JP4547459B2 - Batch printing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a batch printing system capable of batch printing documents created with different application software.

  In order to create a document or the like on a computer terminal, various application software is used according to the purpose. For example, there are word processing software for creating sentences, spreadsheet software for creating tables, presentation software for projecting on a large screen at lectures and meetings, and image software for creating images.

  In order to carry out a certain business, application software is often used according to the purpose. For example, report documents and management documents may be composed of documents created by a plurality of different types of application software. .

  For example, documents managed in the manufacturing industry include design drawings, work procedure manuals, inspection instructions, inspection reports, product specifications, etc., which are created by application software such as word processing software, spreadsheet software, and image software. Has been.

  These documents are managed together in an information system called a document management system, and are often related to each other (such as information indicating that the document is used in a certain business). Sometimes printed. A document created by a plurality of different types of application software is printed by starting each application software individually.

  However, such an individual printing method requires a plurality of application softwares to be activated on a computer terminal, and has a problem such that errors are likely to occur. Thus, it has been desired to perform batch printing.

  Therefore, Patent Documents 1 and 2 listed below disclose inventions that enable processing by registering the relevance of each document in a database.

JP 2002-207726 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-216442

  In the invention described in Patent Document 1, a mechanism is disclosed in which a related document can be extracted by estimating a relevance between documents from a user's operation history and the relevance can be easily referred to.

  However, the invention is not described until batch printing. In addition, since the relevance is only estimated at the computer terminal, a desired document may not be extracted depending on the accuracy of the estimation.

  The invention described in Patent Document 2 discloses a mechanism for managing a plurality of documents as a document set for each business process and batch printing. However, although the batch printing itself is described for the invention, the specific processing thereof is not described. The document set is assumed to be a document associated with a business process on the workflow system. If these associations are not performed in advance, batch printing cannot be performed.

  In view of the above problems, the inventor of the present application searches a document freely without hitting the relevance between documents in advance or estimating the relevance of the document, and hits the document. Invented a batch printing system that batch prints documents selected by the user.

The invention of claim 1 is a collective printing system comprising a document management side system that is a computer terminal that manages and stores documents, and a plurality of user side systems that include at least a computer terminal used by a user. A computer terminal, which is a document management system , has a storage device and an arithmetic device, and the storage device has a document storage unit and a shared information storage unit, and the arithmetic device corresponds to a search processing unit. An information generation unit, the search processing unit receives a search condition from the user-side system, extracts a document that satisfies the search condition, and the correspondence information generation unit associates the extracted document with the search condition. are key names pass it generates and the user-side system, and generates a structured document including the extracted document attribute information relating to the shared information storage unit, a plurality of A chromatography The-accessible storage area, and the key name the product, and documents the extracted, stores the generated structured document and the association with, provided in the user system the A computer terminal used by a user includes a storage device and an arithmetic device, and the arithmetic device includes a search condition reception unit, a key name processing unit, a document acquisition unit, a list display unit, and a batch printing unit. , the search condition accepting unit, Installing receives the search condition from the user, the document acquisition unit, said a document corresponding to the key name received from the document management side system and the structured document acquired from the shared information storage unit of the document management side system, the stored in the storage device of the user system, the list display portion, based on the structured document stored in the storage device of the user system The display information of the extracted documents, the batch print unit, a document selected by the user from the documents the display is extracted from the storage device of the user system, you printed in a predetermined printing device, It is a batch printing system.

By configuring as in the present invention, it is possible to select a document to be printed freely by a user without batch registration or estimation of the relationship between documents as in the past. Printing can be performed.
In addition, by storing the key name, the document associated with the key name, and the structured document in the shared information storage unit (shared folder) as described above, access from various users can be made possible.

  By using the group ID in this way, it is possible to determine which user has performed which batch printing process.

3. The batch printing system according to claim 2 , wherein the batch printing unit prints a cover showing identification information corresponding to a key name of the document with the printing device before printing the document.

  When a document is printed at once, a plurality of documents are printed at the same time, so it becomes difficult to determine who printed which document. Therefore, as in the present invention, the determination is facilitated by printing a cover showing a group name or a group ID, which is information for identifying batch printing indicating who printed before a document.

According to the present invention, a plurality of different types of documents can be printed at once. In addition, as in the inventions described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, a user can freely search for a document without registering the relationship between documents in advance and without estimating the relationship. Documents selected by the user from the hit documents can be printed at once. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform batch printing from the user side system that is normally used by the user without being aware of the existence of the document management side system.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the whole system configuration | structure of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the processing process of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically the correspondence of a key name and group ID. It is an example of the screen at the time of selecting the document to batch print. It is an example of the screen containing the button which performs a batch printing function. It is an example of a structured document.

  An example of the system configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to the conceptual diagram of FIG. The collective printing system 1 of the present invention includes a user side system 2 that desires printing and a document management side system 3 that manages and stores documents. Here, the “document” is data created by various application software such as word processing software, spreadsheet software, presentation software, and image software.

  The user side system 2 is executed on a computer terminal used by the user. A single computer terminal or a plurality of computer terminals may be provided. For example, the user-side system 2 may be composed of only one computer terminal on which application software operates, or a two-tier system (C / S type system) including a client on which application software operates and a database server It may be configured as a three-tier system including a client having a web browser, a web application server, and a database server. The document management system 3 is executed on an information system including at least a database for managing and storing documents, and may be the document management system itself.

  The user side system 2 and the document management side system 3 are realized on a computer terminal (a computer terminal used by a user or a computer terminal realizing a document management system) that controls the processing of the present invention. FIG. 2 schematically shows a hardware diagram of the terminal. This computer terminal has at least an arithmetic device 20 such as a CPU for executing arithmetic processing of a program, and a storage device 21 such as a RAM and a hard disk for storing information. Each function (each means) realized on the computer terminal is executed when a means (program, module, etc.) for executing the process is read into the arithmetic unit 20. When using the information stored in the storage device 21 in the processing, each function reads the corresponding information from the storage device 21 and uses the read information for processing in the arithmetic device 20 as appropriate. The computer terminal includes a communication device 24 that transmits and receives processing results of the arithmetic device 20 and information stored in the storage device 21 via a network such as the Internet or a LAN, an input device 23 such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a numeric keypad, a display, and the like. A display device 22 may be included.

  Each function (each unit) in the present invention is only logically distinguished from each other, and may be physically or effectively the same area. Each function can be processed by one or a plurality of programs, modules, devices, or the like.

  The user-side system 2 includes a search condition reception unit 4, a key name processing unit 5, a document acquisition unit 6, a list display unit 7, a batch printing unit 8, and a storage unit 9.

  The document management side system 3 includes a search processing unit 10, a document storage unit 11, a correspondence information generation unit 12, and a shared information storage unit 13.

  The search condition receiving unit 4 displays a screen on which a search condition for searching a list of documents to be batch-printed can be input when the computer terminal receives an input of execution of the batch print function performed by the user. Accepts input. For example, when it is desired to extract a document related to a certain project and to print it in a batch, an input such as the project name is accepted. In addition, by receiving an input of search conditions, a group ID that is identification information for identifying batch printing is generated and stored in the storage unit 9 described later. For example, when the user performs a batch printing function by performing a predetermined operation on a computer terminal, “106” is generated as the group ID. When the batch printing function is executed at the next opportunity, “107” is generated as the group ID. As described above, the group ID is generated every time the batch printing function is executed, and unique identification information is also generated by executing the batch printing function at a computer terminal used by another user. Can be processed by distinguishing from what computer terminal and when it is executed.

  The search condition receiving unit 4 passes the received search conditions to the document management side system 3 to search for the corresponding document. Furthermore, a user may input a group name appropriate for representing the document indicated by the group ID, and the input group name and group ID may be associated with each other and stored in the storage unit 9.

  Based on the search condition received by the search condition receiving unit 4, the document management system 3 extracts the corresponding document and the structured document expressed by XML or the like as a list as a result of the search. The document management side system 3 generates the ID for identifying the set as “key name”. The key name processing unit 5 receives the key name generated in this way from the document management side system 3, and stores the group ID and the key name in the storage unit 9 in association with each other. FIG. 4 schematically shows this.

  The document acquisition unit 6 requests the document management side system 3 to acquire a structured document and a document corresponding to the key name passed from the document management side system 3. In response to this, the document management system 3 identifies the structured document and the document corresponding to the key name from the shared information storage unit 12 and passes them to the document acquisition unit 6 as a set. When the structured document and the document are normally stored in the storage unit 9 of the user side system 2, the document management side system 3 may delete the structured document and the document stored in the shared information storage unit 13. preferable. Note that only the structured document may be acquired. In this case, a list of documents corresponding to the search condition is displayed on the list display unit 7, and the document acquisition unit 6 acquires the document when an input for specifying printing or preview is received from the user.

  In the above acquisition request, the document acquisition unit 6 passes the server name (computer terminal name that executes the document management system), the shared folder name, and the key name that execute the document management system 3 to the document management system 3. As a result, the document management system 3 identifies the document corresponding to the key name and the structured document.

  Based on the structured document stored in the storage unit 9, the list display unit 7 displays a screen for displaying a list of documents that satisfy the search condition, as shown in FIG.

  The batch printing unit 8 extracts a document selected by the user from the screen shown by the list display unit 7 from the storage unit 9 and prints it with a predetermined printing apparatus. This printing is preferably performed as a background process.

  The search processing unit 10 searches the document storage unit 11 for a document corresponding to the search condition received from the user-side system 2.

  The document storage unit 11 stores a document to be subjected to batch printing in the document management system 3. The document storage unit 11 may use the same area as the document management system.

  The correspondence information generation unit 12 generates a “key name” corresponding to the document extracted as a result of the search in the search processing unit 10 and stores the key name in the shared information storage unit 13. Further, the correspondence information generation unit 12 passes the generated key name to the user side system 2. Further, the correspondence information generation unit 12 generates a structured document in which the list is expressed by XML or the like from the document information extracted by the search in the search processing unit 10. An example of a structured document is shown in FIG. The key name, the structured document, and the document are stored in the shared information storage unit 13 in association with each other.

  It should be noted that the structured document may be generated after the key name is passed to the user-side system 2, the key name may be passed after the structured document is generated, or the structure in which the key name is passed. The generation of the digitized document may be performed at the same time. When a plurality of user-side systems 2 are provided, the key name is normally returned to the user-side system 2 that made the search request, but the predetermined user-side system 2 also has a key name regardless of whether or not the search request has been made. The key name may be returned. By configuring in this way, the predetermined user side system 2 can grasp what kind of search request the other user side system 2 makes and what the result is. The search results of other user side systems 2 can be reused.

  The shared information storage unit 13 is a storage area accessible to a plurality of users, such as a shared folder. The shared folder preferably stores a key name, a structured document, and a document as a set. One or more shared information storage units 13 may be provided. That is, one shared folder may be provided, or a plurality of shared folders may be provided. For example, it is preferable to provide a plurality of folders corresponding to key names under the shared folder and store a structured document and documents corresponding to each folder name (key name) as a set.

  When the user already has an information system or document management system such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), CAD (Computer Aided Design), EIP (Enterprise Information Portal) The customization or setting of the existing information system is performed so that the batch printing system 1 of the present invention can be called, and the customization or setting of the existing document management system so as to include each function unit of the document management side system 3 of the present invention. By performing the setting, the batch printing system 1 of the present invention can be constructed. The calling method is not particularly limited as long as it is a method that can use each other without being aware of the implementation of each system by following a specific interface. For example, a web service or CORBA ( Technology such as Common Object Request Broker Architecture can be used.

  In the case where an existing document management system is used as the document management side system 3, the correspondence information generation unit 12 and the shared information storage unit 13 are configured not to be in the document management side system 3 but in the user side system 2. Also good. With this configuration, customization or setting work for an existing document management system can be minimized.

  Next, an example of the processing process of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the conceptual diagram of FIG.

  A user who desires to perform batch printing presses a button or the like for executing the batch printing function by performing a predetermined operation on the user-side system 2. In FIG. 6, the “document batch print” button on the right side is pressed.

  By pressing this button, a predetermined search condition input screen (not shown) is activated, and the user can use the input device 23 to input the search condition for what kind of document is to be printed. The search condition receiving unit 4 receives this search condition input (S100). For example, the user can specify various search conditions such as project name, date, file name, and title. Of course, it may be possible to search for a document including a predetermined term in the content of the document.

  When executing the batch printing described above, it is possible to accept the input of authentication information such as a user name and a password, and to start the search condition input screen only when they match, only for a specific user It is also possible to make it possible to batch print documents. Since batch printing of documents can print a large number of documents at once, there is a possibility that unauthorized printing may be performed if anyone can process it, and this is to prevent it.

  When receiving the search condition, the search condition receiving unit 4 generates a group ID and stores it in the storage unit 9. The accepted search conditions are transferred to the document management side system 3 via the network (S110), and a search process for documents satisfying the corresponding search conditions is performed.

  When the search processing unit 10 of the document management side system 3 receives the document search request and the search condition from the user side system 2 (S120), it searches the document storage unit 11 for a document that satisfies the search condition, and sets the search condition. A satisfying document is extracted (S130). Then, the correspondence information generation unit 12 generates a key name corresponding to the document extracted by the search in the search processing unit 10 (S140), and stores the key name in the shared information storage unit 13. The list is generated as structured documents expressed in XML or the like from the document information extracted by the search in the search processing unit 10 (S150). FIG. 7 shows an example of a structured document. Further, the correspondence information generation unit 12 passes the generated key name to the user side system 2 (S160).

  A structured document is a document that lists information about documents that satisfy the search conditions, preferably attribute information (document registration date, registrant, creator, file name, document contents, application software used, etc.) For example, it is expressed by XML or the like.

  For example, if there are three corresponding documents as a result of the search, the three documents are extracted, a key name corresponding to the extracted document is generated, and the key name is stored in the shared information storage unit 12. The generated key name is passed to the user side system 2. For example, when the generated key name is “0001”, “0001” is passed as the key name. Further, the correspondence information generation unit 12 lists the attribute information of the three documents based on the attribute information of the corresponding three documents. For example, if the file name is “dr345.doc” and the title is “architecture plan specification” in one of the documents, the information is included in the structured document. Since these pieces of attribute information are originally registered as attribute information of the document in the document storage unit 11, they may be used.

  Then, the correspondence information generation unit 12 uses the generated structured document (in the above case, the structured document in FIG. 7) and the document extracted as a result of the search (in the above case, the three extracted documents) as shared information. It is stored in the shared folder of the storage unit 12.

  When the key name processing unit 5 receives the key name generated by the document management side system 3 (S170), the key name and the group ID generated by the search condition receiving unit 4 are associated with each other and stored in the storage unit 9 ( S180). FIG. 4 schematically shows this state.

  The document acquisition unit 6 of the user side system 2 determines the key name based on the key name stored in S180, the name of the server that executes the document management system 3 (the computer terminal name that executes the document management system), and the shared folder name. The acquisition request for the document corresponding to the document and the structured document is passed to the document management system 3 (S190).

  Then, the document management side system 3 that has received the acquisition request from the user side system 2 (S200), based on the key name stored in the shared information storage unit 13, the structured document and the document stored in the shared information storage unit 13 Are extracted (S210) and passed to the user-side system 2 (S220).

  When the document acquisition unit 6 acquires a set of a structured document and a document corresponding to the key name from the document management system 3 (S230), the document acquisition unit 6 stores it in the storage unit 9. Then, based on the structured document stored in the storage unit 9, the list display unit 7 displays a screen for displaying a list of documents that satisfy the search condition as shown in FIG. 5 (S240). On this screen, it is preferable to display attribute information of each document in the structured document. Moreover, it may be displayed in different colors for each group ID, or may be displayed as a separate window for each group ID. “No.” in FIG. 5 indicates the printing order for each group ID, and the user can freely change it.

  Since the structured document includes information such as a file name and a title to be displayed on a screen for selecting a document to be printed as shown in FIG. 5, the user can select a desired document based on the attribute information. A document is selected (S250) and, for example, a check mark is added.

  When the user inputs the batch printing from the input device 23, the batch printing unit 8 accepts the batch printing unit 8, and the batch printing unit 8 extracts the document selected by the user from the storage unit 9 and outputs it to the predetermined printing device. Printing is performed (S260). At the time of printing, it is preferable to print a cover showing a group ID or a group name corresponding to the group ID before printing the document. This is because it is difficult to determine who printed because a plurality of documents are printed at the same time. For example, in the above description, since the group ID corresponding to the key name “0001” is “106”, the cover sheet indicating “106” is printed, and then the selected document is printed. When printing a document with one group ID with a plurality of printing apparatuses, it is preferable to print a cover with a group ID or the like printed thereon with each printing apparatus before printing the document with the group ID. For example, a printing device that prints a design drawing may be a special printing device. Only the design drawing may be printed by a printing device that can print the design drawing, and other printing may be performed by a normal printing device. In that case, it is preferable to print a cover with a group ID before printing each selected document with a printing device that prints a design drawing and a normal printing device.

As described above, a plurality of different types of documents can be easily printed by using the batch printing system 1 of the present invention. In addition, the user can freely specify search conditions and perform batch printing without registering the relationship between documents as in the prior art.

According to the present invention, a plurality of different types of documents can be printed at once. In addition, as in the inventions described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, a user can freely search for a document without registering the relationship between documents in advance and without estimating the relationship. Documents selected by the user from the hit documents can be printed at once.

1: Batch printing system 2: User side system 3: Document management side system 4: Search condition reception unit 5: Key name processing unit 6: Document acquisition unit 7: List display unit 8: Batch printing unit 9: Storage unit 10: Search Processing unit 11: Document storage unit 12: Corresponding information generation unit 13: Shared information storage unit 20: Computing device 21: Storage device 22: Display device 23: Input device 24: Communication device

Claims (2)

A collective printing system having a document management system that is a computer terminal that manages and stores documents, and a plurality of user systems that include at least a computer terminal used by a user,
The computer terminal which is the document management side system has a storage device and a computing device,
The storage device includes a document storage unit and a shared information storage unit, and the arithmetic device includes a search processing unit and a correspondence information generation unit,
The search processing unit receives search conditions from the user-side system, extracts documents that satisfy the search conditions ,
The correspondence information generating unit generates a key name associated with the extracted document, passes it to the user side system, and generates a structured document including attribute information about the extracted document ,
The shared information storage unit is a storage area accessible to a plurality of users, and stores the generated key name, the extracted document, and the generated structured document in association with each other,
The computer terminal used by the user provided in the user-side system includes a storage device and a computing device,
The arithmetic device has a search condition accepting unit, a key name processing unit, a document acquisition unit, a list display unit, and a batch printing unit,
The search condition accepting unit, with receives the search condition from the user,
The document acquisition unit acquires the document corresponding to the key name received from the document management side system and the structured document from the shared information storage unit of the document management side system, the storage device of the user system Remember ,
The list display unit displays information on the extracted document based on the structured document stored in the storage device of the user side system ,
The batch printing unit, a document selected by the user from the documents the display is extracted from the storage device of the user system, you printed in a predetermined printing device,
A batch printing system characterized by this. The batch printing section
Before printing the document, print a cover showing identification information corresponding to the key name of the document with the printing device;
The batch printing system according to claim 1 , wherein:

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