JP2002245396A - Method and device for workflow processing of structured document, and computer-readable recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a structured document workflow processing method by which the preparation and maintenance of a document form in a workflow system are facilitated. SOLUTION: This method comprises a workflow process definition process 1 for defining a workflow process, a document environment definition process 3 for defining a document environment, a document schema definition process 5 for preparing a document schema and generating a model document based on it, a document form definition process 8 for preparing document form definition data, a workflow process execution process 11 for preparing a workflow process instance and changing a progress state corresponding to it, a terminal type discrimination process 14 for discriminating the type of a terminal, a document environment changeover process 13 for switching the document form definition data by the document environment composed of various combinations, a document form display process 15 for transforming structured document data into the document form and displaying the form and a document preservation process 16 for preserving values in the structured document data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to, for example, a plurality of users across a plurality of departments within one company.
A technology for building a workflow system that uses computer terminals to transfer data in a predetermined order and execute business processes.For example, the contents of product specifications are classified into mechanical specifications, electrical specifications, and design specifications. The present invention relates to a structured document processing technique for processing a document as data by hierarchically classifying constituent assemblies and parts for each assembly in order, and more specifically, has a plurality of computer terminals connected by a network, According to the workflow process definition that defines the business process flow,
The present invention relates to a structured document workflow processing method, a structured document workflow processing device, and a computer-readable recording medium of a workflow system that transfers document data between a plurality of users via a network and performs business processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art CALS (Commerce At Light Speed), EC (El
With the development of ectric Commerce) and the Internet, there is an increasing demand for business process innovation by realizing a workflow system that exchanges document data that can be processed by computers between companies. To meet this demand, ISO (Internat
ional Standard Organization) Standard 8879 SGML (Standar
d Generalized Markup Language) or W3C (World Wide Web
Consortium (XML) (eXtended Markup Languag)
e) is drawing attention. Also, as a standard for defining the data structure of structured documents, DTD (Document Type Defi
nition) and XML Schema (XML Schema), and as a standard for specifying how structured documents are displayed and converted.
There is XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language).

On the other hand, in a workflow system, a large number of users display or edit a document. However, since the content of business processing differs for each user, the document is displayed in a format suitable for the user's own business processing for each user. Or have to edit.

FIG. 22 shows, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-17776.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a conventional method for sending a document having a different format according to the content of business processing of each user in a workflow system, which is shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 0 "Workflow System". In the figure, 21 is a main workflow definition unit that determines the flow of business processing between departments, 22 is a sub-workflow definition unit that determines the flow of business processing within a department, 2
3 is a post office that defines an interface between sub-workflows, 24 is an overall management unit that exchanges data between post offices according to the main workflow, 25
Is a department management unit that transfers data between users according to the sub-workflow, 20 is a network server connected to a plurality of computer terminals, 30 is a first storage unit that stores a main workflow and a sub-workflow, and 40 is a business process A second storage unit 50 for storing various document forms required according to the content of the third storage unit 50 for storing data input when each user performs his / her own business process;
Reference numeral 0 denotes a fourth storage unit that stores a processing procedure (method) for performing a predetermined process on the data stored in the third storage unit 50.

In such a workflow system, when the management process transfers data to the next user in accordance with the workflow, the management process converts the document format data according to the content of the next user's business processing and the document format data. By reading the associated processing procedure, processing the data in accordance with the read processing procedure, and sending the data of the processed result and the read document format data to the next user, thereby allowing each user to Documents of different formats can be sent according to the content of business processing, and the data resulting from processing according to the processing procedure can be imported into the document, so each user can process the data of the previous user. This eliminates the need to create new documents, thus simplifying business operations for each user. It is possible to provide a that workflow system.

[0006]

However, the conventional workflow system defines a document form including a document processing procedure for each business process in the workflow, as described in the above-mentioned "Prior Art". The document forms handled by the actual workflow system include document access types that indicate who accessed the documents by what operation, document types such as visiting overseas business trips and purchasing books, and terminals such as desktop personal computers and mobile terminals. It is different for each combination with the terminal type indicating the difference, and it is necessary to further separate it.If the workflow is complicated or there are many types of documents to be handled, the number of document forms to be created increases, and the workflow system There was a problem that creation and maintenance of the document form became difficult.

Also, since one document form is created to display one document to the user, the document cannot be displayed to the user in a method suitable for the type of document or terminal type. There is a problem that the types of documents and terminal types that can be used in the workflow system are limited.

Further, since the document format is exclusively used for the workflow system, there is a problem that the document data cannot be used as data of another system.

Further, for each field (field) of the document form in which the display method of the document is fixed, a pointer indicating a method for directly taking in data, or one or a plurality of data is operated, and the operation result is obtained. Since a pointer indicating the method to be fetched is described, there is a problem that a document having different items or a document having a different number of items cannot be handled depending on a business process matter in a workflow.

[0010] Furthermore, since it is necessary to describe a pointer pointing to a method in order to process the document contents, there is a problem that it takes time to describe the processing of the document contents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. A workflow system can handle a structured document, and a document access type, a structured document for each combination of a document type and a terminal type are structured. A structured document that makes it easy to create and maintain document forms in a workflow system by making it possible to manage document forms that process documents and to create all the document forms required for a workflow system at once. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a workflow processing method and apparatus and a computer-readable recording medium.

In order to display a single document to a user, a document form for displaying the contents of the document and a document form for displaying a heading of an item constituting the document for moving or switching the document contents, etc. Multiple document forms are created for each processing function, and the combination of these document forms can be arbitrarily switched depending on the document type and terminal type, thereby limiting the types of documents and terminal types that can be used in the workflow system. It is an object of the present invention to provide a structured document workflow processing method and apparatus and a computer-readable recording medium which can eliminate the problem.

Further, it is possible to obtain a structured document workflow processing method in which a structured document handled by a workflow system can be converted into another arbitrary format, so that document data can be used as data of another system. With the goal.

Further, by describing the document processing method for each item constituting the structured document data, it is possible to handle documents having different items and documents having different numbers of items depending on business processing items in a workflow. By defining and referencing built-in functions, the built-in functions can be used when describing the processing of document contents, and structured document workflow processing that can facilitate the description of processing of document contents The aim is to get the method.

[0015]

A structured document workflow processing method according to the present invention has a plurality of computer terminals connected via a network, and is connected via a network in accordance with a workflow process definition that defines the flow of business processing. In a workflow system that passes document data between multiple users and executes business processes, a workflow process definition step that defines a workflow process, the roles of users defined in the workflow process, user operations on documents, A document environment defining step for defining a document environment consisting of a combination of a document type and a terminal type, and a document schema defining a structured document structure based on a predetermined component for each document type. Document that generates a template document that is a structured document according to the document schema A document form that collectively creates the required number of document form definition data that defines the key definition process, the method of displaying the structured document, and the rules for verifying the contents entered in the structured document. Definition process, workflow process instance that creates a workflow process instance that stores the progress status of the business process for each business process case, and changes the progress status according to the workflow process definition, and the type of terminal used by the user A document type switching process for switching document form definition data according to a document environment consisting of a combination of a user role, a user operation on a document, a document type and a terminal type, and a document form definition A document form that converts structured document data to a document form according to the data and displays it And shows step, the user has a document storage step of storing the value entered in the document form the structured document data.

In the document display screen including a plurality of frames for inputting or displaying the contents of the structured document, the method further includes a document screen frame setting step of setting a frame configuration including an arrangement and a size of each frame.

A document data format conversion setting step for setting a method for converting the data format of the structured document into an arbitrary format, and a document data format for converting the format of the structured document data according to the document data format conversion method A conversion step;
A document data registration step of transferring document conversion data, which is a result of format conversion, to another system that accepts data input in a converted data format.

A document data format conversion setting step for setting a method for converting the data format of the structured document into an arbitrary format and a method for compressing the data size, and a method for converting the structured document data according to the document data format conversion method. A document data format conversion step of converting the format and compressing the size of the converted data according to the data size compression method;
A document data registration step of transferring document conversion data, which is a result of converting the data format and compressing the data size, to another system that accepts input of data in a converted and compressed data format.

Further, the structured document data further includes a repetition item number changing step of dynamically changing the number of repetition items in structured document data having a repetition item having a different number of appearances for each business processing case.

Also, refer to the built-in function defining step for defining the built-in function used in the constraint condition or the operation expression constituting the content verification rule of the structured document, and the built-in function defined by the built-in function defining step. And a built-in function referencing step.

Further, the structured document workflow processing apparatus according to the present invention has a plurality of computer terminals connected by a network, and uses a plurality of utilization terminals via the network in accordance with a workflow process definition that defines a business process flow. In a workflow system that passes document data between users and executes business processes, a workflow process definition section that defines the workflow process, the roles of the users defined in the workflow process, user operations on the documents, the types of documents, A document environment definition unit that defines a document environment composed of a combination of terminal types, and a document schema that defines the structure of a structured document that is structured based on predetermined components for each type of document. Document schema definition part that generates a template document that is a structured document according to A document form definition unit for collectively creating a required number of document form definition data in a document environment, which defines a method for displaying a structured document and rules for verifying the content input in the structured document; A workflow process instance that creates a workflow process instance for storing the progress of a business process for each business process case and changes the progress according to the workflow process definition, and a terminal that determines the type of terminal used by the user A type discriminating unit, a document environment switching unit for switching document form definition data according to a document environment composed of a combination of a role of a user, a user operation on a document, a type of a document and a type of a terminal, and a structure according to the document form definition data A document form display section that converts the converted document data into a document form and displays it. And a document storage unit for storing the value entered in over arm in the structured document data.

Further, a computer-readable recording medium according to the present invention has a plurality of computer terminals connected by a network and uses a plurality of computer terminals via a network in accordance with a workflow process definition that defines a flow of business processing. In a workflow system that passes document data between users and executes business processes, a workflow process definition procedure that defines a workflow process, the roles of users defined in the workflow process,
A document environment definition procedure for defining a document environment consisting of a combination of a user operation on a document, a document type and a terminal type, and a structure of a structured document structured based on predetermined components for each document type Creates a document schema that defines a document schema, creates a template document that is a structured document according to the document schema, verifies the method of displaying the structured document, and verifies the contents input to the structured document Create document form definition data that defines the rules in batches as many as required in the document environment, and create workflow process instances that store the progress of business processes for each business process case. A workflow process execution procedure that changes the progress status according to the workflow process definition, and a terminal that determines the type of terminal used by the user Document environment switching procedure for switching document form definition data according to type determination procedure, user role, user operation on document, document environment consisting of combination of document type and terminal type, and structure according to document form definition data A document form display procedure for converting structured document data into a document form and displaying the document form, and a document saving procedure for storing a value input by the user in the document form in the structured document data are recorded.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A structured document workflow processing method and a structured document workflow processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below according to embodiments. The structured document workflow processing device according to the present invention is configured by a computer system that operates according to a program.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a structured document workflow processing method according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a workflow process definition step (workflow process definition unit, workflow process definition means) for creating or editing workflow process definition data. Reference numeral 2 denotes workflow process definition data that defines a workflow process. 3 is a document environment definition step (document environment definition section, document environment definition means) for defining a document environment consisting of a combination of a document access type, a document schema and a terminal type in the workflow system.
It is. Reference numeral 4 denotes document environment definition data that defines the document environment. 5 is a document schema definition step (document schema definition section, document schema definition section) for defining a document schema composed of document items and a hierarchical relationship between items for each document type and generating minimum document instance data conforming to each document schema. Definition means). Reference numeral 6 denotes document schema data defining a document schema. Reference numeral 7 denotes template document data which is the minimum document instance data conforming to the document schema. 8 is a document form definition process (document form definition section, document form definition section) for defining a document form according to document schema data or template document data and collectively creating document form definition data required in the document environment. Means). Reference numeral 9 denotes document form definition data defining a document form. Reference numeral 11 denotes a workflow process execution step (workflow process execution unit, workflow process execution means) for executing a workflow process according to the workflow process definition data. Reference numeral 12 denotes workflow process instance data that is created for each matter that executes a workflow and stores data and status of each workflow process. Reference numeral 13 denotes a document access type determined by a combination of a role (role) of the workflow user and a response (action) to the operation of the workflow user, a document schema of the document instance data to be operated, and a terminal of the terminal used by the user. A document environment switching step (document environment switching unit, document environment switching means) for uniquely specifying and switching the document environment based on the type and the document environment definition data. 14
Is a terminal type determining step of determining the type of terminal used by the workflow user. Reference numeral 15 denotes a document form display step (document form display unit, document form display means) for displaying document instance data or template document data using document form definition data uniquely determined in the document environment. Reference numeral 16 denotes a document storage step (document storage unit, document storage means) for storing data input by the user in the document form displayed in the document form display step as document instance data. Reference numeral 17 denotes document instance data created one or more for each workflow case.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the workflow process of the permission application business defined by the workflow process definition step 1. The workflow process definition is a definition of the status transition corresponding to the business process flow. In each status, a role indicating the user type that can operate in that status is defined. In each role, the user of the role in that status Define operable actions. The workflow process shown in this example starts with a start status of 60 and ends with an end status of 66. Reference numeral 61 denotes a status indicating that "permission application is being prepared". In this status, only the role 62, that is, the permission applicant, can operate the permission application, and can execute three actions 63. The “Draft” action is an action for creating a new permission application, and the “Edit”
The action is to edit an existing permission application that has been issued. In addition, the “submit” action is an action of submitting the created permission application to the superior, and 64 status transitions occur and 65 “permitting approval application”.
To the status. With a status of 65,
Two roles, the permission applicant and the supervisor of the application section, can operate the permission application, and the actions that can be operated for each role are similarly defined.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the workflow process definition data 2 defined by the workflow process definition step 1. In this example, the data is described in the XML syntax, but may be described in another syntax. Reference numeral 70 denotes an XML declaration, which indicates that data is described in an XML syntax.
The entire workflow process definition data is 71 WF.PROC
The range is from the start tag to the end tag of 99 WF.PROC. Reference numeral 69 indicates that the name of this workflow process is “permission application”. The range from 72 to 78 describes the definitions of all the roles that appear in this workflow process. The description of the attribute “ID =" role1 ”” of 72 indicates that the identifier of this role is “role1” Indicates that 73 to 76 describe the definition of each role,
Reference numeral 74 describes that the name of this role is “permission applicant”. If there is a role attribute other than the role name, such as a link to the user management database and restrictions common to each role, it may be added to the range of 75. 77
In the part, the definition of other roles, such as an application receiving section and an authorized section approver, is described. The range from 81 to 98 describes the definition of each action and the definition of status transition for each role for all statuses of this workflow process. 82 to 95 are "Creating a permit application form"
The status definition is described as "ID =" at 82.
The description of the attribute "status1""indicates that the identifier of this status is" status1 ". Reference numeral 83 indicates that the status name is "Creating a permission application". Status attributes other than names may be described between 83 and 84. 84 to 94 are definitions of roles and actions for this status. 85 to 93 are the definition of the action of each role. The attribute definition of “IDREF =" role1 ”” of 85 is a reference to the role of identifier “role1”, that is, the role of “permission applicant” of 73 to 76. Indicates that this is an action definition. 86 to 92 are all action definitions of the “permission applicant” role, and 87 to 90 are definitions of each action. 87 "ID =" acti
attribute definition "on1", the identifier of this action is "a
ction1 ", and the attribute definition" ACCTYPE = "acctype1""indicates that the access type identifier to the document by this action is" acctype1 ". 88
Indicates that the name of this action is "Draft". An attribute other than the name, for example, a condition for invalidating an action such as "invalid the" draft "action if a document already exists" may be added to the portion 89. Further, another action definition may be added to the portion 91. Reference numeral 96 is a definition of an action called "Return" of the "License Applicant" role in the status of "Approval of Approval Application". Since the ACCTYPE attribute is not defined, this action does not access the document. However, the attribute definition of "next =" status1 "" indicates that this action causes a transition to the status of the identifier "status1", that is, a status of "Creating a permission application". The "Authorization Applicant" role can access the document via the "Edit" action.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the document environment of the workflow process of the permission application business defined in the document environment definition step 3. Reference numeral 101 denotes a document environment node, which indicates that the document environment definition is for the “permission application” workflow process, and this information can be obtained from the workflow process definition data 2. Reference numeral 102 denotes a document schema setting node, and reference numeral 103 denotes a document schema node for “Overseas business trip”. This example shows that the “permit application” workflow process has three document schemas of “overseas business trip”, “book purchase inquiry” and “external announcement inquiry”.
An access type setting node 104 has a hierarchical structure of a role node 105 and a document access type node 106. In this example, the role of “permission applicant” accesses the document by the action of “draft”, and such information can be obtained from the workflow process definition data 2. 107 is a terminal type setting node, and 108 is a terminal type node. In this example,
Indicates that there is a possibility of being used from three types of terminals, "Desktop PC", "H / PC" and "Pocket PC". A node expansion button 111 expands and displays lower nodes by operation with a pointing device such as a mouse. Reference numeral 112 denotes a node folding button, which folds and hides lower nodes by an operation using a pointing device such as a mouse. In addition, by operating each node, lower nodes can be added and deleted, and attribute values can be set.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the document environment definition data 4 defined in the document environment definition step 3. In this example, XM
Although the data is described in the syntax of L, it may be described in another syntax. The entire document environment definition data is 121 DOC.ENV
The range is from the start tag to the 149 DOC.ENV end tag. Reference numeral 122 indicates that the name of this document environment is “permission application”. Attributes other than the name may be additionally described in the portion 123. The range from 124 to 130 corresponds to the document schema setting node 102, and the range from 125 to 128 corresponds to the document schema node 103. Reference numeral 126 indicates that the name of this document schema is "Overseas business trip".
The attribute of the document schema other than the name may be additionally described in the portion 127. Also, when adding a document schema, 1
An additional description may be made in part 29. The range from 131 to 141 corresponds to the access type setting node 104, and 13
The range from 2 to 139 corresponds to the role node 105, and 1
The range from 34 to 137 is the document access type node 10
Corresponds to 6. In this example, the users of the role with the identifier "role1" use the actions "Draft", "Edit", and "Display", respectively, with the identifiers "acctype1", "acctype2", and "acc".
This indicates that the document is to be accessed with the document access type of "type4". The range from 142 to 148 corresponds to the terminal type setting node 107, and the range from 143 to 146 corresponds to the terminal type node 108. 144 is "Desktop PC" In the portion 145, attributes such as the size of the screen and the processing capability of the terminal type are set.

FIG. 6 shows a document schema definition step 5 and a document form definition step 8 for simultaneously creating the document schema data 6, template document data 7 and document form definition data 9.
It is an example of a screen combining. This screen is started by designating the document schema from the screen of the document environment definition step 3 shown in FIG. 152 tag names, 153 depth and 15
The appearance indicators 4 are the tag name of the document schema data 6, the depth of the tag hierarchy with the first depth being 1, the minimum number of occurrences and the maximum number of occurrences when the tag can appear repeatedly, and each is added. The document schema data 6 can be edited by an operation of deleting or changing. Further, the template document data 7 is generated by generating a tag having the empty content and the minimum number of appearances from the document schema data 6. Reference numeral 151 denotes a serial number assigned in the order in which the tags appear. 155 heading specification, 156 table of contents specification, 157 layout specification,
The input method designation at 158 and the verification rule designation at 159 are portions for editing the document form definition data 9 describing the display method and the verification method of the structured document. 160 corresponds to the role node 105, and 161 corresponds to the document access type node 106, and designates a document access right for each document access type. The value of the document access authority can be selected from "input", "display", and "ignore" for the end tag, and the authority to input the contents of the tag, the authority to display, and the input or display Indicates no authority. The value of the access authority for the upper tag other than the end tag is selected from 4 types of "all input", "all display", "ignore all" and "mixed".
Enter all permissions of end tag "," Display all permissions of lower tags, display all permissions of end tags "," Ignore all permissions of lower tags, and set all permissions of end tags "Ignore" and "If the authority of the lower tag is changed, all authorities of the upper tag are mixed". 155, 156, 157, 158 and 1
Display method and verification method of structured document set in 59, 16
Document schema, and document form definition data 9 for each combination of the document access type and the terminal type are collectively generated from the access authority set at 0 and 161 and the terminal type set at 107. Note that the data format of the document skimmer data 6 conforms to the standards of the DTD and the XML schema, and a description thereof is omitted here. The data format of the template document data 7 conforms to SGML and XML standards, and a description thereof is omitted here. The data format of the document form definition data 9 conforms to the standard such as XSL, and the description is omitted here.

The workflow process execution step 11 generates workflow process instance data 12 for each business processing matter, and controls status transition according to the workflow process definition data 2. At this time, when the user executes an action having the document access type, the workflow process execution step 11 activates the document environment switching step 13 and passes the document access type identifier, the document schema identifier and the document instance identifier. In the document environment switching step 13, the necessary document schema data 6, template document are obtained from the document access type identifier, the document schema identifier, the document instance identifier and the terminal type obtained by starting the terminal type discriminating step. The data 7, the document form definition data 9 and the document instance data 17 are specified. Document form display step 15
Is the document instance data 1 using the document schema data 6, the template document data 7 and the document form definition data 9.
7 is displayed to the user. The document storage step 16 stores the value input by the user in the document instance data 17.

As described above, the structured document workflow processing method according to the present embodiment has a plurality of computer terminals connected via a network, and operates via a network according to a workflow process definition that defines the flow of business processing. Process definition step 1 for defining a workflow process in a workflow system that passes document data between a plurality of users and performs business processing, the roles of users defined in the workflow process, and user operations on documents , A document environment defining step 3 for defining a document environment composed of a combination of a document type and a terminal type, and a document schema defining the structure of a structured document structured based on predetermined components for each document type And create a template document that is a structured document according to the document schema Document schema definition process 5 and a method for displaying a structured document and document form definition data defining rules for verifying the contents input to the structured document are created in a batch by the number required in the document environment. A document form definition process 8 and a workflow process instance for storing the progress status of the business process are created for each business process case,
Workflow process execution step 11 for changing the progress according to the workflow process definition, and terminal type determination step 1 for determining the type of terminal used by the user
4, a document environment switching step 13 for switching the document form definition data according to a document environment composed of a combination of the role of the user, the user's operation on the document, the type of the document and the type of the terminal, and the structuring according to the document form definition data The system includes a document form display step 15 for converting the document data into a document form and displaying the same, and a document storage step 16 for storing the value input by the user in the document form in the structured document data.

Therefore, the structured document can be handled in the workflow system, and a document form for processing the structured document can be managed for each combination of the document access type, the type of the document, and the terminal type. Since the document forms can be created collectively, creation and maintenance of the document forms in the workflow system are facilitated.

Embodiment 2 FIG. FIG. 7 is an overall configuration diagram of a structured document workflow processing method according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In the figure, a document screen frame setting step 18 sets the configuration, arrangement, size, and the like of a document screen frame for each combination of a document schema, a document access type, and a terminal type. FIG. 8 shows a document screen frame setting step 18.
3 is an example of a screen for setting a pattern of a document screen frame. At step 171, a screen frame pattern is selected.
Set by operating the setting button of 2. The setting of the document screen frame can be canceled by operating the cancel button 173. When “special table of contents for input” is set as the screen frame pattern, the document is displayed in the screen frame configuration shown in FIG. 181 is a table of contents frame,
When a table of contents item displayed in this frame is selected, the text is moved or switched to the corresponding position. 182 is a body frame for displaying a body. A special description frame 183 displays a special description that cannot be displayed in the text. Reference numeral 184 denotes a message frame that displays an error message when the value input to the text does not satisfy the verification rule. 185
Is a button frame for displaying buttons for performing operations such as saving a document and confirming a verification rule. When “display table type” is set as the screen frame pattern, the document is displayed in the screen frame configuration shown in FIG. 9B.
In this case, no message frame is displayed because there is no input to the text and no error occurs during input.

As described above, according to the structured document workflow processing method of the present embodiment, the document display screen consisting of a plurality of frames for inputting or displaying the contents of the structured document has a frame composed of the layout and size of each frame. A document screen frame setting step 18 for setting the configuration is further provided. Therefore, if the screen frame configuration that displays the document for each combination of the document access type, document schema and terminal type in the workflow system is set, the screen frame configuration suitable for the combination of the document access type, document schema and terminal type can be obtained. Because you can view the document,
Eliminates restrictions on document access types, document schemas, and terminal types that can be used in workflow systems.

Embodiment 3 FIG. FIG. 10 is an overall configuration diagram of a structured document workflow processing method according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 19a denotes a document data format conversion setting step for setting a format conversion method of the document data. The format conversion method of the document data set here is stored in the document form definition data 9. A document data format conversion step 19b converts the document instance data 17 in accordance with the format conversion method of the document data, and outputs document conversion data 19d. The document data registration step 19c registers the document conversion data 19d as input data to another system. FIG. 11 is an example of a screen for setting the format conversion method of the document data in the document data format conversion setting step 19a. Reference numeral 191 denotes a tag name indicating a conversion source item. The conversion type of 192 is set by selecting from “text type”, “numeric type”, “selection type” or “no conversion”. 193 is the number of digits of the conversion value. 194 is a setting of the output position of the conversion value. Reference numeral 195 denotes a data format setting after conversion. In this example, the data format is CSV (Comma Separated Vector).
It is possible to select the format or the data format without comma. Reference numeral 196 denotes a selection value conversion setting, which sets the correspondence between the value selected and input by the user on the screen displaying the document and the conversion value. By operating the setting button 197, the setting of the format conversion method of the document data is made valid, and by operating the cancel button 198, the setting of the format conversion method of the document data is invalidated. For example, when the format conversion method of the document data shown in FIG. 11 is set for the conversion source structured document data 201 shown in FIG. 12A, as shown in 211 of FIG. The value “UK” obtained by converting the selection value “England” in the 31st column of the row is output in a comma-free format.

As described above, the structured document workflow processing method of this embodiment includes a document data format conversion setting step 19a for setting a method of converting the data format of a structured document into an arbitrary format, A document data format conversion step 19b for converting the format of structured document data in accordance with the conversion method described above, and a document to be transferred to another system that accepts data input in a converted data format of the converted document data resulting from the format conversion Data registration step 19c
And further comprising: Therefore, the structured document data created for each business processing case in the workflow system can be converted into another arbitrary format, so that the document data can be used as data of another system.

Embodiment 4 FIG. Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. The configuration diagram is the same as that of the third embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 13 shows a document data format conversion setting step 19.
This is an example of a screen for setting the format conversion method of the document data by a, and sets whether to compress the data by the data compression setting of 221. When compressing data, 22
The data compression method is set by the data compression method setting of 2. In this example, since the same value is grouped for the COUNTRY tag value that appears repeatedly, the group name and output position are specified. For example,
When the format conversion method and the data compression method of the document data shown in FIG. 13 are set for the conversion source structured document data shown in FIG. 14A, the document data is converted and compressed into the format shown in FIG. Data is output. In this example, since 231 and 232 have the same value “England”, 242 3rd row 1
The converted value “UK” is output to the group X in the 0th column, and 231
The group name “X” is output in the second row and the fifth column of 241 which is the output destination of, and in the second row and the sixth column of 241 which is the output destination of 232. The setting items of the compression method 222 in FIG. 13 may be changed according to the compression algorithm.

As described above, the structured document workflow processing method according to this embodiment includes a document data format conversion setting for setting a method of converting the data format of a structured document into an arbitrary format and a method of compressing the data size. Step 19a;
A document data format conversion step 19b for converting the format of the structured document data according to the document data format conversion method and compressing the size of the converted data according to the data size compression method; A document data registration step 19c is provided for transferring the converted document data, which is the result of the size reduction, to another system that accepts data input in a converted and compressed data format. Therefore, the structured document data created for each business process case in the workflow system can be converted to any other format including data size compression, so that the document data can be used as data for other systems. Can be.

Embodiment 5 FIG. 15 is an overall configuration diagram of a structured document workflow processing method according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. In the figure, the repeated item number changing step 15b dynamically changes the number of items repeatedly appearing in the document set in 154 in FIG. FIG. 16 is an example of a screen on which a structured document is displayed. The number of appearances of the items “transit value” and “airline” can be changed in synchronization, and in this example, the number of occurrences is three times. . When the delete button 251 is operated, the item values of the via value HongKong and the airline JAL are deleted, and the number of appearances of each item value is reduced to twice.
When the add button 252 is operated, a repeat item addition screen shown in FIG. 17 is displayed.
When the number of additions is designated at 262 and the addition button 263 is operated, the designated number of items are added at the designated addition position. When the cancel button of H.264 is operated, the setting of the additional position and the number of additions is canceled. In this example, since the addition position is “1” and the number of additions is “2”, the first item value 2
Two item values are added to the right of 51. When the change button 253 is operated, the repetition item number change screen of FIG. 18 is displayed, and when the repetition number of the “number of vias” 271 or the “number of items to be taken out” 271 is specified and the add button is operated,
The number of appearances of items depending on the “number of vias” or “number of items taken out” is changed. By operating the cancel button 274, the change in the setting of the number of items to be repeated is canceled.

As described above, the structured document workflow processing method of this embodiment dynamically changes the number of repeating items in structured document data having repeating items of which the number of appearances differs for each business processing case. The method further includes a repeating item number changing step 15b. Therefore, since the processing method of the document is described for each item constituting the structured document data, it is possible to handle a document having a different item or a document having a different number of items depending on a business process matter in a workflow.

Embodiment 6 FIG. FIG. 19 is an overall configuration diagram of a structured document workflow processing method according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention. In the figure, a built-in function definition step 8a defines a built-in function to be used in a verification rule for verifying a constraint on a value input to a document, and creates built-in function definition data 8c. 8b sets the verification rule with reference to the built-in function defined in the built-in function definition data 8c. FIG. 20 is an example of a screen for defining an embedded function in the embedded function definition step 8a. Reference numeral 298 denotes designation of a built-in function call format, and reference numeral 299 denotes designation of a type of a built-in function. When an add button 300 is operated, the designated built-in function call format is added in the designated type. Reference numeral 291 denotes a list of logical operation built-in functions. Reference numeral 292 denotes a list of numerical value / character string operation built-in functions, which are added in correspondence with the type of the built-in function, logical operation, and numerical value / character string operation. By operating the modify button 293, the built-in function call format selected in the logical operation list 291 or the numerical value / character string operation list 292 is corrected. By operating the delete button 296, the logical operation list 291 is displayed.
Alternatively, the built-in function call format selected in the numerical value / character string calculation list 292 is deleted. By operating the function definition button 297, the built-in function definition corresponding to the built-in function call format selected in the logical operation list 291 or the numerical / character string operation list 292 is edited. Operate the 295 help button,
Logical operation list 291 or numeric / character string operation list 292
Edit the description for the built-in function call format selected in. FIG. 21 is an example of a screen for referencing an embedded function in the embedded function reference step 8b. 281 is a list of logical operation built-in functions, 282 is a list of numerical value / character string operation built-in functions, and a built-in function call format is selected from any of these, and the paste button 283 is operated. Then, paste the built-in function call into the condition part and value setting part of the verification rule. When the cancel button 284 is operated, the reference to the built-in function call is canceled. By operating the help button 285, the logical operation list 281 or the numerical / character string operation list 2
Reference is made to the description for the built-in function call format selected at 82.

As described above, the structured document workflow processing method according to the present embodiment includes a built-in function defining step of defining a built-in function used in a constraint or an arithmetic expression constituting a content verification rule of a structured document. 8a and a built-in function reference step 8 for referring to a built-in function defined by the built-in function definition step
b. Therefore, the built-in function is defined and referred to, so that the built-in function can be used when describing the processing of the document content, and the contents of structured document data created for each business process case in the workflow system are restricted. It is easy to create a verification rule for verifying the condition.

[0043]

The structured document workflow processing method according to the present invention has a plurality of computer terminals connected by a network, and uses a plurality of computers via a network in accordance with a workflow process definition that defines the flow of business processing. Process in a workflow system that passes document data between users and executes business processes, the workflow process definition process that defines the workflow process, the roles of users defined in the workflow process, user operations on documents, and the types of documents. A document environment defining step of defining a document environment consisting of a combination of terminal types; and a document schema defining a structure of a structured document structured based on predetermined components for each document type. Document schema definition that generates a template document that is a structured document according to And a document form definition step of collectively creating a required number of document form definition data in a document environment, which defines a method for displaying the structured document and rules for verifying the content inputted in the structured document. A workflow process instance that stores the progress status of the business process is created for each business process matter, and a workflow process execution process that changes the progress status according to the workflow process definition and a type of terminal used by the user are determined. According to the document form definition data, a document environment switching step of switching the document form definition data according to a document environment comprising a combination of a document type and a terminal type, a user role for a document, a user operation on a document, and a combination of a document type and a terminal type. A document form display step of converting structured document data into a document form and displaying the converted form; Person and a document storage step of storing the value entered in the document form the structured document data. For this reason, structured documents can be handled in the workflow system, and document forms for processing structured documents can be managed for each combination of document access type, document type and terminal type, and all document forms required for the workflow system can be managed. By making it possible to create them all at once, it becomes easy to create and maintain document forms in the workflow system.

In the document display screen including a plurality of frames for inputting or displaying the content of the structured document, the document display screen further includes a document screen frame setting step of setting a frame configuration including an arrangement and a size of each frame. Therefore, if the screen frame configuration that displays the document for each combination of the document access type, document schema and terminal type in the workflow system is set, the screen frame configuration suitable for the combination of the document access type, document schema and terminal type can be obtained. Since documents can be displayed, there are no restrictions on document access types, document schemas, and terminal types available in the workflow system.

A document data format conversion setting step for setting a method for converting the data format of the structured document into an arbitrary format, and a document data format for converting the format of the structured document data according to the document data format conversion method A conversion step;
A document data registration step of transferring document conversion data, which is a result of format conversion, to another system that accepts data input in a converted data format. Therefore, the structured document data created for each business processing case in the workflow system can be converted into another arbitrary format, so that the document data can be used as data of another system.

A document data format conversion setting step for setting a method for converting the data format of the structured document into an arbitrary format and a method for compressing the data size, and a method for converting the structured document data according to the document data format conversion method. A document data format conversion step of converting the format and compressing the size of the converted data according to the data size compression method;
A document data registration step of transferring document conversion data, which is a result of converting the data format and compressing the data size, to another system that accepts input of data in a converted and compressed data format. Therefore, the structured document data created for each business process case in the workflow system can be converted to any other format including data size compression, so that the document data can be used as data for other systems. Can be.

Further, in structured document data having a repeated item whose appearance frequency differs for each business processing item, a repeated item number changing step of dynamically changing the number of repeated items is further provided. Therefore, since the processing method of the document is described for each item constituting the structured document data, it is possible to handle a document having a different item or a document having a different number of items depending on a business process matter in a workflow.

Also, refer to the built-in function defining step for defining the built-in function used in the constraint condition or the arithmetic expression constituting the content verification rule of the structured document, and the built-in function defined by the built-in function defining step. And a built-in function referencing step. Therefore, the built-in function is defined and referred to, so that the built-in function can be used when describing the processing of the document content, and the contents of structured document data created for each business process case in the workflow system are restricted. It is easy to create a verification rule for verifying the condition.

Further, the structured document workflow processing device according to the present invention has a plurality of computer terminals connected via a network, and uses a plurality of utilization terminals via the network according to a workflow process definition which defines the flow of business processing. In a workflow system that passes document data between users and executes business processes, a workflow process definition section that defines the workflow process, the roles of the users defined in the workflow process, user operations on the documents, the types of documents, A document environment definition unit that defines a document environment composed of a combination of terminal types, and a document schema that defines the structure of a structured document that is structured based on predetermined components for each type of document. Document schema definition part that generates a template document that is a structured document according to A document form definition unit for collectively creating a required number of document form definition data in a document environment, which defines a method for displaying a structured document and rules for verifying the content input in the structured document; A workflow process instance that creates a workflow process instance for storing the progress of a business process for each business process case and changes the progress according to the workflow process definition, and a terminal that determines the type of terminal used by the user A type discriminating unit, a document environment switching unit for switching document form definition data according to a document environment composed of a combination of a role of a user, a user operation on a document, a type of a document and a type of a terminal, and a structure according to the document form definition data A document form display section that converts the converted document data into a document form and displays it. And a document storage unit for storing the value entered in over arm in the structured document data. For this reason, structured documents can be handled in the workflow system, and document forms for processing structured documents can be managed for each combination of document access type, document type and terminal type, and all document forms required for the workflow system can be managed. By making it possible to create all at once,
Creation and maintenance of document forms in the workflow system are facilitated.

The computer-readable recording medium according to the present invention has a plurality of computer terminals connected by a network, and uses a plurality of computers via a network in accordance with a workflow process definition that defines the flow of business processing. In a workflow system that passes document data between users and executes business processes, a workflow process definition procedure that defines a workflow process, the roles of users defined in the workflow process,
A document environment definition procedure for defining a document environment consisting of a combination of a user operation on a document, a document type and a terminal type, and a structure of a structured document structured based on predetermined components for each document type Creates a document schema that defines a document schema, creates a template document that is a structured document according to the document schema, verifies the method of displaying the structured document, and verifies the contents input to the structured document Create document form definition data that defines the rules in batches as many as required in the document environment, and create workflow process instances that store the progress of business processes for each business process case. A workflow process execution procedure that changes the progress status according to the workflow process definition, and a terminal that determines the type of terminal used by the user Document environment switching procedure for switching document form definition data according to type determination procedure, user role, user operation on document, document environment consisting of combination of document type and terminal type, and structure according to document form definition data A document form display procedure for converting structured document data into a document form and displaying the document form, and a document saving procedure for storing a value input by the user in the document form in the structured document data are recorded. For this reason, structured documents can be handled in the workflow system, and document forms for processing structured documents can be managed for each combination of document access type, document type and terminal type, and all document forms required for the workflow system can be managed. By making it possible to create them all at once, it becomes easy to create and maintain document forms in the workflow system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a structured document workflow processing method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of a workflow process of a permission application business defined by a workflow process definition step.

FIG. 3 is an example of workflow process definition data defined by a workflow process definition step.

FIG. 4 is an example of a document environment of a workflow process of a permission application business defined by a document environment definition step.

FIG. 5 is an example of document environment definition data defined in a document environment definition step.

FIG. 6 is an example of a screen combining a document schema definition step and a document form definition step for simultaneously creating document schema data, template document data, and document form definition data.

FIG. 7 is an overall configuration diagram of a structured document workflow processing method according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an example of a screen for setting a document screen frame pattern in a document screen frame setting step.

FIG. 9 is an example in which a screen frame pattern is displayed in a screen frame configuration.

FIG. 10 is an overall configuration diagram of a structured document workflow processing method according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an example of a screen for setting a document data format conversion method in a document data format conversion setting step.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing structured document data as a conversion source.

FIG. 13 is an overall configuration diagram of a structured document workflow processing method according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing structured document data as a conversion source.

FIG. 15 is an overall configuration diagram of a structured document workflow processing method according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an example of a screen displaying a structured document.

FIG. 17 is an example of a repeated item addition screen.

FIG. 18 is an example of a repeated item addition screen.

FIG. 19 is an overall configuration diagram of a structured document workflow processing method according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is an example of a screen for defining an embedded function in an embedded function defining step.

FIG. 21 is an example of a screen for referring to a built-in function in a built-in function reference step.

FIG. 22 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a conventional method for sending a document having a different format according to the content of business processing of each user in a workflow system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Workflow process definition step (workflow process definition section, workflow process definition means), 3 document environment definition step (document environment definition section, document environment definition means), 5 document schema definition step (document schema definition section, document schema definition means) , 8 document form definition process (document form definition section, document form definition means), 8
a Built-in function definition step, 8b Built-in function reference step, 11
Workflow process execution step (workflow process execution section, workflow process execution means), 13 document form display step (document form display section, document form display means), 14 document environment switching step (document environment switching section, document environment switching means), 15 document storage step (document storage unit, document storage means), 18 document screen frame setting step, 19a document data format conversion setting step, 1
9b Document data format conversion step, 19c Document data registration step, 15b Repeated item number change step.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Katsushi Suzuki 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo F-term in Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (reference) 5B009 NB01 QA09 TA11 VC03

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A system comprising a plurality of computer terminals connected via a network, for transferring document data between a plurality of users via the network according to a workflow process definition defining a flow of business processing, and performing business processing. In the workflow system to be executed, a workflow process definition step for defining the workflow process, a role of a user defined in the workflow process,
A document environment defining step of defining a document environment composed of a combination of a user operation on a document, a document type and a terminal type; and a structured document structured based on predetermined components for each of the document types. A document schema defining step of creating a document schema defining a structure and generating a template document that is a structured document according to the document schema; a method of displaying the structured document; and a method of inputting the structured document. A document form definition process that collectively creates the required number of document form definition data that defines the rules for verifying the contents, and a workflow process instance that stores the progress status of the business process A workflow process execution process that is created for each matter and changes the progress according to the workflow process definition Terminal type discriminating step of discriminating the type of a terminal, and a document environment switching step of switching the document form definition data according to a document environment composed of a combination of a user role, a user operation on a document, a document type and a terminal type. A document form display step of converting structured document data into a document form in accordance with the document form definition data and displaying the document form; and a document saving step of storing values input by the user in the document form in the structured document data. And a structured document workflow processing method. 2. A document display screen comprising a plurality of frames for inputting or displaying the contents of the structured document, further comprising a document screen frame setting step of setting a frame configuration including an arrangement and a size of each frame. The structured document workflow processing method according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A document data format conversion setting step for setting a method for converting the data format of the structured document into an arbitrary format, and converting the format of the structured document data according to the document data format conversion method. A document data format conversion step, and a document data registration step of transferring document conversion data, which is a result of the format conversion, to another system that accepts input of data in a converted data format. 2. The structured document workflow processing method according to 1. 4. A document data format conversion setting step for setting a method for converting the data format of the structured document into an arbitrary format and a method for compressing the data size, and the structuring method according to the document data format conversion method. A document data format conversion step of converting the format of the document data and compressing the size of the data after format conversion according to the data size compression method; and a document conversion resulting from the conversion of the data format and reduction of the data size. 4. The structured document workflow processing method according to claim 3, further comprising a document data registration step of transferring the data to another system that accepts data input in a data format after conversion and compression. 5. The structured document data having a repeating item having a different number of appearances for each business processing case, further comprising a repeating item number changing step of dynamically changing the number of the repeating items. 2. The structured document workflow processing method according to claim 1, wherein: 6. A built-in function defining step of defining a built-in function to be used in a constraint or an arithmetic expression constituting a content verification rule of the structured document, and a built-in function defined by the built-in function defining step 2. The structured document workflow processing method according to claim 1, further comprising: a built-in function reference step of referring to the structured document workflow. 7. A system comprising a plurality of computer terminals connected by a network, for transferring document data between a plurality of users via the network according to a workflow process definition that defines a flow of business processing, and In the workflow system to be executed, a workflow process definition unit that defines the workflow process, a role of a user defined in the workflow process,
A document environment definition unit that defines a document environment consisting of a combination of a user operation on a document, a document type and a terminal type; and a structured document structured based on predetermined components for each of the document types. A document schema defining section for creating a document schema defining a structure, generating a template document that is a structured document according to the document schema, a method for displaying the structured document, and a method for inputting the structured document. A document form definition section that collectively creates the required number of document form definition data that defines the rules for verifying the contents in the above document environment, and a workflow process instance that stores the progress status of the above business process A workflow process execution unit that creates for each matter and changes the progress according to the workflow process definition, and a terminal that the user is using A terminal type discriminator for discriminating a type, a document environment switching unit for switching the document form definition data according to a document environment including a combination of a user role, a user operation on a document, and a type of a document and a type of a terminal. A document form display unit that converts structured document data into a document form according to the document form definition data and displays the document form; and a document storage unit that saves values input by the user in the document form in the structured document data. A structured document workflow processing device, characterized in that: 8. A computer system comprising a plurality of computer terminals connected by a network, for transferring document data between a plurality of users via the network according to a workflow process definition defining a flow of a business process, and performing a business process. In the workflow system to be executed, a workflow process definition procedure for defining the workflow process, a role of a user defined in the workflow process,
A document environment definition procedure for defining a document environment consisting of a combination of a user operation on a document and a document type and a terminal type; and a structured document structured based on predetermined components for each of the document types. A document schema defining procedure for creating a document schema defining a structure, generating a template document that is a structured document according to the document schema, a method for displaying the structured document, and a method for inputting the structured document. A document form definition procedure that collectively creates the required number of document form definition data that defines rules for verifying the contents in the above document environment, and a workflow process instance that stores the progress status of the above business processing A workflow process execution procedure that is created for each matter and changes the progress according to the workflow process definition, Terminal type determination procedure for determining the type of terminal to be performed, and a document environment switching procedure for switching the document form definition data according to a document environment including a combination of a user role, a user operation on a document, and a document type and a terminal type. And a document form display procedure for converting structured document data into a document form according to the document form definition data and displaying the document form, and a document saving procedure for saving a value entered by the user in the document form in the structured document data. A computer-readable recording medium characterized by being recorded.