or more document creation server devices 30, one or more server devices 30 other than the above can be connected to the communication network 10, and as one or more mail server devices 40, one or more mail server devices 40 other than the above can be connected to the communication network 10.
[0018] The communication network 10 can include, without limitation thereto, a mobile phone network, a wireless network, a fixed phone network, the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and / or an Ethernet (registered trademark) network. The above wireless network can include, without limitation thereto, an RF connection via, for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark), WiFi (such as IEEE 802.11a / b / n), WiMax, cellular, satellite, laser, infrared.
[0019] The terminal device 20 can receive the "document creation service" by executing at least one specific application and communicating with the document creation server device 30. The specific application can include, without limitation, a web browser, an operating system, and / or a dedicated application prepared for the service, etc.
[0020] The terminal device 20 is an arbitrary terminal device (information processing device), and can include, without limitation, a smartphone, a tablet, a mobile phone (feature phone), a personal computer, and / or a workstation, etc.
[0021] The document creation server device 30 can provide a document creation service to the terminal device 20 by executing an installed specific application and functioning as a web server or an application server. The specific application can include, without limitation, an operating system, and / or a dedicated application specially prepared for the service, etc.
[0022] The document creation server device 30 is an arbitrary information processing device, and can include, without limitation, a personal computer, a workstation, a mainframe, and / or a supercomputer, etc.
[0023] The mail server device 40 can provide services related to mail sending and receiving to the document creation server device 30 by executing an installed specific application and functioning as, for example, an SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server and / or a POP3 (Post Office Protocol Version 3) server. The specific application can include, without limitation, an operating system, and / or a dedicated application specially prepared for the mail sending and receiving, etc.
[0024] In particular, focusing on the aspect of receiving emails, the email server device 40 can store the emails sent to the recipient email address (by functioning as an SMTP server) in the mailbox dedicated to that email address. After that, in response to receiving a request for an email sent to the above-mentioned certain recipient email address from the document creation server device 30 (by functioning as a POP3 server), the email server device 40 can send this email to the document creation server device 30. Furthermore, focusing on the aspect of sending emails, the email server device 40 can send the emails sent to the sender email address by the document creation server device 30 (by functioning as an SMTP server) to the SMTP server corresponding to the domain included in this sender email address.
[0025] The email server device 40 is an arbitrary information processing device, and can include, without limitation thereto, a personal computer, a workstation, a mainframe, and / or a supercomputer, etc.
[0026] 2. Hardware configuration of each device An example of the hardware configuration of each of the terminal device 20, the document creation server device 30, and the email server device 40 will be described. (1) Hardware configuration of the terminal device 20 An example of the hardware configuration of the terminal device 20 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of the hardware configuration of the terminal device 20 (or the server device 30) shown in FIG. 1 (in FIG. 2, the reference numerals in parentheses are described in relation to the server device 30 as will be described later).
[0027] As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal device 20 can include a central processing unit 21, a main memory device 22, an input / output interface device 23, an input device 24, an auxiliary storage device 25, and an output device 26. These devices are connected to each other by a data bus and / or a control bus.
[0028] The central processing unit 21, which is a processor, is referred to as a "CPU (Central Processing Unit)", performs operations on instructions and data stored in the main memory device 22, and can store the results of the operations in the main memory device 22. Further, the central processing unit 21 can control the input device 24, the auxiliary storage device 25, the output device 26, etc. via the input / output interface device 23. The terminal device 20 can include one or more such central processing units 21.
[0029] The main memory device 22, which is referred to as a "memory", can store instructions and data received from the input device 24, the auxiliary storage device 25, the communication network 10, etc. (such as the server device 30) via the input / output interface device 23, as well as the operation results of the central processing unit 21. The main memory device 22 can include, without limitation thereto, computer-readable media such as volatile memory (e.g., registers, caches, random access memory (RAM)), non-volatile memory (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), EEPROM, flash memory), and storage (e.g., hard disk drive (HDD), solid state drive (SSD), magnetic tape, optical media). As can be easily understood, the term "computer-readable recording medium" can include media for data storage such as memory and storage, rather than transmission media such as modulated data signals, i.e., temporary signals.
[0030] The auxiliary storage device 25 is a storage device having a larger capacity than the main storage device 22. The auxiliary storage device 25 stores instructions and data (computer programs) that constitute the specific application or the like, and by being controlled by the central processing unit 21, these instructions and data (computer programs) can be transmitted to the main storage device 22 via the input / output interface device 23. The auxiliary storage device 25 can include, without being limited thereto, a magnetic disk device and / or an optical disk device, etc.
[0031] The input device 24 is a device that captures data from the outside, and can include, without being limited thereto, a keyboard, a touch panel, buttons, a mouse, and / or sensors (microphone, camera), etc.
[0032] The output device 26 can include, without being limited thereto, a display device, a touch panel, and / or a printer device, etc.
[0033] In such a hardware configuration, the central processing unit 21 can sequentially load the instructions and data (computer programs) that constitute the specific application stored in the auxiliary storage device 25 into the main storage device 22, and calculate the loaded instructions and data. Thereby, the central processing unit 21 can control the output device 26 via the input / output interface device 23, or can also transmit and receive various information (data) to and from other devices (for example, a server device 30, etc.) via the input / output interface device 23 and the communication network 10.
[0034] In this way, for example, by executing the installed web browser, the terminal device 20 can receive and display a web page from the server device 30 (and further execute a computer program incorporated in the web page), and execute various operations related to the document creation service (including various operations described later with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, etc.). Alternatively, the terminal device 20 can also execute similar operations by executing the installed dedicated application.
[0035] Note that the terminal device 20 can also include one or more microprocessors and / or a graphics processing unit (GPU) instead of or together with the central processing unit 21.
[0036] (2) Hardware configuration of the document creation server device 30 A hardware configuration example of the document creation server device 30 will also be described with reference to FIG. 2. As the hardware configuration of the document creation server device 30, for example, the same configuration as that of the terminal device 20 described above can be used. Therefore, the reference numerals for the components included in the document creation server device 30 are shown in parentheses in FIG. 2.
[0037] As shown in FIG. 2, the document creation server device 30 can include a central processing unit 31 which is a processor, a main memory device 32, an input / output interface device 33, an input device 34, an auxiliary storage device 35, and an output device 36. These devices are connected to each other by a data bus and / or a control bus.
[0038] The central processing unit 31, the main memory device 32, the input / output interface device 33, the input device 34, the auxiliary storage device 35, and the output device 36 can be substantially the same as the central processing unit 21, the main memory device 22, the input / output interface device 23, the input device 24, the auxiliary storage device 25, and the output device 26 included in the terminal device 20 described above, respectively.
[0039] In such a hardware configuration, the central processing unit 31 can sequentially load the instructions and data (computer program) that constitute the specific application stored in the auxiliary storage device 35 into the main storage device 32, and can calculate the loaded instructions and data. As a result, the central processing unit 31 can control the output device 36 via the input / output interface device 33, or can also transmit and receive various information (data) to and from other devices (e.g., the terminal device 20, etc.) via the input / output interface device 33 and the communication network 10.
[0040] As a result, the document creation server device 30 can execute the installed specific application and function as a web server. As a result, the document creation server device 30 can execute various operations related to the document creation service (including the operations to be described later with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, etc.) via the web page to be transmitted to each terminal device 20 (and further the computer program incorporated in the web page and executed by the terminal device 20). Alternatively, the document creation server device 30 can execute the installed specific application and function as an application server. As a result, the document creation server device 30 can execute similar operations.
[0041] Note that the document creation server device 30 can also include one or more microprocessors and / or a graphics processing unit (GPU) instead of or together with the central processing unit 31.
[0042] (3) Hardware configuration of the mail server device 40 An example of the hardware configuration of the mail server device 40 will also be described with reference to FIG. 2. As the hardware configuration of the mail server device 40, for example, the same configuration as that of the terminal device 20 described above can be used. Therefore, the reference signs for the components of the mail server device 40 are shown in parentheses in FIG. 2.
[0043] As shown in FIG. 2, the mail server device 40 can include a central processing unit 41 as a processor, a main memory device 42, an input / output interface device 43, an input device 44, an auxiliary storage device 45, and an output device 46. These devices are connected to each other by a data bus and / or a control bus.
[0044] The central processing unit 41, the main memory device 42, the input / output interface device 43, the input device 44, the auxiliary storage device 45, and the output device 46 can be substantially the same as the central processing unit 21, the main memory device 22, the input / output interface device 23, the input device 24, the auxiliary storage device 25, and the output device 26 included in the terminal device 20 described above, respectively.
[0045] In such a hardware configuration, the central processing unit 41 can sequentially load the instructions and data (computer program) constituting the specific application stored in the auxiliary storage device 45 into the main memory device 42, and calculate the loaded instructions and data. Thereby, the central processing unit 41 can control the output device 46 via the input / output interface device 43, or can also transmit and receive various information (data) to and from other devices (for example, a document creation device 30, etc.) via the input / output interface device 43 and the communication network 10.
[0046] Thereby, the mail server device 40 can execute the installed specific application and function as a mail server. Thereby, the mail server device 40 can execute various operations related to mail transmission and reception (including operations described later with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, etc.).
[0047] Note that the mail server device 40 can also include one or more microprocessors and / or a graphics processing unit (GPU) instead of or together with the central processing unit 41.
[0048] 3. Operation of the document creation system Next, with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, a specific example of the operation of the document creation system 1 will be described. FIGS. 3A and 3B are flowcharts showing an example of the operation executed in the document creation system shown in FIG. 1.
[0049] First, by executing the installed first computer program, the document creation server device 30 can execute functions related to the transmission and reception of emails (messages) with the mail server device 40, that is, functions as a so-called mailer (for example, functions described later in relation to ST306, ST322, and ST328 with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B). Further, by executing the installed second computer program, the document creation server device 30 can execute functions related to file management (for example, functions other than those related to the transmission and reception of emails (messages) among the functions described later with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B). In another embodiment, the document creation server device 30 can execute both functions related to the transmission and reception of emails (messages) and functions related to file management by executing one installed computer program.
[0050] Referring to FIG. 3A, first, in step (hereinafter referred to as "ST") 300, the terminal device 20A of a certain user (here, "user A") can start and execute the installed web browser according to the operation of user A. The terminal device 20A can access the document creation server device 30 by specifying a URL unique to the document creation service. Further, the terminal device 20A can be authenticated by inputting a username and password according to the operation of user A and transmitting them to the document creation server device 30. Note that the above username and password can be commonly used not only by user A belonging to a certain organization (such as a company and a law firm) but also by one or more other users belonging to the same organization, for example. Thereby, a plurality of users belonging to the same organization or the like can access the document creation server device 30 using their respective unique terminal devices 20, be authenticated, and receive the provision of the document creation service. Here, the case where user A and a plurality of users belong to organization I will be described.
[0051] In ST302, the authenticated terminal device 20A can display a board screen showing the status etc. of each case using the web page received from the document creation server device 30. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by the terminal device 20 in the document creation system shown in FIG. 1.
[0052] As illustrated in FIG. 4, the terminal device 20A can display information 402A to 402G regarding a plurality (here, for example, seven) of mails (cases, tasks) received by organization I to which user A belongs from requesters etc. in the past on the board screen 400. Each of the information 402A to 402G can include, for the corresponding mail, the current situation regarding this mail (case, task), the case name corresponding to this mail, the "department" (sender) that sent this mail, and the date and time when this mail was received, in the columns of "status", "subject", "department", and "date and time", respectively. Note that this board screen 400 can be similarly displayed on the terminal device 20 of another user belonging to organization I.
[0053] Furthermore, the terminal device 20A can display a field 404 for search on the board screen 400. As will be described later in relation to ST334, the terminal device 20A can also display one or more mails that match and / or are related to the keyword input by user A in the field 404 from among the plurality of mails received by organization I from requesters in the past.
[0054] Returning to FIG. 3A, in ST304, when user A clicks on any of the information regarding the plurality of cases (mails) displayed on the board screen 400, the terminal device 20A can display more detailed information regarding that case (mail).
[0055] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of a screen displayed by the terminal device 20 in the document creation system shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 5, an example of a case screen 500 displayed by the terminal device 20 when a case (case X) corresponding to the information 402A by user A is selected from among the cases (mails) displayed on the board screen 400 (see FIG. 4) is shown.
[0056] As illustrated in FIG. 5, the case screen 500 can first include information 502 regarding the case name. This information 502 is the same as the information displayed in the "Case Name" column among the information 402A shown in FIG. 4. Furthermore, the case screen 500 can include information regarding mails received or sent so far regarding this case X, for example, in the left part. Here, the terminal device 20A can display, for example, information 504 regarding the mail 500A received from the requester B at the time of requesting this case X, information 506 regarding the mail 500B replied from user A to the requester B in response to this mail, information 508 regarding the mail 500C replied from the requester B to user A in response to this mail, and the like. Note that the body of the mail can be displayed in the part described as "Mail Body" in FIG. 5.
[0057] Focusing on the information 504, the terminal device 20A can display information regarding the file attached by the requester B to this mail 500A (an image corresponding to "Clip" indicating the existence of an attached file, and the name of the attached file such as "XYZ0001.docx").
[0058] Furthermore, the case screen 500 can include information 510 indicating the status of the present case X, for example, in the right part. This information 510 can include the status selected by a user (such as user A, etc.) belonging to organization I, such as "unassigned" (the state where the present case has not been assigned to anyone yet), "in progress" (the state where the present case is being processed by one of the assigned users), "awaiting response" (the state of waiting for a response from the requester), and "completed" (the state where the present case has been completed), etc., which is displayed, for example, by a pull-down menu (not shown) on this case screen 500. The status thus selected by user A, etc. is also reflected and displayed in the column corresponding to "status" on the board screen shown in FIG. 4.
[0059] In addition, the case screen 500 can include information 512 indicating the requester (here, "requester B") corresponding to the present case X, and information 514 indicating the user (here, "user A") to whom the present case X has been assigned in organization I, for example, in the right part.
[0060] Furthermore, the case screen 500 can include information 516 regarding files (related documents) received or transmitted in relation to the present case X, for example, in the right part. FIG. 5 shows, as an example of information related to the related document, information related to the file (file name: XYZ0001.docx) attached to the email received from requester B. Details of this related document will be described later.
[0061] Returning to FIG. 3A, in ST306, the requester B can send an additional email (message) to the organization I regarding the above-described case X. Specifically, the requester B can use his / her terminal device 20 or the like to send an email to one email address (for example, info@inst.co.jp) specifically assigned to the organization I. Note that not only the requester B but also other requesters and the like can send an email (message) to the above one email address when requesting a task from the organization I. The one email address specifically assigned to the organization I can also be referred to as an "account" specifically assigned to the organization I.
[0062] The email thus sent by the terminal device 20 of the requester B is temporarily stored in a mailbox by the mail server device 40 that functions as an SMTP server. Next, the document creation server device 30 that executes the above first computer program requests the mail server device 40 that functions as a POP3 server, for example, for the email sent to info@inst.co.jp, thereby receiving the email sent by the terminal device 20 of the requester B. In this way, the document creation server device 30 that executes the above first computer program can receive and store the email sent by the terminal device 20 of the requester B from the mail server device 40 for the email address (account) specifically assigned to the organization I. Generally speaking, the document creation server device 30 that executes the above first computer program can execute the sending and receiving of emails between the email address (account) specifically assigned to the organization I and the communication target (here, for example, the requester B or the mail server device 40), and store the emails thus sent and received. Note that the above first computer program, when executed by the document creation server device 30, may cause the document creation server device 30 to operate as a robot that executes the function related to the sending and receiving of emails between the email address (account) specifically assigned to the organization I and the communication target using RPA (Robotic Process Automation) technology.
[0063] In this document creation system 1, emails related to the same case include identification information unique to that case (such as information for identifying an email thread, which can be any arbitrary identification information). Therefore, by referring to the identification information included in each email, the document creation server device 30 can recognize which case the email is related to. Thus, by extracting the identification information included in the email received from the requester B, the document creation server device 30 can recognize that this email is related to case X.
[0064] As an example of the identification information included in an email, a parameter called "message ID" included in the email can be used. For example, an email newly sent by the requester B to the above email address of Organization I regarding a new case has a "message ID" unique to this case. The email sent by Organization I in reply to this email to the requester B also has the same "message ID". Therefore, based on such a "message ID" included in the email, the document creation server device 30 can identify which case the email is related to.
[0065] As a result, the terminal device 20A of user A can receive a web page from the document creation server device 30 and, as shown in FIG. 6, display information 602 regarding the newly received email 600A from the requester B on the case screen 600. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the information 602 regarding the first email (first message) 600A sent from the requester B to Organization I can indicate that this first email includes the attached first file (file name: XYZ0003.docx).
[0066] In ST308, user A can instruct the document creation server device 30 via the terminal device 20A to associate the first file attached to the first email 600A with the group related to case X by performing a predetermined operation on this case screen 600.
[0067] Specifically, for example, when user A right-clicks on the name (XYZ0003.docx) of the first file on this case screen 600, etc., the terminal device 20A can display a pop-up window 604. The pop-up window 604 can include an option 604B of "overlay on existing related documents" for registering the first file as a file related to the existing related documents, and an option 604A of "register as a new related document" for registering the first file as a new related document. In one embodiment, the option 604B is an option to register the first file as a file "having" mutually different versions with the "XYZ0001.docx" that has already been registered as a new related document. The option 604A is an option to register the first file as a file "not having" the relationship of having mutually different versions with the "XYZ0001.docx" that has already been registered as a new related document.
[0068] In the example shown in FIG. 6, user A checks the "XYZ0001.docx" displayed in relation to the option 604B and selects the "register" button, whereby the document creation server device 30 can store the first file and the file "XYZ0001.docx" having mutually different versions in association with group identification information identifying a group (here, for example, "group G2"). Here, group G2 can be stored as a group related to case X. Thereby, the document creation server device 30 can recognize that the group G2 related to case X has the file "XYZ0001.docx" and the first file ("XYZ0003.docx") having mutually different versions.
[0069] Regarding this point, further explanation will be given with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram conceptually showing an example of a method for storing messages and files by the document creation server device 30 in the document creation system shown in FIG. 1.
[0070] As illustrated in FIG. 7, the document creation server device 30 can store a plurality of mails received or transmitted by the organization I (info@inst.co.jp) for the case X in association with the case identification information unique to the case X. Here, for example, the document creation server device 30 can store the message 500A (and attached file: XYZ0001.docx), the message 500B, the message 500C, and the message 600A (and attached file: XYZ0003.docx) in association with the case identification information unique to the case X. The document creation server device 30 can store these messages and attached files in, for example, a first database.
[0071] Furthermore, the document creation server device 30 can store a plurality of files received or transmitted by the organization I in the case X and having different versions in association with the group identification information for identifying the group related to the case X. Here, for example, the document creation server device 30 can store the attached file (XYZ0001.docx) and the attached file (XYZ0003.docx) having different versions in association with the group identification information for identifying the group G2. The document creation server device 30 can store these attached files in, for example, a second database different from the above-mentioned first database (in another embodiment, the document creation server device 30 can also store these attached files in, for example, the above-mentioned first database).
[0072] Furthermore, the document creation server device 30 can associate each attached file stored in association with the case identification information of case X with each attached file stored in association with the group identification information of group G2, and store information regarding the association in the first database and / or the second database. Here, for example, the document creation server device 30 can associate the message 500A and its attached file (XYZ0001.docx) stored in association with the case identification information of case X with the attached file (XYZ0001.docx) stored in association with the group identification information of group G2. Similarly, the document creation server device 30 can associate the message 600A and its attached file (XYZ0003.docx) stored in association with the case identification information of case X with the attached file (XYZ0003.docx) stored in association with the group identification information of group G2.
[0073] Thereby, the document creation server device 30 can identify a plurality of mails received or transmitted by the organization I for case X in chronological order. Also, the document creation server device 30 can identify which mail the attached file is attached to. Furthermore, the document creation server device 30 can identify a plurality of files received or transmitted by the organization I for case X and having different versions from each other in chronological order.
[0074] Note that the document creation server device 30 can store mails and files for one or more other cases as well as case X in the same manner as described above with reference to FIG. 7 in relation to case X.
[0075] The document creation server device 30 manages (stores) mails and files as described above, and by referring to the information thus managed (stored), it can transmit to the terminal device 20A a web page described to display the attached file (XYZ0001.docx) and the attached file (XYZ0003.docx) in chronological order. As a result, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the terminal device 20A can display information (such as the name of the file) regarding the attached file (XYZ0001.docx) and the attached file (XYZ0003.docx) in chronological order as information 516 regarding the files (related documents) received or transmitted in relation to the present case X. Therefore, user A (and other users belonging to organization I) can recognize that the attached file (XYZ0003.docx) was generated when the attached file (XYZ0001.docx) was modified.
[0076] Also, user A (and other users belonging to organization I) can, by clicking on the information (such as the name of the file) regarding the attached file among the information 516 shown in FIG. 8, cause the terminal device 20A to receive and display the attached file from the document creation server device 30.
[0077] Returning to FIG. 3A, next, in ST310, the document creation server device 30 can assign a tag to the first mail 600A received in ST308. Specifically, the document creation server device 30 can pre-store a plurality of phrases that can be used as tags. These plurality of phrases can be, for example, a plurality of phrases selected from the phrases listed in the following (i) to (iv). (i) Technical terms or keywords used in a contract (e.g., terms of use, confidentiality obligation, gross negligence, electronic contract, damages, injunction, and intellectual property rights, etc.) (ii) Official name or abbreviation of a law used in a contract (e.g., Act on Electronic Bookkeeping, EBL Act, Code of Civil Procedure, CPC, Unfair Competition Prevention Act, UCPA, etc.) (iii) Names of each requester or each person in charge with whom a user belonging to Organization I has communicated via the document creation system 1 so far (iv) Text registered by any user belonging to Organization I (v) Title or type name of the contract (e.g., terms of use, sales contract, business consignment contract, etc.)
[0078] The document creation server device 30 can automatically assign, as tags, one or more pieces of text that exist in the body of the first email 600A among such a plurality of pieces of text prepared in advance to the first email 600A (store them in association with the first email 600A).
[0079] In another embodiment, instead of or in addition to the configuration in which the document creation server device 30 automatically assigns one or more tags to the first email 600A, the document creation server device 30 can also assign one or more tags received from the terminal device 20A of User A via the operation of User A to the first email 600A.
[0080] Such tagging of the first email 600A by the document creation server device 30 does not necessarily have to be executed at the timing of ST310. At an "arbitrary" timing after the document creation server device 30 receives the first email 600A in ST306, the document creation server device 30 can assign one or more tags to the first email 600A.
[0081] Such tags can be assigned to not only the first email 600A but also emails received or sent previously (e.g., emails 500A to 500C illustrated in FIG. 5, etc.) in the same manner.
[0082] The usage method of the tags assigned in this way will be described later in relation to ST322 and ST334.
[0083] Next, in ST312, User A can operate the terminal device 20A to upload (transmit) the first file (a file indicating a contract) attached to the first email 600A to the document creation server device 30 as an object to be inspected.
[0084] In ST314, the document creation server device 30 can inspect / analyze (review) the first file uploaded in ST312. As a method of inspection / analysis executed by the document creation server device 30, for example, a method of inspecting whether each clause included in the contract satisfies predetermined conditions can be used.
[0085] First, in the first step, the document creation server device 30 can extract a plurality of clauses by dividing the contract into clauses. Next, in the second step, the document creation server device 30 can inspect whether each of the plurality of clauses satisfies a plurality of predetermined conditions (rules). Whether a certain clause satisfies a certain condition (rule) can be determined by using a plurality of words (unit words) obtained by dividing the clause, for example, by the following two methods. First, in the first example, if one or more specific words set in association with the condition exist among the plurality of words included in the clause (that is, if the plurality of unit words included in the clause satisfy the predetermined condition), the clause can be determined not to satisfy the condition. In the second example, a learning model (a model having an input layer, a plurality of intermediate layers, and an output layer) is learned in advance using teacher data including a plurality of words (question data) included in the clause and a condition (answer data) that the clause does not satisfy, and by inputting the plurality of words included in the target clause into the learning model, the condition that the clause does not satisfy can be obtained. Finally, in the third step, the document creation server device 30 can read out a search table in which each condition, warning information corresponding to the condition, and at least one piece of presentation information corresponding to the condition are associated. Using such a search table, the document creation server device 30 can obtain warning information and at least one piece of presentation information corresponding to each condition acquired in the second step above for each condition.
[0086] For example, when the condition that the target clause does not satisfy is "confidential information is not disclosed to a third party", the document creation server device 30 can search the search table and obtain warning information corresponding to the condition, "An exception to the disclosure of confidential information to a third party is defined."
[0087] Note that the at least one piece of presentation information described above can include, for example, at least one of the following three types of presentation information without being limited thereto.
[0088] (1) First type The first type can be the "revision policy" type indicating the policy for revising the clause. Taking a specific example, the presentation information belonging to the first type associated with the condition (rule) of "confidential information is not disclosed to a third party" is as follows. "Revise to any of the following" (1) [Advantageous] Delete the corresponding part (2) [Intermediate] Limit the scope of third parties who can be disclosed
[0089] (2) Second type The second type can be the "revision example" type indicating an example of revising the clause. Taking a specific example, the presentation information belonging to the second type associated with the condition (rule) of "confidential information is not disclosed to a third party" is as follows. "(Disclosure to a third party)" The recipient may disclose the confidential information to the parent company, subsidiaries, officers and employees of itself and related companies within the scope necessary for this purpose. However, this shall be limited to the case where the recipient of the disclosure undertakes confidentiality obligations similar to at least the confidentiality obligations stipulated in this contract based on laws and regulations or contracts.
[0090] (3) Third type The third type may be the "explanation" type that shows an explanation of the conditions. Taking a specific example, the presentation information belonging to the third type associated with the condition (rule) of "confidential information not being disclosed to a third party" is as follows. "In a confidentiality contract, the recipient of the confidential information basically cannot disclose the confidential information to a 'third party'. A 'third party' refers to a person other than the contracting parties. In the case of transactions between enterprises, typically, related companies, contractors, advisors such as lawyers, etc. fall under the 'third party', but strictly speaking, the 'officers' and 'employees' of the enterprise may also be considered as 'third parties'. When the recipient plans to disclose the confidential information to such a 'third party', it is usually stipulated in the contract that names, etc. are individually listed, and these third parties cannot disclose the confidential information without the prior consent of the discloser. Therefore, when the disclosure of the confidential information will be disadvantageous to the discloser, it is necessary to limit the scope of the third party.
[0091] The document creation server device 30 can send a file with the warning information and at least one piece of presentation information thus obtained added to the comment column of the first file to the terminal device 20A of User A. An example of the screen displayed by the terminal device 20A when such a file is opened is shown in FIG. 9.
[0092] Referring to the screen 900 illustrated in FIG. 9, since the portion 902 highlighted in the second paragraph of Article 3 included in the first file does not satisfy the condition (rule) of "confidential information not being disclosed to a third party", warning information 904, presentation information 906 of the first type, presentation information 908 of the second type, and presentation information 910 of the third type are displayed in the comment column.
[0093] Returning to FIG. 3A, in ST316, the user A can create a second file by using the terminal device 20A to edit the first file inspected by the document creation server device 30 and viewing the first file.
[0094] Next, in ST318, the user A, who recognizes that the second file belongs to a group (the document creation server device 30 has already registered this group as group G2) having mutually different versions together with the file (XYZ0001.docx) and the first file (XYZ0003.docx), can associate the second file with this group by performing a predetermined operation.
[0095] For example, the user A can operate the terminal device 20A to perform an operation of dragging the icon of the second file and dropping it into the field 802 of "add a new document by drag & drop" illustrated in FIG. 8. In response to this operation, the document creation server device 30 can associate and store the second file with group G2. As another example of the method for registering related documents, consider a case where User A generates another file (e.g., the second file) by editing or copying a certain file (e.g., the first file) stored in association with a certain group (e.g., Group G2) by the document creation server device 30. In this case, even without an explicit operation or instruction by User A, it is obvious that the above-mentioned another file (the second file) belongs to the above-mentioned certain group together with the above-mentioned certain file (e.g., the first file). Therefore, in such a case, the document creation server device 30 can automatically store the above-mentioned another file (the second file) in association with Group G2 without any special operation or instruction by User A.
[0096] Specifically, referring again to FIG. 7 used previously, the document creation server device 30 can store the second file (file name: XYZ0004.docx) in association with the group identification information of Group G2. Thereby, the document creation server device 30 can store the file (XYZ0001.docx), the first file (XYZ0003.docx), and the second file (XYZ0004.docx) in chronological order in association with the group identification information of Group G2.
[0097] Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the document creation server device 30 can display information (e.g., the name of the file, etc.) regarding the attached file (XYZ0001.docx), the first file (XYZ0003.docx), and the second file (XYZ0004.docx) in chronological order as information 516 regarding the files (related documents) received or transmitted in relation to the present case X on the case screen 1000. Therefore, User A (and other users belonging to Organization I) can recognize that the second file (XYZ0004.docx) was generated due to the modification of the first file (XYZ0003.docx).
[0098] Next, referring to FIG. 3B, in ST320, the terminal device 20A in response to the operation of User A can generate a second email (second message) with the second file attached.
[0099] User A performs a predetermined operation to create a new email (message), and the terminal device 20A can display a screen 1100 for email creation as illustrated in FIG. 11 using the web page received from the document creation server device 30.
[0100] To attach the second file to the second email, User A can click an object 1102 such as "Attach File" on the screen 1100. In response, the terminal device 20A can display a window 1104 for selecting the file to be attached. When User A selects a file related to Project X as the attached file, User A can check an object 1106 such as "Link from Related Documents". On the other hand, when User A selects a file stored in the terminal device 20A as the attached file, User A can check an object 1108 such as "Upload from Local". Here, as illustrated in FIG. 11, User A can use the former.
[0101] As described above with reference to FIG. 7, the document creation server device 30 stores one or more files having different versions in association with the group identification information of the group related to Project X. By creating a web page using this information and transmitting it to the terminal device 20A, the terminal device 20A can display information 1106A regarding the file (XYZ0001.docx), information 1106B regarding the first file (XYZ0003.docx), and information 1106C regarding the second file (XYZ0004.docx) stored in association with the group identification information of the group G2 related to Project X in chronological order as shown in FIG. 11.
[0102] The terminal device 20A can display information 1106A regarding the file with the earliest version among a plurality of files stored in association with the group identification information of group G2 separately from information 1106B and 1106C regarding the remaining files. As an example, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the terminal device 20A can display these pieces of information by making the indent applied to information 1106A different from the indents applied to information 1106B and 1106C. In another example, the terminal device 20A can also display these pieces of information by making the color, font, and / or size applied to information 1106A different from the font and / or size applied to information 1106B and 1106C.
[0103] Now, consider a case where the document creation server device 30 stores one or more files having mutually different versions in association with group identification information of another group (for example, group G0) different from the above-mentioned group G2 related to case X. Note that the one or more files stored in association with the group identification information of group G0 do not have a relationship of having mutually different versions with respect to the above-mentioned plurality of files stored in association with the group identification information of group G2. In this case, the document creation server device 30 creates a web page using this information and transmits it to the terminal device 20A. As a result, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the terminal device 20A can display information 1106D regarding the file (ZZZ0001.docx) and information 1106E regarding the file (ZZZ0002.docx), which have mutually different versions and are stored in association with the identification information of group G0, in the window 1104.
[0104] The terminal device 20A can recognize that the second file has been selected as the file to be attached to the second email in response to a predetermined operation (such as clicking) performed by user A on information 1106C regarding the second file (XYZ0004.docx) displayed in the window 1104.
[0105] Furthermore, user A can enter the email body in field 1110. In response to user A operating the terminal device 20A to input text into this field 1110, the terminal device 20A can transmit the text thus input to the document creation server device 30.
[0106] In ST322, if any one of a plurality of words included in the text received from the terminal device 20A matches or is related to one or more tags assigned to any one or more emails that have been sent or received regarding a plurality of cases including case X by organization I, the document creation server device 30 can transmit a web page including information (such as the email body, attached files, etc.) regarding the above one or more emails to the terminal device 20A.
[0107] In response to this, in ST322, the terminal device 20A can display information (such as the email body, attached files, etc.) regarding such an email as a past example in a pop-up window (not shown) overlaid on the screen 1100 illustrated in FIG. 11. Thereby, user A can efficiently create the body of the second email (second message) with reference to past cases related to the second email automatically displayed on the screen 1100 (without having to search on their own). Note that, as a method for the document creation server device 30 to assign tags to emails "sent" by organization I, for example, the same method as that used to assign tags to emails "received" by organization I as described above in relation to ST310 can be used.
[0108] When user A clicks on the object 1112 labeled "Send" displayed on the screen 1100, etc., the terminal device 20A can transmit information regarding the email body and the second file as an attached file to the document creation server device 30.
[0109] In response to this, the document creation server device 30 can transmit a second email (second message) with a second file attached to a mail server device 40 that functions as an SMTP server by executing the above-described first computer program. In this way, the document creation server device 30 that executes the above-described first computer program can transmit an email sent to the requester B using the email address (account) uniquely assigned to the organization I to the mail server device 40. Generally speaking, the document creation server device 30 that executes the above-described first computer program executes the sending and receiving of emails between the email address (account) uniquely assigned to the organization I and the communication target (here, for example, the requester B or the mail server device 40), and can store the emails sent and received in that way. The mail server device 40 can refer to the email address of the requester B, who is the destination of the second email, identify the corresponding SMTP server, and transmit the second email to the SMTP server thus identified.
[0110] After the transmission of the second email is completed in this way, the document creation server device 30 can store the second email (second message) 1200A in association with the case identification information of case X. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the document creation server device 30 can store an email (message) 500A and its attached file (XYZ0001.docx), an email (message) 500B, an email (message) 500C, an email (message) 600A and its attached file (XYZ0003.docx), and an email (message) 1200A and its attached file (XYZ0004.docx) in association with the case identification information of case X. As will be described later in relation to ST330, the document creation server device 30 can also store a message 1300A and its attached file (YYY0001.docx) in association with the case identification information unique to case X, as illustrated in FIG. 7.
[0111] Furthermore, the document creation server device 30 can associate each attached file stored in association with the case identification information of case X with each file stored in association with the group identification information of group G2, and store information regarding the association in the first database and / or the second database. Here, for example, the document creation server device 30 can associate the email (message) 1200A and its attached file (XYZ0004.docx) stored in association with the case identification information of case X with the file (XYZ0004.docx) stored in association with the group identification information of group G2.
[0112] Returning to FIG. 3B, next, in ST324, the document creation server device 30 can also assign and store one or more tags to the second email (second message) in the same manner as described above in ST310 in relation to the first email (first message).
[0113] Next, in ST326, the terminal device 20A can display a case screen 1200 as illustrated in FIG. 12 by using the web page received from the document creation server device 30. As shown in FIG. 12, the terminal device 20A can display information 1202 regarding the second email sent by user A to the requester B. This information 1202 can indicate that the second email has the second file (XYZ0004.docx) as an attached file.
[0114] Returning to FIG. 3B, next, in ST328, the requester C can send a further email (the third email / message) to the organization I regarding the above-described case X. Also in this case, the requester C can use the terminal device 20 to send an email to one email address (info@inst.co.jp) specifically assigned to the organization I. This third email (the third message) is received by the document creation server device 30 that executes the above first computer program in the same manner as described in relation to ST306 via the mail server device 40. The document creation server device 30 can recognize that this third email is an email related to case X by extracting the above-described identification information included in this third email.
[0115] In response to this, the document creation server device 30 creates a web page and sends it to the terminal device 20A, whereby the terminal device 20A can display a case screen 1300 as illustrated in FIG. 13. The case screen 1300 can include information 1302 regarding the third email (the third message) 1300A received from the requester C.
[0116] After that, in ST330, User A can instruct the document creation server device 30 via the terminal device 20A to associate the third file attached to the third email 1300A with the group related to Case X by performing a predetermined operation on this case screen 1300. Specifically, as described above in relation to ST308, User A can right-click on the name of the third file (YYY0001.docx), etc., and the terminal device 20A can display a pop-up window (see Fig. 6) not shown in the figure. In such a pop-up window, User A can select an option "Register as a new related document" (see Fig. 6). This is because the third file, for example, shows a contract document different from the first file (XYZ0003.docx) and the second file (XYZ0004.docx), etc., and there is no relationship with different versions among these files.
[0117] As a result, referring to Fig. 7 used previously, the document creation server device 30 can first store the message 500A (and attached file: XYZ0001.docx), message 500B, message 500C, message 600A (and attached file: XYZ0003.docx), message 1200A (and attached file: XYZ0004.docx), and message 1300A (and attached file: YYY0001.docx) in association with the case identification information unique to Case X.
[0118] Furthermore, the document creation server device 30 can store the attached file (YYY0001.docx) in association with group identification information that identifies a new group (Group G3) different from Group G2.
[0119] Furthermore, the document creation server device 30 can associate the message 1300A and its attached file (YYY0001.docx) stored in association with the case identification information of case X with the attached file (YYY0001.docx) stored in association with the group identification information of group G3.
[0120] Using this information, the document creation server device 30 creates a web page and transmits it to the terminal device 20A. As a result, on the terminal device 20A, in the information 516 shown on the case screen 1300, it can be displayed that the third file (YYY0001.docx) belongs to a different group from the group to which the other three files (XYZ0001.docx, XYZ0003.docx, XYZ0004.docx), which have different versions from each other, belong. (For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13, a boundary line may be displayed between the related documents belonging to group G2 and the related documents belonging to group G3.) Thus, user A (and other users belonging to organization I) can recognize the fact that, regarding case X, a plurality (here, three) of files having different versions from each other were created in chronological order from top to bottom for a certain document (here, a contract), and a plurality (here, currently one) of files having different versions from each other were created in chronological order for a completely different document (here, another contract).
[0121] Returning to FIG. 3B, next, in ST332, the document creation server device 30 can also assign and store one or more tags to the third email (third message) 1300A in the same manner as described above in ST310 in relation to the first email (first message).
[0122] Next, as an option, in ST334, user A can cause the terminal device 20A to display a board screen 400 as illustrated in FIG. 4 via an operation on the terminal device 20A. User A can input an appropriate keyword in field 404 to search for the email that the user himself / herself wants to refer to. In response, in the first example, the document creation server device 30 can extract one or more mails from all the mails received or transmitted by the organization I so far, which contain keywords that match this keyword or keywords related to this keyword. In the second example, the document creation server device 30 can extract one or more mails from all the mails received or transmitted by the organization I so far, which contain tags that match the keyword input by user A or tags related to this keyword. By transmitting a web page containing information about the one or more mails extracted in this way to the terminal device 20A, the terminal device 20A can display information about the one or more mails extracted above (for example, sender, project name, department, time, mail body, attached file, etc.). As a result, user A can quickly and effectively view the past mails he desires.
[0123] So far, the description has focused on the mails (messages) received or transmitted by the organization I regarding case X. However, regarding a case other than case X, the document creation server device 30 and the terminal device 20 can also execute the same processing as above. As a result, the document creation server device 30 can also store each mail (each message), the file attached to the mail, or other files, etc., by the method illustrated in FIG. 7, regarding the above-mentioned other case. Also, in the example described with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, etc., although the first message (ST306) was assumed to be a message sent to the email address uniquely assigned to organization I from requester B, the first message may be a message sent from the email address uniquely assigned to organization I to requester B. This also applies to the third message (ST328). Further, in the example described with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, etc., although the second message (ST320) was assumed to be a message sent from the email address uniquely assigned to organization I to requester B, the second message may be a message sent from requester B to the email address uniquely assigned to organization I. That is, the plurality of messages including message 500A to message 1330A shown in FIG. 7 may be messages "sent" by the email address uniquely assigned to organization I, or may be messages "received" by the email address uniquely assigned to organization I.
[0124] 4. Modification example In the various embodiments described above, attention has been paid to the case where a plurality of files stored in association with group identification information for identifying a group (for example, group G2) related to the case identification information of a certain case (for example, case X) belong to the same group for the above certain case and are "a plurality of files having mutually different versions". However, generally speaking, it can be said that the plurality of files stored in association with the group identification information for identifying the group (group G2) related to the case identification information of the above certain case (case X) belong to the same group for the above certain case and are "a plurality of files related to each other". The "a plurality of files related to each other" belonging to the same group for the above certain case can include, in addition to the plurality of files having mutually different versions described above, for example, a plurality of files related to each other (without being limited thereto) from the viewpoints of contract content, deadline, period, and / or person in charge, etc. Such a plurality of files can be exemplified as follows. ·First example regarding a plurality of files (the first file showing the original contract and the second file showing a memorandum for modifying the original contract) ·Second example regarding a plurality of files (the first file showing the basic contract of a transaction and the second file showing an individual contract defining the conditions of the individual transaction) ·Third example regarding a plurality of files (any plurality of files that organization I needs to process by a certain deadline) ·Fourth example regarding a plurality of files (any plurality of files that organization I processes or has processed during a certain period) ·Fifth example regarding a plurality of files (any plurality of files handled by a specific person belonging to organization I) ·Sixth example regarding a plurality of files (any plurality of files handled by a specific person belonging to the requester) In addition, in order to store such a plurality of files in association with group identification information for identifying the above groups (store as related documents), the operations or processes performed by the document creation server device 30, the terminal device 20, etc. can be the same as those described above.
[0125] In the various embodiments described above, as a preferred example, the case where the terminal device 20 accesses one document creation server device 30 to receive the provision of a document creation service has been described. However, it is also possible that a plurality of server devices 30 share a plurality of processes to be executed with the terminal device 20 and provide a document creation service to the terminal device 20. In the various embodiments described above, the document creation server device 30 has been described as receiving an email (message) sent by a requester or the like addressed to one email address unique to the organization I from the mail server device 40 and sending an email (message) sent from the above one email address to the requester or the like to the mail server device 40. However, in another embodiment, the document creation server device 30 can use messages transmitted or received by various groupwares (for example, any groupware including Teams, Slack, etc.) instead of using emails. In this case, the document creation server device 30 can execute an application for executing the above groupware and perform API cooperation with this application. Thereby, the document creation server device 30 can receive a message posted by a requester or the like for a specific channel or a specific team and send a message posted by the organization I for the specific channel or the specific team to the requester or the like. In this way, the document creation server device 30 can use, instead of an email, a message posted for the specific channel or the specific team by groupware. In this case, the above specific channel or the above specific team corresponds to an "account" uniquely assigned to the organization I.
[0126] In the various embodiments described above, as a preferred example, the case where the terminal device 20 accesses one document creation server device 30 to receive the provision of a document creation service has been described. However, it is also possible that a plurality of server devices 30 share a plurality of processes to be executed with the terminal device 20 and provide a document creation service to the terminal device 20.
[0127] Also, in the various embodiments described above, as a preferred example, the case where the terminal device 20 executes a web browser and communicates with the server device 30 that functions as a web server to receive the document creation service from the server device 30 has been described. However, the terminal device 20 can also receive the document creation service from the server device 30 by executing an application dedicated to the document creation service and communicating with the server device 30 that functions as an application server.
[0128] Furthermore, in the various embodiments described above, as a preferred example, the case where the terminal device 20 communicates with the server device 30 via the communication network 10 to receive the document creation service from the server device 30 has been described. However, it is also possible to use a stand-alone type information processing device configured such that the terminal device 20 executes the operations of the server device 30 described above, or the server device 30 executes the operations of the terminal device 20 described above.
[0129] As can be easily understood by those skilled in the art having the benefits of the present disclosure, the various examples described above can be appropriately combined and used in various patterns with each other as long as no contradiction occurs.
[0130] As described above, according to various embodiments, the document creation server device 30 can send or receive communications regarding a case to / from a requester or the like only via an email (or a message used in a groupware application) used in an email application. That is, when communicating with Organization I, for example, the requester or the like only needs to send or receive an email to / from one email address (or of course two or more email addresses) unique to Organization I (or post a message to a specific channel or team and view the messages posted to this channel or team). Therefore, it is not necessary for the requester or the like and Organization I to communicate via multiple channels such as email, telephone, oral communication, and physical documents, etc., and it is possible to effectively suppress the occurrence of a situation where Organization I overlooks a case received from the requester or the like.
[0131] Also, according to various embodiments, the document creation server device can store a plurality of emails (messages) related to a certain case in association with case identification information for identifying the certain case, and for the certain case, store a plurality of files belonging to the same certain group and having different versions from each other in association with group identification for identifying the certain group related to the case identification information.
[0132] By referring to the information stored in this way, the document creation server device (and thus each user belonging to Organization I) can first recognize each email (and attached file) sent or received regarding the certain case (see, for example, FIGS. 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, etc.). As a result, each user can quickly and efficiently access a desired email and / or a file attached to the email among the plurality of emails related to the certain case.
[0133] Furthermore, the document creation server device (and thus each user belonging to Organization I) can recognize a plurality of files belonging to the same said group and having different versions in chronological order in relation to a said case. Therefore, each user can quickly and efficiently access a file having a desired version (e.g., the latest version) among the plurality of files transmitted and received in relation to the said case. Specifically, in the conventional method, each time a user receives a file from a requester or the like via email, the user uses an explorer or the like to save the file in a specific folder, loads and edits a desired file (such as a file having the latest version) from among the plurality of files saved in such a specific folder, and then needs to send the edited file to the requester or the like. However, according to various embodiments, each user can easily and quickly open and edit a desired file (such as a file having the latest version) by viewing a screen (see, for example, FIGS. 8, 10, 12, 13, etc.) on which a plurality of files belonging to the same said group and having different versions are displayed in chronological order in relation to the said case. Furthermore, each user can easily associate the file edited in this way with a new file belonging to the said group (see, for example, FIG. 10, etc.). Moreover, in the situation of creating an email to be sent to a requester or the like, each user can recognize a plurality of files belonging to the said group in chronological order, so that a desired file (such as the edited file) can be easily and quickly specified as the file to be attached (see, for example, FIG. 11, etc.).
[0134] Furthermore, the document creation server device (and thus each user belonging to Organization I) can recognize which file (if any) attached to each of the multiple mails associated with the case identification information for identifying a certain case corresponds to any of the multiple files associated with the group identification information for identifying the certain group related to the certain case. In other words, each file associated with the group identification information for identifying the certain group related to the certain case can recognize which mail among the multiple mails associated with the case identification information for identifying the certain case the file was attached to. Thereby, each user can easily and quickly recognize which mail the certain file belonging to the certain group was attached to, for example, just by browsing the case screens illustrated in FIGS. 10, 12, 13, etc. and comparing the file names. Furthermore, each user can easily and quickly recognize which version of the file (for example, the file with the latest version) among the multiple files belonging to the certain group and having different versions each file attached to a certain mail among the multiple mails associated with the certain case is, for example, just by browsing the case screens illustrated in FIGS. 10, 12, 13, etc. and comparing the file names.
[0135] Also, according to various embodiments, each user belonging to Organization I can access the document creation server device 30 using the user name and password given to this Organization I to browse a case screen (see, for example, FIGS. 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, etc.) showing each mail transmitted or received by this Organization I. This also holds true for any user including a user assigned midway to a certain case (such as Case X), a user who started working in Organization I on a mid-term basis, etc. Therefore, by suppressing the situation where the mails transmitted or received for each case are sent only to a specific individual, it is possible to suppress the situation where such mails are not shared with other users and become personalized.
[0136] 5. Various aspects The computer program according to the first aspect, when executed by at least one processor, stores a first message received or transmitted by a predetermined account for a certain case and attached with a first file, stores a second message received or transmitted by the predetermined account for the certain case and attached with a second file, stores a plurality of messages including the first message and the second message related to each other for the certain case, in association with case identification information for identifying the certain case, and stores a plurality of files including the first file and the second file belonging to the same group and related to each other for the certain case, in association with group identification information for identifying the group related to the case identification information, and causes the at least one processor to function in such a manner.
[0137] The computer program according to the second aspect can include, in the first aspect, a first computer program that causes the at least one processor to function so as to execute a function related to transmission and reception of messages including the first message and the second message, and a second computer program that causes the at least one processor to function so as to execute a function related to file management, including associating the plurality of messages with the case identification information for the certain case and associating the plurality of files with the group identification information for the certain case.
[0138] In the third aspect, the computer program can cause the at least one processor to function so as to execute an analysis function including, in the second aspect, "each of the plurality of files is a file indicating a contract, and the second computer program divides a certain sentence included in the file indicating the contract into a plurality of unit words and determines whether the plurality of unit words satisfy predetermined conditions, or obtains warning information indicating a warning for the certain sentence by inputting the plurality of unit words into a learned model."
[0139] In the fourth aspect, the computer program can cause the at least one processor to function so as to associate, in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect, "the first message with the first file attached, stored in association with the case identification information, and the first file stored in association with the group identification information."
[0140] In the fifth aspect, the computer program can cause the at least one processor to function so as to store, in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect, "a third message related to the first message and the second message, received by the predetermined account for a certain case and having a third file attached, store the third message in association with the case identification information, and store a plurality of other files including the third file, which belong to a different group from the group and are related to each other, in association with a different group identification information identifying the different group related to the case identification information."
[0141] The computer program according to the sixth aspect can cause the at least one processor to function so as to "combine and display on a display unit the information on the plurality of messages stored in association with the case identification information, the information on the plurality of files stored in association with the group identification information related to the case identification information, and the information on the other plurality of files stored in association with the other group identification information related to the case identification information" in the fifth aspect described above.
[0142] The computer program according to the seventh aspect can cause the at least one processor to function so as to "store a plurality of phrases each of which can be used as a tag, and assign, as a tag, at least one phrase included in the text of each message among the plurality of messages from among the plurality of phrases" in any one of the first aspect to the sixth aspect described above.
[0143] The computer program according to the eighth aspect can cause the at least one processor to function so as to "acquire at least one word included in the text of a new message, and identify, as past messages related to the new message, messages among the plurality of messages to which a tag that matches or is related to the at least one word is assigned" in the seventh aspect described above.
[0144] The server device according to the ninth aspect can be configured to "include at least one processor, and the at least one processor stores a first message received or transmitted by a predetermined account for a certain case and attached with a first file, stores a second message received or transmitted by the predetermined account for the certain case and attached with a second file, stores a plurality of messages including the first message and the second message related to each other for the certain case, in association with case identification information for identifying the certain case, and stores a plurality of files including the first file and the second file belonging to the same group and related to each other for the certain case, in association with group identification information for identifying the group related to the case identification information."
[0145] The method according to the tenth aspect can be configured to "a method executed by at least one processor, including storing a first message received or transmitted by a predetermined account for a certain case and attached with a first file, storing a second message received or transmitted by the predetermined account for the certain case and attached with a second file, storing a plurality of messages including the first message and the second message related to each other for the certain case, in association with case identification information for identifying the certain case, and storing a plurality of files including the first file and the second file belonging to the same group and related to each other for the certain case, in association with group identification information for identifying the group related to the case identification information."
[0146] As described above, according to the technology disclosed in the present application, it is possible to provide a computer program, a server device, and a method that assist in creating a contract while improving convenience.
[0147] Considering many possible embodiments to which the principles of the invention disclosed in this specification can be applied, it should be understood that the various illustrated embodiments are merely preferred examples and should not be considered as limiting the technical scope of the invention according to the claims to these preferred examples. In fact, the technical scope of the invention according to the claims is defined by the appended claims. Therefore, for all that belongs to the technical scope of the invention described in the claims, the inventors claim patent grant as their invention.
Explanation of Signs
[0148] 1 Document creation system 10 Communication network 20 Terminal device (information processing device) 30 Document creation server device (information processing device) 40 Mail server device (information processing device)
Claims
1. When executed by at least one processor, a plurality of messages including a first message received or transmitted by a predetermined account for a certain case and having a first file attached thereto and a second message received or transmitted by the predetermined account for the certain case and having a second file attached thereto are associated with case identification information for identifying the certain case, a plurality of files including the first file and the second file that belong to the same group and are related to each other for the certain case are associated with group identification information for identifying the group related to the case identification information, a third message received by the predetermined account for the certain case and having a third file attached thereto and related to the first message and the second message is associated with the case identification information, a plurality of other files including the third file that belong to a different group from the group and are related to each other are associated with different group identification information for identifying the different group related to the case identification information, A computer program that causes the at least one processor to function as described above.
2. A first computer program that causes the at least one processor to function so as to execute a function related to transmission and reception of messages including the first message and the second message, A second computer program that causes the at least one processor to function so as to execute a function related to file management including associating the plurality of messages with the case identification information for the certain case and associating the plurality of files with the group identification information for the certain case, The computer program according to claim 1, comprising:
3. Each of the plurality of files is a file indicating a contract, The second computer program, by dividing a certain sentence included in the file indicating the contract into a plurality of unit words and determining whether the plurality of unit words satisfy predetermined conditions, or by inputting the plurality of unit words into a learned model, obtains warning information indicating a warning for the certain sentence, and executes an analysis function, The computer program according to claim 2, which causes the at least one processor to function as described above.
4. Associating the first message with the attached first file, which is associated with the case identification information, and the first file, which is associated with the group identification information. The computer program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which causes the at least one processor to function as described above.
5. Combining information regarding the plurality of messages associated with the case identification information, information regarding the plurality of files associated with the group identification information related to the case identification information, and information regarding the other plurality of files associated with the other group identification information related to the case identification information, and displaying the combined information on a display unit. The computer program according to claim 1, which causes the at least one processor to function as described above.
6. The computer program according to claim 5, wherein the information regarding the plurality of files associated with the group identification information is displayed on the display unit in chronological order.
7. The computer program according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the second file is edited from the first file.
8. Comprising at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor associates a plurality of messages including a first message received or transmitted by a predetermined account for a certain case and having a first file attached thereto and a second message received or transmitted by the predetermined account for the certain case and having a second file attached thereto with case identification information for identifying the certain case; associates a plurality of files including the first file and the second file, which belong to the same group and are related to each other for the certain case, with group identification information for identifying the group related to the case identification information; associates a third message related to the first message and the second message, which is received by the predetermined account for the certain case and has a third file attached thereto, with the case identification information; associates another plurality of files including the third file, which belong to a different group from the group and are related to each other, with other group identification information for identifying the other group related to the case identification information; A server device configured as described above.
9. A method executed by at least one processor, associating a plurality of messages including a first message received or transmitted by a predetermined account for a certain case and having a first file attached thereto and a second message received or transmitted by the predetermined account for the certain case and having a second file attached thereto with case identification information identifying the certain case; associating a plurality of files including the first file and the second file belonging to the same group and related to each other for the certain case with group identification information identifying the group related to the case identification information; associating a third message related to the first message and the second message, which is received by the predetermined account for the certain case and has a third file attached thereto, with the case identification information, and associating another plurality of files including the third file, which belong to a different group from the group and are related to each other, with another group identification information identifying the different group related to the case identification information; A method including the above.
Citation Information
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