JP7484308B2 - File management device and file management program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a file management technology that manages document files that contain documents used in business and recipient information regarding recipients to whom documents are to be sent.

In many offices, file management devices are used to store documents used in business. The file management device is generally made up of a server device, and provides document files to information processing terminals in the office in response to access from the information processing terminals via communication lines (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In addition, if the file management device stores information on recipients to whom documents are to be sent in a database, it is also possible to easily obtain information on recipients to whom documents created are to be sent. In recent years, file management systems in which such file management devices are implemented as cloud servers have also come into widespread use.

A user creates a new document using a file management device from an information processing terminal in the office, such as a PC, and sends the created document by email or facsimile. In this case, the user starts up multiple applications on the information processing terminal, displays other reference documents provided by the file management device on the screen alongside the document being created, and saves the created document file in the file management device. In addition, email addresses and fax numbers for sending the created document to recipients by email or facsimile, as well as telephone numbers to give to recipients by phone, are obtained from the file management device's database and displayed on the screen alongside the document being created. This significantly reduces the workload of the user.

JP 2005-173887 A

When using such a conventional file management device, a user can start up multiple applications on an information processing terminal and display reference documents provided by the file management device and recipient information on the screen alongside the document being created; however, the documents and recipient information displayed at startup are independent and unrelated to each other. For this reason, users must operate each application individually even for a routine series of business procedures, such as creating a document addressed to a company and sending it by e-mail.

For example, to display a document required for business on a screen, it is necessary to search for the directory in which the document file of the document is stored from among multiple directories provided in the file management device and display the screen, and to search for the document file to reference from the multiple document files stored in that directory and display the screen. In addition, to display the email address of the recipient to whom the document is to be sent on a screen, it is necessary to input the recipient's company name, department name, and person in charge name, etc., search for the recipient's email address in a database, and display the email address on the screen. Therefore, even when a file management device is used, there is a problem in that the workload required to create and send documents is large in practice.

The present invention is intended to solve these problems and aims to provide a file management technology that can reduce the workload of users when creating and sending documents.

To achieve this objective, the file management device of the present invention includes a file storage unit in which document files describing documents used in business are stored in directories corresponding to the classification types of the document files, a storage unit that stores directory information indicating the correspondence between the directories and the classification types of the document files stored in the directories, a destination database in which destination information regarding destinations to which documents described in the document files are to be sent is registered together with the classification type of the documents, and a control unit that, in response to access from a user's information processing terminal, obtains from the directory information a target classification type associated with a target directory designated as an access destination, searches the destination database for destination information related to the target directory based on the obtained target classification type, and presents a destination list created from the obtained destination information to the information processing terminal.

In one configuration example of the file management device according to the present invention, the classification type is composed of either or a combination of the recipient to whom the document described in the document file is to be sent and the business type of the document, and the control unit searches the recipient database for recipient information whose recipient matches the recipient in the target directory, and creates the recipient list by sorting the obtained recipient information in such a way that the business type matches the business type in the target directory.

In addition, one configuration example of the file management device according to the present invention further includes a history database in which, for each user, the destinations used by that user and the number of times of use are registered as history information, and the control unit searches the history database for history information related to the user of the information processing terminal in response to access from the information processing terminal, creates a directory list by sorting the directories corresponding to the destinations included in the obtained history information in order of the number of times the destinations are used, and presents the obtained directory list to the information processing terminal.

The file management program according to the present invention is a file management program used in a file management device that includes a file storage unit in which document files describing documents used in business are stored in directories corresponding to the classification types of the document files, a storage unit that stores directory information indicating the correspondence between the directories and the classification types of the document files stored in the directories, a destination database in which multiple pieces of destination information to which documents described in the document files are sent are registered together with the classification types of the documents, and a control unit that presents a destination list to the information processing terminal in response to access from a user's information processing terminal, and causes the file management device to execute the steps of: the control unit, in response to access from the user's information processing terminal, acquiring from the directory information a target classification type associated with a target directory designated as an access destination; and the control unit, based on the acquired target classification type, searching the destination database for destination information related to the target directory, and presenting to the information processing terminal a destination list created from the acquired destination information.

According to the present invention, the target directory designated as the access destination and the corresponding destination information are presented on the information processing terminal as a destination list. Furthermore, in the destination list, destination information that matches the target classification type corresponding to the target directory is preferentially displayed on the screen. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the operation and time required to search for the destination information of the destination and the destination person in charge of the current business, and to reduce the workload of the user required for creating and sending documents.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a file management device. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a directory structure. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of directory information; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a destination database; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a history database; FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an access process of the file management device. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a process of creating a directory list. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of creating a directory list. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a process of creating a destination list. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of creating a destination list.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[File management device]
First, a file management device 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the file management device.
This file management device 10 is comprised entirely of a server device, and is a device that presents stored document files to an information processing terminal 20 used by a user in response to an access request from the information processing terminal 20 via a communication line L1.

The following describes an example in which a file management device 10 is installed in an office and is connected to a plurality of information processing terminals 20 via a LAN communication line L1 to enable data communication. It is also assumed that communication line L1 is connected to communication equipment 30 such as a gateway or router for relaying a connection to a communication network NW such as the Internet via communication line L2. It is also assumed that communication line L1 is connected to a telephone control device 31 of a telephone system and an email monitoring device 32 that monitors emails sent and received by the information processing terminals 20. It is also assumed that the file management device 10 may be realized as a cloud server connected to the communication network NW.

The main circuitry of the file management device 10 includes a communication I/F 11, a file storage unit 12, a memory unit 13, a destination database (hereafter referred to as destination DB) 14, a history database (hereafter referred to as history DB) 15, and a control unit 16, which are connected to each other via an internal bus B so that they can exchange data with each other. Of these, the file storage unit 12, destination DB 14, and history DB 15 can be realized as independent storage devices such as file servers, and can be connected to the file management device 10 via communication lines.

[Network I/F]
The network I/F 11 is a circuit section that relays and connects the internet communication of the information processing terminal 20 by performing data communication with the communication network NW via the communication line L2.

[File storage section]
The file storage unit 12 is generally composed of a storage device such as a hard disk, and is a device in which various document files used by users in their work are stored in directories corresponding to the classification types of the document files. The file storage unit 12 is provided with a plurality of directories (folders) having a tree structure (hierarchical structure) based on classification types previously set for classifying document files. Directories are virtual storage locations for classifying and storing document files, and can be provided hierarchically. These directories are set by instructions from the information processing terminal 20 or by operator operations from a console (not shown) provided in the file management device 10.

Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a directory configuration. According to the example configuration shown in Figure 2, the file storage unit 12 has a business directory as a directory for storing document files used in business. The business directory also has subdirectories for each business type, such as an estimate directory, an order directory, and a billing directory. The estimate directory stores document files used in the business of creating and sending quotations. The order directory also stores document files used in the business of creating and sending purchase orders, and the billing directory stores document files used in the business of creating and sending invoices.

Each of these directories, the quotation directory, order directory, and invoice directory, has multiple subdirectories for each recipient (company or individual) to whom the document will be sent. According to the configuration example shown in FIG. 2, for example, the quotation directory has subdirectories A Company, B Company, C Company, and so on. Therefore, the A Company directory in the quotation directory stores all the document files used in the task of creating and sending quotations, among the documents to be sent to A Company.

In the following, an example will be described in which the classification types, business type and recipient, are used in combination, but this is not limiting, and only one of business type and recipient may be used as the classification type. In addition to business type and recipient, one or more classification types that can classify recipients into multiple categories, such as region, year and month, user department, individual user, recipient department, and project name, may be used in combination.

In the following, as shown in Figure 2, an example will be described in which the business type is the upper hierarchical level and the recipient is the lower hierarchical level, but this is not limiting, and the recipient may be the upper hierarchical level and the business type may be the upper hierarchical level. Note that the number of recipients that a document file saved in the same directory can have depends on the classification type at the lowest hierarchical level. For this reason, when multiple classification types are used in a hierarchical combination, the classification type at the lowest hierarchical level can be determined by taking into consideration the number of recipients included in the classification type at the lowest hierarchical level to be a number that is easy for users to handle.

[Memory unit]
The storage unit 13 is a circuit unit that is generally made up of a storage device such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory, and that stores various processing data and programs used by the control unit 16 .
The program (not shown) is a program that realizes a processing unit that executes access processing in the control unit 16 by cooperating with the CPU of the control unit 16. This program is stored in the storage unit 13 and pre-loaded from an external device or a recording medium (neither of which are shown) connected to the file management device 10.

The main processing unit stored in the memory unit 13 is directory information 13A. The directory information 13A is data showing the structure of the directory provided in the file storage unit 12. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of directory information. As shown in FIG. 3, the directory information 13A registers, for each directory, a set of the directory name (path name/URL) to be specified when accessing the directory, the business type related to the document file stored in the directory, and the recipient (recipient name) to whom the document file stored in the directory is to be sent.

Generally, storage devices such as hard disks that store files store file management information, for example called FAT (File Allocation Table), which is used to manage each directory and the files stored in the directory, and the file storage unit 12 does the same. Such file management information records directory names and file names. In this case, if directories are organized hierarchically based on classification type as shown in Figure 2 above, the directory name will contain information indicating the classification type. In other words, by referring to the directory name, it is possible to identify the classification type associated with that directory.

For ease of understanding, the following describes an example in which directory information 13A is used as information indicating the correspondence between a directory and a classification type, but this is not limited to this, and it is also possible to use file management information from the file storage unit 12, or more specifically, a directory name, as directory information 13A.

[Destination DB]
The recipient DB 14 is a database that is generally composed of a storage device such as a hard disk or semiconductor memory, and that registers multiple pieces of recipient information related to recipients or recipient personnel to whom documents described in document files are to be sent, along with the classification type of the documents. Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the recipient database. As shown in Fig. 4, the recipient DB 14 registers, for each classification type, in this case for each combination of recipient and business type, a recipient personnel (recipient personnel name), a contact telephone number, and a fax number and email address to which the document is to be sent, as a set.

[History DB]
The history DB 15 is generally composed of a storage device such as a hard disk or semiconductor memory, and is a database in which the destinations used by the user and the number of times of use are registered as history information for each user. Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the history database. As shown in Fig. 5, the history DB 15 registers, for each user, the destinations used by the user, the number of times of use of e-mail, telephone, and facsimile, the number of times of use (access) of document files, and the total number of times of these, as a set. The number of times of use of telephone and facsimile can be updated by the communication history data of the telephone control device 31, and the number of times of use of e-mail can be updated by the transmission history data of the e-mail monitoring device 32.

[Control unit]
The control unit 16 is a circuit unit that has a CPU and its peripheral circuits, and operates in cooperation with the program in the storage unit 13 to realize a processing unit that executes access processing.
The control unit 16 has a function of presenting a directory list, which is a list of subdirectories and document files under a specified directory, to the information processing terminal 20 in response to an access request from the information processing terminal 20 received by the communication I/F 11, and a function of presenting a specified document file (document data) to the information processing terminal 20.

In addition, the control unit 16 has a function of acquiring, in response to access from the information processing terminal 20, a target classification type associated with a target directory designated as an access destination from the directory information 13A, a function of searching for destination information related to the target directory from the destination DB 14 based on the acquired target classification type, and a function of presenting a destination list created from the acquired destination information to the information processing terminal 20.

Specifically, the control unit 16 has a function to search the destination DB 14 for destination information whose destination matches the destination in the target directory, and a function to create a destination list by sorting the obtained destination information by giving priority to information whose business type matches the business type in the target directory.

The control unit 16 also has a function of searching the history DB 15 for history information related to the user of the information processing terminal 20 in response to access from the information processing terminal 20, a function of creating a directory list by sorting the directories corresponding to the recipients included in the obtained history information in order of frequency of use of the recipients, and a function of presenting the obtained directory list to the information processing terminal 20.

[Operation of this embodiment]
Next, a file management method in the file management device 10 according to the present embodiment and the operation of a file management program for implementing the method will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an access process of the file management device.

In response to an access request received from the information processing terminal 20 via the communication I/F 11 (step S100), the control unit 16 of the file management device 10 identifies the user from the user identification information included in the access request (step S101).
Next, the control unit 16 searches and acquires history information relating to the user from the history DB 15 (step S102), and acquires the recipients and the total number of times for these recipients from the acquired history information (step S103).

Next, the control unit 16 refers to the directory information 13A in the memory unit 13 to obtain the directory corresponding to the destination included in each piece of history information (step S104), and sorts each directory in order of the greatest total number of times the destination was used, which is included in each piece of obtained history information (step S105).
Next, the control unit 16 refers to the directory information 13A in the memory unit 13 to obtain the classification type of the target directory specified in the access request (step S106), and extracts directories associated with the obtained classification type from the rearranged directories (step S107).

Thereafter, the control unit 16 returns the obtained directory list to the information processing terminal 20 (step S108), whereby the directories are displayed on the screen of the information processing terminal 20 in descending order of total number of times (step S109).
Regarding the directory extraction in step S107, the classification type of the target directory may be obtained before step S104, and when the directory is obtained in step S104, a directory corresponding to the destination and the classification type of the target directory may be obtained.

Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the process of creating a directory list. For example, if the user identified from the access request is "ssss", the history information of "ssss" is obtained from history DB 15. Next, the destinations "Company A, Company B, Company C, ..." contained in this history information are obtained, and directories related to these destinations are obtained from directory information 13A. Next, these directories are sorted in order of the total number of times they are included in the history information, in the example of Figure 5, the order is "Company B, Company A, Company C, ...".

After this, a classification type other than the destination corresponding to the target directory specified as the access destination in the access request, here the business type, is obtained from the directory information 13A, and the directory corresponding to this business type is extracted from the rearranged directory and provided to the information processing terminal 20 as a directory list. Note that if the target directory specified in the access request is a "business directory," there is no corresponding classification type. Therefore, the rearranged directory is provided to the information processing terminal 20 as a directory list.

Figure 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of creating a directory list. In Figure 8, an example is shown where the "Business/Billing Directory" is specified as the access destination. It can be seen that the subdirectories under the "Business/Billing Directory" are sorted and listed in the order of "Company B, Company A, Company C, ...". This directory list is generally displayed on a screen in a file management application called a filer, and a directory list under any directory is displayed on the screen in response to user operations. Normally, each directory is displayed in a prescribed order, such as the directory name, but by displaying them in order of the most frequent total number of times by the user, as in Figure 8, the operations and time required to search for the desired directory can be reduced, and the workload on the user can be reduced.

After that, when the user selects a desired directory from the directory list displayed on the screen of the information processing terminal 20, an access request specifying the selected directory is sent from the information processing terminal 20 (step S110).

In response to this access request, the control unit 16 obtains file management information relating to the subdirectories and files under the selected directory from the file storage unit 12 (step S111), and provides a file list consisting of the file management information to the information processing terminal 20 (step S112). As a result, a file list showing the subdirectories and files under the target directory is displayed on the screen of the information processing terminal 20 (step S113).

Therefore, when an access request specifying "Business/Billing Directory/Company A" from the directory list is sent from the information processing terminal 20, a file list showing the subdirectories and files under "Business/Billing Directory/Company A" will be displayed on the screen of the information processing terminal 20. After this, the user can select a desired document file from this file list and request access, and the desired document file will be presented to the information processing terminal 20 by the file management device 10, and can be opened as a new document file to be created in an application or as a document file to be used as reference.

The control unit 16 also refers to the directory information 13A in the memory unit 13 to obtain the classification type for the target directory specified in the access request received in step S110 (step S120), and searches for and obtains destination information for destinations of the obtained classification type from the destination DB 14 (step S121).

Next, the control unit 16 rearranges the acquired recipient information by prioritizing those that match the obtained classification type, in this case the business type (step S122), and presents the obtained recipient list to the information processing terminal 20 (step S123). As a result, the recipient information that matches the classification type of the target directory, in this case the business type, is displayed on the screen of the information processing terminal 20 in the order in which it is prioritized (step S124).

Figure 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the process of creating a recipient list. For example, if the target directory specified as the access destination in the access request is "Business/Billing/Company A", the recipient "Company A" and the business type "Billing" are obtained from the directory information 13A as classification types related to the "Business/Billing/Company A Directory". Next, recipient information related to the recipient "Company A" is searched and obtained from the recipient DB 14, and this recipient information is sorted so that information matching the business type "Billing" is given priority, and then provided to the information processing terminal 20 as a recipient list.

Figure 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of creating a recipient list. In Figure 10, an example is shown where "Business/Billing/Company A" is specified as the access destination, and recipient information that matches the business type "Billing" is displayed in the first row, and it can be seen that the information is rearranged so that those that match the business type "Billing" are given priority. This recipient list is generally displayed on a screen in an e-mail application called a mailer. Normally, recipient information is displayed in a specified order such as recipient name, but as shown in Figure 10, by displaying not only recipients related to the currently accessed target directory specified by the user, but also recipients of business types related to the target directory with priority, it is possible to reduce the operation and time required to search for recipient information of the recipient of the current business and the recipient's person in charge, and to reduce the user's workload.

[Effects of this embodiment]
In this manner, in this embodiment, the control unit 16, in response to access from the user's information processing terminal 20, obtains from the directory information 13A the target classification type associated with the target directory designated as the access destination, searches for recipient information related to the target directory from the recipient DB 14 based on the obtained target classification type, and presents to the information processing terminal 20 a recipient list created from the obtained recipient information.

More specifically, the classification type is a combination of the recipient of the document described in the document file and the business type of the document, and the control unit 16 searches the recipient DB 14 for recipient information whose recipient matches the recipient in the target directory, and creates a recipient list by sorting the obtained recipient information by giving priority to information whose business type matches the business type of the target directory.

As a result, the destination information corresponding to the target directory specified as the access destination is presented on the information processing terminal 20 as a destination list. Furthermore, in the destination list, destination information that matches the business type "billing" corresponding to the target directory is displayed on the screen with priority. Normally, destination information is displayed on the screen in a specified order such as destination name, but destination information related to the current business is displayed on the screen with priority. This reduces the operation and time required to search for destination information for the destination and the person in charge of the destination for the current business, and makes it possible to reduce the workload on the user required for creating and sending documents.

In addition, in this embodiment, a history DB 15 is further provided in which the contacts used by the user and the number of times of use are registered as history information for each user, and the control unit 16 searches the history DB 15 for history information related to the user of the information processing terminal 20 in response to access from the information processing terminal 20, creates a directory list by sorting the directories corresponding to the contacts included in the obtained history information in descending order of the number of times the contacts are used, and presents the obtained directory list to the information processing terminal 20.

As a result, subdirectories under the target directory specified as the access destination are sorted in order of frequency of use by the user and are displayed on the screen of the information processing terminal 20, with the directories related to that destination sorted in order. Normally, each directory is displayed in a specified order such as the directory name, but in this case, they are displayed on the screen in order of frequency of use by the user. This reduces the amount of operations and time required to search for a desired directory, and reduces the workload on the user.

[Extended embodiments]
Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention. For example, the functions of the file management device can be realized by an information processing terminal.

10... file management device, 11... communication I/F, 12... file storage unit, 13... memory unit, 13A... directory information, 14... destination DB, 15... history DB, 16... control unit, 20... information processing terminal, 30... communication device, 31... telephone control unit, 32... email monitoring device, L1, L2... communication line, NW... communication network.

Claims (4)

a file storage unit in which document files describing documents used in business are stored in directories corresponding to the classification types of the document files;
a storage unit for storing directory information indicating a correspondence between the directory and a classification type of a document file stored in the directory;
a destination database in which destination information on destinations to which the documents described in the document file are to be sent is registered together with the classification types of the documents;
a control unit that, in response to access from a user's information processing terminal, obtains from the directory information a target classification type associated with a target directory designated as an access destination, searches for destination information related to the target directory from the destination database based on the obtained target classification type, and presents a destination list created from the obtained destination information to the information processing terminal. 2. The file management device according to claim 1,
The classification type is composed of either or a combination of a destination to which the document described in the document file is to be sent and a business type of the document,
The control unit of the file management device creates the destination list by searching the destination database for destination information whose destination matches the destination in the target directory, and rearranging the obtained destination information by giving priority to information whose business type matches the business type in the target directory. 3. The file management device according to claim 1,
a history database in which, for each user, the destinations used by that user and the number of times of use are registered as history information;
The control unit of this file management device searches the history database for history information related to the user of the information processing terminal in response to access from the information processing terminal, creates a directory list by sorting directories corresponding to destinations included in the obtained history information in order of frequency of use of the destination, and presents the obtained directory list to the information processing terminal. A file management program for use in a file management device comprising: a file storage section in which document files describing documents used in business are stored in directories corresponding to the classification types of the document files; a storage section for storing directory information indicating a correspondence between the directories and the classification types of the document files stored in the directories; a destination database in which information on multiple destinations to which documents described in the document files are to be sent is registered together with the classification types of the documents; and a control section for presenting a destination list to a user's information processing terminal in response to access from the information processing terminal,
the control unit acquiring, in response to an access from a user's information processing terminal, a target classification type associated with a target directory designated as an access destination from the directory information;
a step in which the control unit searches the destination database for destination information related to the target directory based on the obtained target classification type, and presents a destination list created from the obtained destination information to the information processing terminal.

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