Document management method, document management system, and document management program

Abstract

The present invention facilitates association with a plurality of pieces of document information. This document management method is executed by a processor. The document management method includes: collectively acquiring a plurality of pieces of target document information belonging to a series of correction processes; and storing the plurality of pieces of target document information in a predetermined storage unit in association with order information indicating the order of the series of correction processes.

Description

Document management method, document management system, and document management program CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-140791, filed on August 31, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a document management method, a document management system, and a document management program.

[0003] Conventionally, technologies for associating and managing multiple pieces of document information have been known. For example, an information processing device described in Patent Literature 1 transmits, to a target person, acquisition information that enables the acquisition of a stored document, which is a document stored in a specific area, and transmits, to the target person, storage information that enables the storage of a created document, which is a document created by the target person based on the stored document acquired using the acquisition information, in a specific area. Furthermore, the device associates the created document stored in the specific area using the storage information with the stored document, and displays information about the created document and information about the stored document in an associated state.

[0004] JP 2020-184271 A

[0005] However, the information processing device described in Patent Document 1 is premised on transmitting acquisition information and storage information to a target user, so that a user needs to use appropriate acquisition information and storage information when associating and managing stored documents and created documents, which limits the convenience for the user.

[0006] Therefore, an object of an embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a document management method, a document management system, and a document management program that can more easily associate multiple pieces of document information.

[0007] A document management method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a document management method executed by a processor, and includes acquiring multiple pieces of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes at once, and storing the multiple pieces of target document information in a specified memory unit in association with order information indicating the order of the series of revision processes.

[0008] In addition, a document management method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a document management method executed by a processor, and includes acquiring at least one target document information and related material information relating to materials related to the at least one target document information in a lump sum, and correlating the at least one target document information and the related material information and storing them in a specified memory unit.

[0009] In addition, a document management method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a document management method executed by a processor, and includes the steps of: acquiring target document information including revision history information relating to the revision history; extracting at least one candidate document information belonging to the same series of revision processes as the target document information from among multiple document information stored in a specified memory unit based on at least one old version document information that is an earlier version of the target document information according to the revision process corresponding to the revision history, which is generated based on the revision history information; and storing the target document information, the at least one candidate document information, and order information indicating the order of the revision process in association with each other in the specified memory unit.

[0010] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a document management method, a document management system, and a document management program that can more easily associate multiple pieces of document information.

[0011] 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a document management system 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of revision history information according to this embodiment; FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of first display information displayed on a user terminal 200; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of target document information stored in a storage unit 110; FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing in the document management system 100; FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of second display information displayed on a user terminal 200; FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of related material information stored in a storage unit 110; FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing in the document management system 100; FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of third display information displayed on a user terminal 200;

[0012] A preferred embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a document management system 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The document management system 100 is communicably connected to a user terminal 200 via a network such as the Internet. Details of the document management system 100 will be described later.

[0013] The document management system 100 of this embodiment is an information processing system realized by a document management program, and is an information processing system that acquires multiple pieces of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes, associates them with order information that indicates the order of the series of revision processes, and stores them in a predetermined storage unit. In other words, the document management system 100 can, for example, accept a batch upload of multiple pieces of target document information by a user, and store the multiple pieces of target document information that have been uploaded in batch in association with the order information.

[0014] The document management system 100 of this embodiment is an information processing system that acquires at least one piece of target document information and related material information related to the at least one piece of target document information, associates the at least one piece of target document information with the related material information, and stores the associated piece of target document information in a predetermined storage unit. In other words, the document management system 100 can, for example, store the target document information and related material information acquired from a user in an associated manner.

[0015] The document management system 100 of this embodiment is an information processing system that stores, in a predetermined storage unit, target document information including revision history information, at least one candidate document information belonging to the same series of revision processes as the target document information, which is extracted based on at least one old-version document information that is an earlier version of the target document information, and sequence information indicating the sequence of the revision processes, in association with the target document information. In other words, the document management system 100 can, for example, store candidate document information of a different version than the target document information, among multiple document information already stored, in association with the target document information.

[0016] In this specification, a revision process refers to a process including multiple pieces of document information that are appropriate for management as a series of cases. Therefore, a revision process is not limited to a process including a certain piece of document information and document information resulting from revision of that piece of document information. Even if document information belonging to the same series of revision processes is involved, later versions of document information are not necessarily created by modifying earlier versions of document information. It is not necessary for all pieces of document information belonging to a single revision process to have different content; multiple pieces of document information with the same content may be included. In this specification, revision history also includes the history of changes to document information other than revisions, such as additions, insertions, deletions, rearrangements of paragraphs or sentences, formatting changes, and changes to various metadata.

[0017] The user terminal 200 of this embodiment is a computer used by a user of the document management system 100, and may be a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, or the like.

[0018] 1 shows one user terminal 200, but there may be multiple user terminals 200. Multiple users may use one user terminal 200, or one user may use multiple user terminals 200.

[0019] Next, details of the document management system 100 of this embodiment will be described. The document management system 100 includes a storage unit 110, a target document acquisition unit 120, a storage processing unit 130, a display information generation unit 140, a display information output unit 150, a related material acquisition unit 160, a previous version document generation unit 170, and a candidate document extraction unit 180. Each unit shown in Fig. 1 can be realized, for example, by using a storage area or by a processor executing a program stored in the storage area.

[0020] The storage unit 110 of this embodiment stores information processed in the document management system 100. The storage unit 110 can store, for example, target document information, related material information, candidate document information, revision history information, and old version document information, which will be described later.

[0021] The target document acquisition unit 120 of this embodiment acquires target document information. The target document acquisition unit 120 may acquire one piece of target document information, or may acquire multiple pieces of target document information. Details of the target document acquisition unit 120 will be described later.

[0022] The target document information in this embodiment is document information to be processed by the document management system 100. The document information in this embodiment may be, for example, document information of a legal document such as a contract. The document information may be, for example, document information of a contract created using predetermined electronic document creation software, document information of a paper contract digitized using predetermined image analysis technology (e.g., OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology), or document information generated using a template or document creation function (e.g., an editor function) provided by the document management system 100 or an external system or service. Documents to be processed by the document management system 100 include legal documents such as regulations, rules, and contracts. Contracts are documents that contain clauses and have predetermined legal effects, and also include applications, memoranda, and the like. Although a contract is described as an example of document information in this specification, the present invention may also be applied to other document information as appropriate.

[0023] The contract includes not only a contract that has been agreed upon and concluded by both parties, but also a contract that is currently being reviewed by both parties (i.e., a draft contract), a contract that has been exchanged between the parties but not agreed upon, or a contract template created for reference when entering into a contract with another party. In the description of this embodiment, unless otherwise specified, the term "contract" includes not only a contract that has been agreed upon by both parties, but also a contract that is currently being reviewed by both parties (i.e., a draft contract), a contract that has been exchanged between the parties but not agreed upon, or a contract template created for reference when entering into a contract with another party. In addition, in this embodiment, the target document information may be a finalized contract, the latest version of the contract, or a contract that is not the latest version.

[0024] The document information includes, for example, text, diagram, or table data that indicates the contents of the document.

[0025] In addition, the document information may further include title information indicating the title of the document, status information indicating the status of the document (e.g., reviewed, agreed upon, other party's revised proposal, other party's draft, first proposal, template, etc.), type information indicating the type of contract, position information indicating the position of the contract, and tag information indicating tags attached according to the content of the document.

[0026] Here, the title in this embodiment may be, for example, the file name of the document information, or the title (for example, "Confidentiality Agreement") of the document (contract, etc.) indicated by the document information.

[0027] Furthermore, the status in this embodiment may be, for example, a document review status. When the document information is document information of a contract, one or both of the contracting parties may review (inspect) and revise the contract when the contracting parties reach an agreement. As an example, in the case of a contract between companies, the legal department in charge of contract inspection may inspect the contents of the contract and revise it as necessary. Note that inspection may also be referred to as confirmation or review.

[0028] Furthermore, the type in this embodiment may be, for example, a type (category) of the content of the document information. For example, if the document information is a contract, it may be information indicating the type (sometimes called a type) of the contract content, such as a "confidentiality agreement" or "service outsourcing contract." Furthermore, the position in this embodiment may be information indicating the contract position, such as a "confidentiality disclosing party" or "outsourcing party."

[0029] Furthermore, the tag in this embodiment may be, for example, something that succinctly indicates the content of the document information. The tag may be set, for example, to classify the document information. The tag may be set, for example, as a subcategory set for each type (category). That is, if the type is "outsourcing contract," the tag may be "recruitment," "software development," or the like, which is the specific content of the outsourcing contract. One or more pieces of tag information may be set in the document information.

[0030] In addition, the title information, status information, type information, position information, and tag information may be information set according to user input, or may be information extracted through analysis of the target document information by an information processing system (e.g., document management system 100).

[0031] Furthermore, the language of the target document information may be, for example, Japanese, English, or other language.

[0032] Furthermore, the target document acquisition unit 120 can acquire target document information including revision history information relating to the revision history.

[0033] The revision history information in this embodiment is, for example, information regarding the history of revisions made to document information in response to user reviews. The revision history information includes, for example, revision user information indicating the user who made the revision, revision date information indicating the date of the revision, revision content information indicating the content of the revision, and comment content information indicating the content of comments added at the time of the revision. The revision history information may also include related information, which will be described later.

[0034] 2 is a diagram showing an example of revision history information according to this embodiment. The revision history information according to this embodiment includes, for example, a revision history ID, revision user information, revision date information, revision content information, and comment content information. The revision history ID is information for identifying the revision history indicated by the revision history information.

[0035] The storage processing unit 130 of this embodiment performs storage processing of document information.

[0036] The storage processing unit 130 stores a plurality of pieces of document information in a predetermined storage unit (for example, the storage unit 110 or a storage unit of an external information processing system) in association with order information indicating the order of a series of correction processes.

[0037] For example, the storage processing unit 130 first associates the same sequence ID with each of the multiple pieces of document information belonging to a series of revision processes, and then associates order information with each of the multiple pieces of document information belonging to the series of revision processes. This allows the document management system 100 to recognize which revision process the document information belongs to and in what order.

[0038] Here, the sequence ID in this embodiment is information that identifies a sequence. The sequence in this embodiment is information that indicates a series of revision processes. In other words, multiple pieces of target document information that belong to the same sequence indicate that they belong to the same series of revision processes. Furthermore, the order information in this embodiment may include status information, and may also include numerical information such as "1" and "2."

[0039] The storage processing unit 130 will be described in detail later.

[0040] The display information generating unit 140 of this embodiment generates display information for displaying a predetermined screen.

[0041] The display information output unit 150 of this embodiment outputs display information. The display information output unit 150 can output the display information to the user terminal 200, for example.

[0042] The display information generating unit 140 and the display information output unit 150 will be described in detail later.

[0043] First, we will explain the "collective acquisition function" in the document management system 100. In the "collective acquisition function," the document management system 100 acquires multiple pieces of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes, associates them with order information indicating the order of the series of revision processes, and stores them in a predetermined storage unit.

[0044] The target document acquisition unit 120 acquires multiple pieces of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes in a lump. Note that in this specification, "in a lump" does not necessarily mean acquiring all of the series of revision processes at once, but may mean that some of the series of revision processes are missing, or that the series of revision processes are acquired in multiple installments.

[0045] The target document acquisition unit 120 can also acquire a folder containing multiple pieces of target document information to acquire multiple pieces of target document information at once. In this case, the folder may include, for example, a folder (i.e., a child folder) containing at least one piece of target document information among the multiple pieces of target document information.

[0046] The target document acquisition unit 120 may acquire the target document information from the user terminal 200, for example, or may acquire the target document information from a specified information processing system or storage device in response to an instruction from the user terminal 200.

[0047] The storage processing unit 130 of this embodiment stores a plurality of pieces of target document information in a predetermined storage unit (for example, the storage unit 110 or a storage unit of an external information processing system) in association with sequence information indicating the sequence of a series of revision processes. In other words, the storage processing unit 130 can store a plurality of pieces of target document information in association with document versions.

[0048] Specifically, the storage processing unit 130 first associates the same sequence ID with each of the plurality of pieces of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes, and then associates order information with each of the plurality of pieces of target document information belonging to the series of revision processes, thereby enabling the document management system 100 to recognize which revision process the target document information belongs to and in what order the document information is in.

[0049] The storage processing unit 130 can store multiple target document information in a specified memory unit in association with order information, for example, based on information indicating the creation time or update time of each of the multiple target document information, assuming that the information has been modified in the order of the times.

[0050] Furthermore, the storage processing unit 130 can, for example, analyze the contents (e.g., text) of multiple pieces of target document information, and store the multiple pieces of target document information in a predetermined storage unit in association with order information based on the revision history of the content. Specifically, for example, the storage processing unit 130 can process target document information that does not include a revision history as the oldest version of document information, and can process documents in order of increasing revision history as being updated. This allows the document management system 100 to manage the target document information in an appropriate order, even if the order of update time does not match the order of versions, for example.

[0051] Furthermore, the storage processing unit 130 can store the plurality of pieces of target document information in a predetermined storage unit in association with order information based on, for example, the title information (particularly, for example, the file name) of each piece of target document information. Specifically, the storage processing unit 130 can recognize, for example, target document information whose title information includes "Second Draft" as target document information created later than target document information whose title information includes "First Draft," and store the target document information in the predetermined storage unit.

[0052] Furthermore, for example, if the title information includes date information, the storage processing unit 130 can recognize the date and store it in a predetermined storage unit in association with the order information according to the date.

[0053] Furthermore, when the target document acquisition unit 120 acquires a folder, the storage processing unit 130 can store multiple pieces of target document information in a predetermined storage unit in association with order information based on hierarchical information indicating a predetermined hierarchy in the folder. Specifically, if the folder includes multiple folders and the titles of the multiple folders are "First Draft" and "Second Draft," the target document information stored in the folder "Second Draft" can be recognized as target document information created later than the target document information stored in the folder "First Draft," and can be stored in the predetermined storage unit.

[0054] Furthermore, when the target document acquisition unit 120 acquires a folder, the storage processing unit 130 can acquire multiple pieces of target document information contained in the folder in chronological order, associate the multiple pieces of target document information with order information, and store them in a predetermined storage unit. In this case, the storage processing unit 130 may acquire the multiple pieces of target document information in the order of their creation dates or update dates, for example.

[0055] In addition, the storage processing unit 130 can store multiple target document information in a specified memory unit in association with sequential information so as to correspond to the display, in accordance with the operation performed by the user who has received the first display information described below.

[0056] The display information generating unit 140 of this embodiment generates first display information for displaying a screen on the user terminal 200 for associating multiple pieces of document information and sequential information, and stores the first display information in the storage unit 110.

[0057] The display information output unit 150 of this embodiment outputs the first display information. The display information output unit 150 can output the first display information to the user terminal 200, for example.

[0058] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the first display information displayed on the user terminal 200. The screen shown in Fig. 3 includes, for example, an area 310 displaying a button for associating a plurality of pieces of target document information with sequential information, an area 320 for displaying information relating to the plurality of pieces of target document information in association with sequential information, and an area 330 for displaying status information for each of the plurality of pieces of target document information.

[0059] In this embodiment, when the user selects area 310, the plurality of pieces of target document information are stored in a predetermined storage unit in association with the sequential information in accordance with the association between the plurality of pieces of target document information and the sequential information that is displayed.

[0060] In area 320, information relating to a plurality of pieces of target document information, such as title information and creation time information or update time information of the plurality of pieces of target document information, is displayed. Note that the information relating to the plurality of pieces of target document information that is displayed is not limited to this.

[0061] In the area 320 of this embodiment, first, a plurality of pieces of target document information are displayed in association with sequential information according to the analysis result of the storage processing unit 130 on the target document information.

[0062] For example, the user can change the order of the multiple pieces of target document information by selecting and moving (e.g., by dragging) an area in which information related to the multiple pieces of document information is displayed, included in area 320. This allows the user to associate the multiple pieces of target document information with appropriate order information, even if the association by the storage processing unit 130 is inappropriate.

[0063] Area 330 displays, for example, status information corresponding to each of a plurality of pieces of target document information. The status information displayed in area 330 may be, for example, information extracted through analysis of the target document information by an information processing system (e.g., document management system 100). Furthermore, the status information displayed in area 330 may be changed by a user receiving the screen shown in FIG. 3 operating a predetermined button (e.g., a button displayed in area 331a) displayed in area 330 (e.g., pressing a button or selecting from a pull-down menu) or inputting information.

[0064] 4 is a diagram showing an example of target document information stored in the storage unit 110. The document information stored in the storage unit 110 includes, for example, a document ID, a sequence ID, order information, status information, and document content information.

[0065] The document ID in this embodiment is information that identifies the target document information to be processed in the document management system 100. The document content information in this embodiment is information that indicates the content (e.g., text, figures, tables) of the document information (in this case, the target document information).

[0066] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in the document management system 100. The flowchart shown in FIG.

[0067] First, the target document acquisition unit 120 acquires multiple pieces of target document information (S501). The display information generation unit 140 generates first display information, and the display information output unit 150 outputs the first display information (S502). The storage processing unit 130 stores the multiple pieces of target document information in a predetermined storage unit in association with sequential information in response to a user's operation upon receiving the first display information (S503).

[0068] Next, we will explain the "related material acquisition function" in the document management system 100. In the "related material acquisition function," the document management system 100 acquires at least one piece of target document information and related material information related to the at least one piece of target document information, and stores the at least one piece of target document information and the related material information in a predetermined storage unit in association with each other.

[0069] The target document acquisition unit 120 of this embodiment acquires at least one piece of target document information.

[0070] The related material acquisition unit 160 of this embodiment acquires related material information related to at least one piece of target document information and stores the related material information in the storage unit 110. The related material acquisition unit 160 can acquire the related material information in response to acquisition of at least one piece of target document information by the target document acquisition unit 120. In other words, the document management system 100 (particularly, the target document acquisition unit 120 and the related material acquisition unit 160) can acquire at least one piece of target document information and related material information collectively.

[0071] More specifically, for example, a user uploads target document information and related material information to the document management system 100. Then, the document management system 100 (particularly, the target document acquisition unit 120 and the related material acquisition unit 160) acquires the uploaded target document information and related material information all at once.

[0072] In this embodiment, the related material information is document information related to at least one piece of target document information. If the target document information is document information about a contract, the related material information may be, for example, memos, explanatory materials, review materials, etc. used when creating, amending, or concluding the contract. The related material information includes, for example, publicly available information (e.g., the Internet), information contained in publications such as books or magazines, information provided through a predetermined information processing service (e.g., a contract review service or an expert response service), and the user's past contracts or clauses. This allows the user to associate and manage and refer to the target document information and the materials used in creating the target document information.

[0073] The related material information may be, for example, information in a file format different from at least one of the target document information. That is, if the document information is, for example, a file in Portable Document Format (PDF) format or a document file created using so-called word processing software (document creation software) such as Word, the related material information may be, for example, an image file, a file created using spreadsheet software, or a slide file created using presentation software. This allows the document management system 100 to manage target document information and related material information that are in different file formats.

[0074] At this time, the document management system 100 can acquire a file as target document information or related material information based on the file format of the acquired file. That is, if the document management system 100 acquires, for example, a PDF file or a document file created using so-called word processing software, the document management system 100 (particularly the target document acquisition unit 120) may acquire the file as target document information. Also, if the document management system 100 acquires, for example, an image file, a file created using spreadsheet software, or a slide format file, the document management system 100 (particularly the related material acquisition unit 160) may acquire the file as related material information. This allows the document management system 100 to appropriately acquire files based on the file format.

[0075] The storage processing unit 130 associates at least one piece of target document information with related material information and stores them in a predetermined storage unit (for example, the storage unit 110 or a storage unit of an external information processing system). This allows the user to manage related information indicating the basis or history of the creation, revision, or conclusion of the at least one piece of target document information by associating it with the at least one piece of target document information. In this case, the at least one piece of target document information may include revision history information.

[0076] Furthermore, the storage processing unit 130 can store multiple pieces of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes in association with order information indicating the order of the series of revision processes, and related material information. This allows the user to manage related information indicating the basis and process for the creation, revision, or conclusion of multiple pieces of target document information belonging to the series of revision processes in association with the multiple pieces of target document information belonging to the series of revision processes, for each series of revision processes.

[0077] The display information generating unit 140 generates second display information for displaying on the user terminal 200 a screen for associating at least one piece of target document information with related material information, and stores the second display information in the storage unit 110. The display information generating unit 140 can also generate second display information for displaying on the user terminal 200 a screen for associating multiple pieces of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes, order information indicating the order of the series of revision processes, and related material information.

[0078] The display information output unit 150 outputs the second display information. The display information output unit 150 can output the second display information to the user terminal 200, for example.

[0079] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of second display information displayed on user terminal 200. The screen shown in Fig. 6 includes, for example, an area 610 displaying a button for associating multiple pieces of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes, order information indicating the order of the series of revision processes, and related material information, an area 620 for displaying information about the multiple pieces of target document information in association with the order information, an area 630 for displaying status information for each of the multiple pieces of target document information, and an area 640 for displaying information about related material information.

[0080] In this embodiment, when the user selects area 610, the displayed plurality of pieces of target document information, sequential information, and related material information are associated with each other and stored in a specified storage unit in accordance with the associations between the displayed plurality of pieces of target document information, sequential information, and related material information.

[0081] In area 620, information relating to a plurality of pieces of target document information, such as title information and creation time information or update time information of the plurality of pieces of target document information, is displayed. Note that the information relating to the plurality of pieces of target document information that is displayed is not limited to this.

[0082] In the area 620 of this embodiment, first, a plurality of pieces of target document information are displayed in association with sequential information according to the analysis result of the target document information by the storage processing unit 130 .

[0083] For example, the user can change the order of the plurality of pieces of target document information by selecting and moving (e.g., by dragging) an area in which information relating to the plurality of pieces of target document information is displayed, included in the area 620. This allows the user to associate the plurality of pieces of target document information with appropriate order information, even if the association by the storage processing unit 130 is inappropriate.

[0084] Area 630 displays, for example, status information corresponding to each of a plurality of pieces of target document information. The status information displayed in area 630 may be, for example, information extracted through analysis of the target document information by an information processing system (e.g., document management system 100). Furthermore, the status information displayed in area 630 may be changed by a user receiving the screen shown in FIG. 6 operating a predetermined button (e.g., a button displayed in area 631a) displayed in area 630 (e.g., pressing a button or selecting from a pull-down menu) or inputting information.

[0085] Area 640 displays information about related material information, such as the title information and creation time information or update time information of the related material information. Note that the information about the displayed related material information is not limited to this. Area 640 may also display multiple pieces of information about one piece of related material information, or information about multiple pieces of related material information.

[0086] An area 641 included in the area 640 displays a button for displaying the corresponding related material information. That is, when the user selects the area 641, the content of the corresponding related material information is displayed. This allows the user to refer to the content of the related material information and determine whether or not it should be associated with the target document information.

[0087] 7 is a diagram showing an example of related material information stored in the storage unit 110. The related material information stored in the storage unit 110 includes, for example, a related material ID, a sequence ID, and related material content information. The related material ID in this embodiment is information that identifies the related material information processed in the document management system 100. The related material content information is information that indicates the content (e.g., text, figures, tables) of the related material information.

[0088] 8 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in the document management system 100. The flowchart shown in FIG.

[0089] First, the target document acquisition unit 120 acquires target document information (S801). The related material acquisition unit 160 acquires related material information (S802). The display information generation unit 140 generates second display information, and the display information output unit 150 outputs the second display information (S803). The storage processing unit 130 associates the target document information and the related material information and stores them (S804).

[0090] Next, a description will be given of the "version candidate suggestion function" in the document management system 100. In the "version candidate suggestion function" of this embodiment, the document management system 100 associates target document information including revision history information with at least one candidate document information belonging to the same series of revision processes as the target document information, which is extracted based on at least one old-version document information that is an earlier version of the target document information, and sequence information indicating the order of the revision processes, and stores the candidate document information in a predetermined storage unit.

[0091] The target document acquisition unit 120 of this embodiment acquires target document information including revision history information relating to the revision history.

[0092] The old version document generation unit 170 of this embodiment generates at least one old version document information that is an earlier version of the target document information, based on the revision history information contained in the target document information, in accordance with the revision process corresponding to the revision history, and stores it in the memory unit 110.

[0093] The old version document information in this embodiment is information about a version of a document before the target document information is corrected.

[0094] The old-version document generation unit 170 can generate old-version documents based on predetermined criteria, such as date and time or user. For example, based on revision history information, multiple revisions made on the same day can be treated as a single revision group, and old-version document information can be generated for each such revision group (i.e., for each revision date). Furthermore, based on revision history information, the old-version document generation unit 170 can also treat multiple consecutive revisions made by the same user as a single revision group, and generate old-version document information for each such revision group (i.e., for each consecutive revision made by the same user). This allows the document management system 100 to generate old-version document information for each group of revisions, allowing users to refer to meaningful old-version document information for each group. The generated old-version documents can be saved, or can be left unsaved, for example, if the system-generated old-version documents do not contain enough changes to be considered old versions. This can be determined by the user or by the system itself, by determining whether the similarity between multiple files generated as successive versions is above a certain level.

[0095] The candidate document extraction unit 180 of this embodiment extracts at least one candidate document that may belong to the same series of revision processes as the target document information. In particular, for example, the candidate document extraction unit 180 extracts at least one candidate document information that belongs to the same series of revision processes as the target document information from among multiple document information stored in a predetermined storage unit (e.g., the storage unit 110 or a storage unit of an external information processing system) based on at least one old version document information.

[0096] When reviewing document information, a user may store the revised document information in a predetermined storage unit as appropriate. That is, the user may store, for example, document information drafted by the user's company, document information revised by the other party, and document information revised by the user's company. Conventionally, when a user wants to store revised document information in association with another version (e.g., a previous version) of document information, the user must specify the other version of the document information.

[0097] Therefore, the candidate document extraction unit 180 extracts, as candidate document information, document information of a different version that should be associated with the target document information to be stored. Here, the candidate document information is document information generated based on the target document information and the revision history information contained in the target document information. In other words, the candidate document information can be considered as a candidate for document information of a previous version that should be associated with the target document information to be stored. By extracting the candidate document information, the document management system 100 proposes candidate document information of a different version than the target document information that should be associated with the target document information.

[0098] If there is document information that is a later version of the target document information, the candidate document extraction section 180 may extract candidates for the later version of the document information.

[0099] The candidate document extraction unit 180 can extract at least one piece of candidate document information further based on the similarity with at least one piece of old-version document information. Specifically, the candidate document extraction unit 180 can calculate the similarity between multiple pieces of document information stored in a predetermined storage unit and at least one piece of old-version document information, and extract the document information with the highest similarity as the candidate document information.

[0100] The candidate document extraction unit 180 may extract one piece of candidate document information that is most likely to belong to a previous version or revision process. In this case, at least one piece of candidate document information belonging to one revision process may be extracted. In this case, the candidate document extraction unit 180 may extract at least one piece of candidate document information that belongs to the series of revision processes to which the candidate document information having the highest similarity belongs (i.e., has the same sequence ID).

[0101] Alternatively, the candidate document extraction unit 180 may extract at least one candidate document information belonging to each of a plurality of revision processes. In this case, the candidate document extraction unit 180 may extract at least one candidate document information belonging to a plurality of revision processes (i.e., having different sequence IDs) to which each of a plurality of candidate document information having a predetermined similarity belongs. Furthermore, in this case, the candidate document extraction unit 180 may extract at least one candidate document information belonging to a plurality of revision processes in descending order of similarity. This allows the user to receive suggestions of multiple candidates as document information corresponding to a previous version of the target document information through the processing of the document management system 100, making it easier to associate appropriate candidate document information with the target document information.

[0102] Here, the similarity in this embodiment is information indicating the degree of similarity between document information pieces. The similarity may be calculated, for example, according to the Levenshtein distance, or according to the degree of similarity between the title information, status information, type information, position information, or tag information between the document information pieces, or may be calculated using other predetermined techniques.

[0103] The display information generation unit 140 of this embodiment generates third display information for displaying a screen on the user terminal 200 for associating the target document information, at least one candidate document information, and sequential information, and stores the third display information in the memory unit 110.

[0104] The display information generating unit 140 may generate third display information for displaying the target document information, at least one candidate document information belonging to one revision process, and sequential information. In this case, the display information generating unit 140 may generate the third display information for displaying a screen for associating a series of candidate document information belonging to a revision process to which the candidate document information having the highest similarity belongs based on the old version document information, for example. This allows the user to easily associate the target document information, the candidate document information having the highest similarity, and the sequential information.

[0105] The display information generating unit 140 may also generate third display information for displaying the target document information, multiple candidate document information belonging to multiple revision processes, and sequential information. In this case, the display information generating unit 140 may generate third display information for displaying a screen for associating multiple candidate document information belonging to multiple revision processes to which each of multiple candidate document information having a predetermined similarity based on the old version of the document information belongs, or multiple candidate document information belonging to multiple revision processes having a predetermined similarity based on the old version of the document information. That is, in this case, the display information generating unit 140 generates third display information for displaying multiple candidate revision processes when associating the target document information on the screen, and a user referring to the display based on the third display information selects a revision process to be associated with the target document information from the multiple candidate revision processes. This allows the user to select a revision process to be associated with the target document information from the multiple candidate revision processes, and easily associate the target document information, the candidate document information, and sequential information.

[0106] The display information output unit 150 outputs the third display information. The display information output unit 150 can output the third display information to the user terminal 200, for example.

[0107] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of third display information displayed on the user terminal 200. The screen shown in Fig. 9 includes, for example, an area 910 displaying a button for executing association between target document information, at least one piece of candidate document information, and sequential information, an area 920 for displaying information related to the target document information, and areas 930 and 940 for displaying information related to the candidate document information in association with the sequential information.

[0108] For example, when a user selects a candidate displayed in area 930, the display format of area 930 may be changed to a display format indicating that area 930 is selected. The format indicating that area 930 is selected may be, for example, a display format different from that of unselected area 940, such as a display format in which area 930 is displayed in a different color or a display format in which the color or shape of the frame of area 930 is different.

[0109] Although two correction process candidates are displayed on the screen shown in FIG. 9, the number of displayed correction process candidates is not limited to this.

[0110] In this embodiment, when the user selects area 910, the target document information and at least one candidate document information are stored in a specified memory unit in association with the sequential information in accordance with the association between the selected target document information, at least one candidate document information, and sequential information.

[0111] In this embodiment, information about the target document information, such as title information and creation time information or update time information of the target document information, is displayed in area 920. However, the information about the displayed target document information is not limited to this.

[0112] In this embodiment, the area 921a displays a button for displaying the target document information. When the user selects the area 921a, the target document information is displayed. This allows the user to easily refer to the contents of the target document information from the display screen of the third display information.

[0113] In this embodiment, information about the plurality of candidate document information, such as title information and creation time information or update time information for each of the plurality of candidate document information, is displayed in areas 930 and 940. However, the information about the plurality of candidate document information that is displayed is not limited to this.

[0114] In the present embodiment, for example, information relating to a plurality of candidate document information belonging to the series of revision processes to which the candidate document information having the highest similarity (in this case, for example, "Contract A") belongs is displayed in area 930 as "Candidate 1." In addition, in area 940, for example, information relating to a plurality of candidate document information belonging to the series of revision processes to which the candidate document information having the next highest similarity (in this case, for example, "Contract B") belongs is displayed as "Candidate 2."

[0115] The user selects either area 930 or area 940 as candidate document information corresponding to the target document information displayed in area 920, and then selects the execute button in area 910. When area 930 or area 940 is selected by the user, it may be displayed in a different manner (e.g., highlighted), allowing the user to visually grasp the candidate document information that they have selected.

[0116] In this embodiment, areas 931a and 931b included in area 930 and areas 941a and 941b included in area 940 each display a button for displaying the corresponding candidate document information. That is, when a user selects one of these areas, the content (e.g., text) of the corresponding candidate document information is displayed. This allows the user to refer to the content of the candidate document information and determine whether or not it should be associated with the target document information.

[0117] Furthermore, in this embodiment, areas 932a and 932b included in area 930 and areas 942a and 942b included in area 940 display buttons for selecting document information other than the displayed candidate document information. In other words, when the user selects one of these areas, document information stored in a predetermined storage unit can be selected. This allows the user to manually select document information that belongs to the same series of revision processes as the target document information from among the document information stored in the predetermined storage unit, when the candidate document information extracted by the candidate document extraction unit 180 does not belong to the same series of revision processes as the target document information.

[0118] The user can change the order by, for example, selecting and moving (e.g., by dragging) an area in which information related to the candidate document information is displayed, included in area 930 or area 940. This allows the user to associate the candidate document information with appropriate order information even if the association by the storage processing unit 130 is inappropriate.

[0119] 9 may further include an area for displaying status information corresponding to each of the target document information and the candidate document information. The status information displayed in the area may be changed by a user viewing the screen shown in FIG. 9 by operating a predetermined button (e.g., a button displayed in area 631a) (e.g., pressing a button or selecting from a pull-down menu) or inputting information.

[0120] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in the document management system 100. The flowchart shown in FIG.

[0121] First, the target document acquisition unit 120 acquires target document information including revision history information (S1001). The old-version document generation unit 170 generates at least one piece of old-version document information based on the revision history information included in the target document information (S1002). The candidate document extraction unit 180 extracts at least one piece of candidate document information that belongs to the same series of revision processes as the target document information based on the at least one piece of old-version document information (S1003).

[0122] Next, the display information generating unit 140 generates third display information, and the display information output unit 150 outputs the third display information (S1004). The storage processing unit 130 stores the target document information and candidate document information in association with the sequential information in response to a user operation upon receiving the third display information (S1005).

[0123] 11, an example of a hardware configuration in which the document management system 100 is realized by a computer 1100 will be described.

[0124] As shown in FIG. 11, a computer 1100 includes, for example, a processor 1101, a memory 1102, a storage device 1103, an input I / F unit 1104, a data I / F unit 1105, a communication I / F unit 1106, and a display device 1107.

[0125] Computer 1100 may be, for example, a server computer, a personal computer (e.g., desktop, laptop, tablet, etc.), a media computing platform (e.g., cable, satellite set-top box, digital video recorder, etc.), a handheld computing device (e.g., PDA, email client, etc.), or any other type of computing or communications platform.

[0126] The processor 1101 is a control unit that controls various processes in the computer 1100 by executing programs stored in the memory 1102 .

[0127] The memory 1102 is a storage medium such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The memory 1102 temporarily stores the program code of the program executed by the processor 1101 and data required when the program is executed.

[0128] The storage device 1103 is a non-volatile storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD), flash memory, etc. The storage device 1103 stores an operating system and various programs for realizing the above-mentioned components.

[0129] The input I / F unit 1104 is a device for receiving input from a user. The input I / F unit 1104 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, various sensors, a wearable device, etc. The input I / F unit 1104 may be connected to the computer 1100 via an interface such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus).

[0130] The data I / F unit 1105 is a device for inputting data from outside the computer 1100. The data I / F unit 1105 is, for example, a drive device for reading data stored in various storage media. The data I / F unit 1105 may be provided outside the computer 1100. When the data I / F unit 1105 is provided outside the computer 1100, the data I / F unit 1105 is connected to the computer 1100 via an interface such as a USB.

[0131] The communication I / F unit 1106 is a device for performing data communication via a network such as the Internet, either wired or wirelessly, with devices external to the computer 1100. The communication I / F unit 1106 may be provided external to the computer 1100. When the communication I / F unit 1106 is provided external to the computer 1100, the communication I / F unit 1106 is connected to the computer 1100 via an interface such as a USB.

[0132] The display device 1107 is a device for displaying various types of information. The display device 1107 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, a display of a wearable device, or the like. The display device 1107 may be provided outside the computer 1100. When the display device 1107 is provided outside the computer 1100, the display device 1107 is connected to the computer 1100 via, for example, a display cable. Furthermore, when a touch panel is adopted as the input I / F unit 1104, the display device 1107 may be configured as an integral part of the input I / F unit 1104.

[0133] The document management system 100 can collectively acquire multiple pieces of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes, associate the pieces of target document information with order information indicating the order of the series of revision processes, and store the pieces of target document information in a predetermined storage unit. This allows a user to more easily associate multiple pieces of target document information.

[0134] Furthermore, the document management system 100 outputs first display information for displaying a screen for associating multiple pieces of target document information with sequential information on the user terminal 200, and can store the multiple pieces of target document information in association with the sequential information based on a user operation. This allows the user to modify the sequential information as needed and associate the multiple pieces of target document information with the sequential information.

[0135] In addition, the document management system 100 can acquire a folder containing multiple pieces of target document information and acquire multiple pieces of target document information at once. This allows a user to more easily associate multiple pieces of target document information by, for example, uploading a folder.

[0136] Furthermore, the document management system 100 can acquire multiple pieces of target document information, including status information, all at once. This allows the document management system 100 to refer to the status information and store multiple pieces of target document information in association with sequential information.

[0137] In addition, the document management system 100 can simultaneously acquire at least one target document and related material information, associate the at least one target document and related material information, and store them in a predetermined storage unit, thereby enabling the user to more easily associate at least one target document and related material information.

[0138] In addition, the document management system 100 can simultaneously acquire multiple pieces of target document information and related material information belonging to a series of revision processes, and store the multiple pieces of target document information, sequential information indicating the order of the series of revision processes, and related material information in association with each other. This allows the user to more easily associate multiple pieces of target document information, sequential information, and related material information.

[0139] Furthermore, the document management system 100 generates second display information for displaying a screen for associating at least one piece of target document information with related material information on the user terminal 200, and stores the at least one piece of target document information with related material information in association with each other based on a user operation. This allows the user to associate at least one piece of target document information with related material information after checking the results of the association process performed by the document management system 100.

[0140] Furthermore, the document management system 100 can associate target document information related to a contract with related material information in a file format different from that of the target document information. This allows a user to associate and manage, for example, a contract in document format with related materials in image format or slide format that were referenced when creating or concluding the contract.

[0141] The document management system 100 also acquires target document information including revision history information, extracts at least one piece of candidate document information based on at least one piece of old document information generated based on the revision history information, and stores the target document information, the candidate document information, and the sequential information in association with each other. This allows the user to more easily associate target document information with old document information of a version previous to the target document information.

[0142] The document management system 100 also outputs third display information for displaying a screen on the user terminal 200 for associating the target document information, candidate document information, and sequential information, and can associate the target document information, candidate document information, and sequential information based on a user operation. This allows the candidate document information to be modified as needed, and the target document information, candidate document information, and sequential information to be associated with each other.

[0143] Furthermore, the document management system 100 can extract candidate document information based on the similarity with the old version of the document information, thereby enabling the document management system 100 to extract more appropriate candidate document information as document information of the previous version of the target document information.

[0144] Furthermore, the document management system 100 can output third display information that displays multiple pieces of candidate document information in order of similarity, thereby enabling the user to more easily select candidate document information.

[0145] It should be noted that the present embodiment is provided to facilitate understanding of the present disclosure and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. The present disclosure may be modified or improved without departing from the spirit thereof, and equivalents thereof are also included in the present disclosure.

[0146] In addition, in this disclosure, a "unit" does not simply mean a physical means, but also includes cases where the functions of the "unit" are realized by software. Furthermore, the functions of one "unit" or device may be realized by two or more physical means, devices, or software, and the functions of two or more "units" or devices may be realized by one physical means, device, or software.

[0147] 100 Document management system, 110 Storage unit, 120 Target document acquisition unit, 130 Storage processing unit, 140 Display information generation unit, 150 Display information output unit, 160 Related material acquisition unit, 170 Old version document generation unit, 180 Candidate document extraction unit, 200 User terminal

Claims

1. A document management method executed by a processor, comprising: acquiring multiple pieces of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes at once; and storing the multiple pieces of target document information in a specified memory unit in association with order information indicating the order of the series of revision processes.

2. The document management method of claim 1, further comprising: outputting display information for displaying on a user terminal a screen for associating the plurality of target document information with the sequential information; and wherein storing includes storing the plurality of target document information in association with the sequential information based on user operation via the user terminal.

3. The document management method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the collectively acquiring step includes acquiring a folder containing the plurality of pieces of target document information, and collectively acquiring the plurality of pieces of target document information.

4. The document management method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the order information includes information indicating a status of each of the plurality of target document information.

5. A document management system having at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: collectively acquire multiple pieces of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes; and store the multiple pieces of target document information in a specified memory unit in association with sequence information indicating the order of the series of revision processes.

6. A document management program for causing a processor to execute the following: acquiring multiple pieces of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes at once; and storing the multiple pieces of target document information in a specified memory unit in association with sequence information indicating the sequence of the series of revision processes.

7. A document management method executed by a processor, comprising: acquiring at least one target document information and related material information concerning materials related to the at least one target document information in a lump sum; and storing the at least one target document information and the related material information in a specified memory unit in association with each other.

8. The document management method according to claim 7, wherein the at least one target document information includes a plurality of target document information belonging to a series of revision processes, and the storing includes storing the plurality of target document information in association with sequence information indicating the order of the series of revision processes and the related material information.

9. The document management method of claim 7 or 8, further comprising: outputting display information for displaying on a user terminal a screen for associating the at least one target document information and the related material information; and wherein storing comprises storing the at least one target document information and the related material information in association with each other based on user operation via the user terminal.

10. A document management method as described in claim 7 or 8, wherein the at least one target document information includes target document information relating to a contract, and the related material information includes related material information in a file format different from that of the at least one target document information.

11. A document management system having at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: collectively acquire at least one target document information and related material information concerning materials related to the at least one target document information; and associate the at least one target document information and the related material information and store them in a specified memory unit.

12. A document management program for causing a processor to execute the following: collectively acquiring at least one target document information and related material information concerning materials related to the at least one target document information; and correspondingly storing the at least one target document information and the related material information in a specified memory unit.

13. A document management method executed by a processor, comprising: acquiring target document information including revision history information relating to a revision history; extracting at least one candidate document information belonging to the same series of revision processes as the target document information from among multiple document information stored in a specified memory unit based on at least one old version document information that is an earlier version of the target document information according to a revision process corresponding to the revision history, which is generated based on the revision history information; and storing the target document information, the at least one candidate document information, and sequence information indicating the order of the revision processes in a specified memory unit in association with each other.

14. The document management method of claim 13, further comprising: outputting display information for displaying on a user terminal a screen for associating the target document information, the at least one candidate document information, and the sequential information; and wherein storing comprises storing the target document information, the at least one candidate document information, and the sequential information in association with each other based on user operation via the user terminal.

15. The document management method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the extracting step includes extracting the at least one candidate document information further based on a similarity to the at least one old version document information.

16. The document management method of claim 15, further comprising: outputting display information for displaying on a user terminal a screen for matching the target document information, the at least one candidate document information, and the order information, wherein the at least one candidate document information includes a plurality of candidate document information, and the outputting further comprises outputting display information for displaying the plurality of candidate document information in order of the similarity.

17. A document management system having at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: acquire target document information including revision history information relating to a revision history; extract at least one candidate document information belonging to the same series of revision processes as the target document information from multiple target document information stored in a specified memory unit based on at least one old version document information that is a previous version of the target document information according to the revision process corresponding to the revision history, which is generated based on the revision history information; and store the target document information, the at least one candidate document information, and sequence information indicating the order of the revision process in the specified memory unit in association with each other.

18. A document management program for causing a processor to execute the following steps: acquire target document information including revision history information relating to the revision history; extract at least one candidate document information belonging to the same series of revision processes as the target document information from among multiple target document information stored in a specified memory unit based on at least one old version document information that is an earlier version of the target document information according to the revision process corresponding to the revision history, which is generated based on the revision history information; and store the target document information, the at least one candidate document information, and sequence information indicating the order of the revision processes in a specified memory unit in association with each other.

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