JPH1139345A - Data display input system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To call a record, to speedily and easily display it, to precisely input data without errors and to reduce the burden of the operation of an operator in a data base. SOLUTION: An external document file is designated (S100) and data of a key item contained in it is extracted (S101). The record in the corresponding data base is retrieved by extracted key data (S103). When the pertinent record exists as the result of retrieval, the content of the record is compared with the content of the external document file. The difference of them is checked. When different data exist, the part is displayed on a display so that the part can be viewed (S106 and 109). The operator views the display and judges whether the correction of the record is required or not. When different data exist, differential data is registered in the record by depressing a registration key.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a method for displaying and inputting data in a database. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for displaying and inputting data in a database which can reduce the operation of an operator.

[0002]

[Prior art and its problems] In the case of documents submitted to various organizations, government agencies, etc., or databases that manage the procedures performed, etc., the contents of the submitted documents in addition to the document name, document number, etc. Must also be entered and recorded.
Although it is possible to select and enter a document name from a list, the content is often manually input from a keyboard. Although it is conceivable that a document to be submitted is created by using a dedicated submission document creating device or the like and at the same time as input data of a database, the use of the device is limited. Taking patent applications as an example, applications, procedural amendments, examination requests,
There are a great number of procedural documents, such as pension payment slips, and the period for which management is required is over 10 years. Therefore, it is difficult to collectively manage them with a dedicated device such as an application terminal. Also, such devices are expensive. For this reason, there is a demand for a data display input method that can quickly and easily input and display a database of procedures to government agencies, public organizations, and private institutions created by means other than a dedicated terminal device such as a word processor.

In particular, in a database relating to a patent procedure such as a patent application management system, various necessary procedures are sequentially and repeatedly generated. In other words, for one case, submit procedural documents to the JPO, such as a patent application, amendment of procedure, written opinion, etc., pay various fees, or notify of the application number, amendment order, notice of reasons for refusal, patent assessment, etc. Receipt of a notice from the JPO, etc., occurs at different times, and each time these procedures occur, the necessary data must be registered in the corresponding case record. In addition, there are items that determine the deadline for the next procedure based on the data, and if the procedure is not completed by the deadline, it will have a significant effect on the fate of rights. Therefore, the data must be entered into the database absolutely error-free.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to enable quick and easy retrieval and display of records in a database. Also,
An object of the present invention is to make it possible to input data accurately and without error. Another object of the present invention is to reduce the burden on the operation of an operator.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a database for storing records of various items related to procedures, for example, procedures performed by various organizations, government agencies, private institutions, etc., and for managing the procedures. Items to be used as keys to uniquely identify the data, for example, key items such as reference numbers and application numbers in the case of patent management, and data to be displayed on the display by calling up a record by specifying the contents of the key items This is a display method. Then, a step of designating the external document file created for performing the procedure as an input file of the database, a step of determining whether or not data exists in a key item in the designated external document file, As a result, when data is present in the key item, a step of searching the database with the data of the key item, and, as a result of the search, when a corresponding record exists, calling and displaying the record, Displaying the external document file when the corresponding record does not exist.

According to the present invention, in the data display method having the above structure, the database registers, retrieves, and displays data on procedures related to industrial property rights, and the external document file is submitted to the Patent Office. Or a document file of notices from the JPO.

Further, according to the present invention, the external document file is displayed as an icon on a display screen, and the external document file is dragged and dropped onto an icon or a window of a database, whereby the external document file is displayed. It is characterized by specifying.

The present invention further comprises the steps of comparing the contents of the external document file with the contents of the record, and displaying the difference data between the contents of the external document file and the record on a display. It is characterized by having.

Further, according to the present invention, in a database holding records of data of various items relating to procedures, key items serving as keys for uniquely identifying records are set, and the contents of the key items are set. Is a data display input method of a database in which a record is called, a record is displayed on a display, and data is input,
A step of designating an external document file created for performing the procedure as an input file of a database; a step of determining whether data exists in a key item in the specified external document file; and a result of the determination. When data exists in the key item, searching the database with the data of the key item; and as a result of the search, when a corresponding record exists, the contents of the external document file and the contents existing in the record are Comparing the content of the external document file with the content of the record, and displaying the data of the difference on a display. And an additional inputting step.

Further, according to the present invention, when data does not exist in the key item of the external document file, a new record is created in the database, and the contents of the external document file are used as input data of the record. .

[0011]

According to the database display method of the present invention,
First, an external document file created for the procedure or received in the procedure is designated as an input file of the database. As the external document file, for example, in the case of a patent application procedure, there are a patent application, a procedural amendment, a request for examination, a notice from the JPO, and so on. As a designation method, for example, a graphically easy-to-understand interface for dragging and dropping the icon of the external document file to the icon or window of the database may be used. Next, it is determined whether or not data exists in the key item in the designated external document file. For example, when “serial number” is set as a key item, the content data of the key item “serial number” in the external document file is extracted as search question data, and the extracted question data is used to search the database. Search for. As a result of the search, when the corresponding record exists, the record is called from the database and displayed on the display. At the time of display, a difference between the contents of the external document file and the record may be obtained, and this difference may be displayed. When the corresponding record does not exist, the external document file is displayed. By this, when you want to see the registered records of the database related to a certain external document file, simply specify the already created external document file and automatically retrieve the search question data from the key items and search Therefore, the corresponding record can be easily retrieved from the database without the troublesome operation of inputting the question data using the keyboard or the like by the operator. Also,
Since there is no situation where an input error occurs due to an operator's keyboard operation, a quick and error-free search can be performed. When the corresponding record does not exist, the external document file is displayed. Therefore, when the record corresponding to the database is not registered, it can be confirmed.

In the display input method of the database according to the present invention, the same operation as in the above display method is performed until an external document file is designated, a record in the database corresponding to the file is searched, and the record is displayed on the display. If the result of the search is that there is a corresponding record, the contents of the record are compared with the contents of the external document file, and the differences between the two are examined. . The operator looks at the display to determine whether or not the record needs to be modified, and when there is different data, inputs a difference by pressing a registration button or the like. Register additional data,
Before updating, the operator can check the display to see if there is any error, so that erroneous input can be greatly reduced, and a database with less error data can be constructed. In addition, in additional registration and update of data, data of a difference from a record is automatically extracted from an external document file and registered or updated, so that an operator's operation burden can be reduced and input errors can be reduced. Can be prevented.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a data display input method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral S100 indicates a step of designating reading of the external file 10. There are various reading designation methods. A method of dragging and dropping an icon 21 indicating a file to an icon 22 of an application such as database management software as shown in FIG. 2 or an icon indicating a file as shown in FIG. There are a method of dragging and dropping the file 31 onto the form 32 of the application that has started the application 31, a method of displaying and selecting a file list 41 from the menu of the application as shown in FIG.

The selected file is stored in step S101.
Is read by the application. The read file is checked for the file format or the like by a check routine (not shown), and the file format is converted if necessary.
For example, when the internal processing is performed in a text format, if the input file is a file in an HTML format or a format unique to a word processor, the input file is converted to a text format and then processed. Although the conversion of the file format does not particularly constitute the present invention, it is more convenient to prepare a conversion routine for a file whose format is expected in advance as a selected file.

The contents of the file to be read include those shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 as long as they relate to patent procedures, for example. FIG. 5 shows the format of a patent application, in which the title of each item is enclosed by an identifier in square brackets, followed immediately by the content of the title. The patent application 50 has an item “reference number” that can be used as a key that is not changed later. It is clear that the method of the present invention can be applied to any document other than a patent as long as the procedure and the key are paired. If the item "number" is set as a key item on the application side, in step S102, it is determined whether or not there is the same item as the key item set in the read external file 10, that is, the key item " Reference number"
Is searched for the item name enclosed by the identifier of the external file, and the corresponding contents are extracted. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the content of the item "number" is "P123567".

Next, in step S103, the contents "P123456" extracted from the file in the database.
A search is performed to see if there is a record having a “number” that matches “7”. The search is usually performed using the index file 11. In step S104, it is confirmed whether or not there is a corresponding record.
At 105, it is read from the master file of the database 12. The read content is displayed on the display screen 13 in step S106. In the example, it is indicated that items 1 to 3 on the display 13 have already been input. This state indicates that data using the same reference number as a key is stored in the database 12, and items 1 to 3 have been input. The state of this record is a form of use in which classification numbers are assigned later in patent offices and the like, and reference numbers, names and applicant names are input first.

Next, in step S107, the contents of the file read in step S101 are compared with the contents of the data of the record read using the serial number as a key, and the difference between the two is checked. If there is a difference, the difference is displayed as new input data on the screen 14 of the display in step S108. In the example of FIG. 1, the contents indicated by items 7 to 9 on the screen 14 of the display do not exist in the data of the already recorded record, that is, the parts to be added.

To summarize the flow so far, an external file is read, a database is searched using key items in the external file, and if there is a corresponding record, this is displayed, and additional data is added to the external file. If there is, this is displayed on the screen 14 of the display as new input data. Of course, the displayed data can be saved in the database 12 by performing an operation such as clicking the icon 15 of the registration button.

It is rare that a serial number is not included in a patent application. However, in such a case, or when no record is hit by the search in step S103, it is known that the data is new data. In this case, in step S109, the contents of the external file are displayed at the display positions indicated by items 7 to 9 on the display 13. At the time of the display, a display 17 indicating that a new record needs to be created.
Should flash.

Display screens 13, 14, and 16
Items 1 to 12 include, for example, “serial number”, “international patent classification”, “name of invention”, “inventor”, “applicant”, and “agent”. The actual data of items 1 to 12 is displayed at a position corresponding to the title identified by the characters enclosed in the brackets in the external file. That is, the actual data of the line having the title “International Patent Classification” in the external file (G02F1 / 30 in this example)
Are displayed as actual data of items of the international patent classification on the displays 10 to 13.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the structure of a record in a database. When a patent application is filed with the JPO, for example, an external file in a format as shown in FIG. 5 is created. When records of a database are extracted from this file, as shown in FIG. Data such as name / submission date 82, classification (international patent classification) 83, invention name 84, applicant 85, etc. can be registered. In the description so far, what is described as an external file means a file separated from the database, and may be present on the same hard disk or physically, such as a floppy disk. It may be a separate file.

After the application, if the application number is found, a record is searched using the reference number, and this is additionally input.
The application number may be input manually or may be recorded in an external file having a serial number and input by the above-described method. The application number can also be used as a key that will not be changed later, but in the first stage of the procedure, since it has not been assigned, it will be entered when the application number is known. After inputting the application number, it can be used as a search key in the same manner as the serial number. That is, even if there is no reference number in the external file, if there is an application number, a search is performed using this as a key,
The content of the difference can be read and used as input data.
As described above, data that can be used as a key may be data having a content that can specify one record, and is not limited to that content. Of course, the registration number can also be used as a key.

FIG. 9 shows an example in which an application number 91 is added to the record 90 shown in FIG. This application number 9
No. 1 is converted from a format prescribed in the enforcement regulations such as 1997 Patent Application No. 12345 into a simple format such as H09-000000 suitable for recording in a database without redundancy. An example is shown. In this case, it is necessary to prepare a conversion unit for format conversion. Also, when searching for a key, the above-mentioned conversion unit is used because the application number assigned to the external file has a different format from the application number recorded in the database. It should be noted that the other items can be similarly configured so that the expression format of the contents of the items in the external file is format-converted and recorded in the database.

Next, an example will be described in which, when a procedure amendment shown in FIG. 6 is submitted, an external file 60 which is a procedure amendment is read and designated in order to additionally input the data into a record. Since the external file includes the key items “application number” and “serial number”, the search is performed in step S103 using one or both of them. As a result of performing a search using the data of one key item, if there is no corresponding item, the search can be performed using the data of the other key item. As a result of the search, if there is a corresponding record, the record is displayed on the call screen 13 from the database. Here, since the input of the examination request data has not been instructed yet, nothing is displayed for the examination request in the items of the procedure name and the submission date of the record. Here, the record called and retrieved by the search is compared with the file of the read procedure amendment for each item. In addition, the expression format of the contents of the document name of the external file and the expression format of the contents of the procedure name of the record are "procedure amendment" as "procedure amendment", "examination request"
Is changed to an abbreviated format such as "Request for Examination", so that it goes without saying that the data in the external file is converted into the expression format in the record before the comparison. Based on the result of the comparison, different items and their content data are extracted. In the case of the exemplified procedure amendment, it is compared whether the content data of the item “document name” is included in the item “procedure name” of the record, and the item “submission date” of the procedure amendment
Compare with the content data of If the record of the procedure amendment on August 30, 1997 hits, if there is no data in the record, this is displayed on the display 13 as additional data. After that, the operator confirms the display and clicks the registration button 15 to register the difference data in the corresponding record in the database.

Similarly, when the application examination request shown in FIG. 7 is submitted, the external file 70 is read and additional data is displayed.
This is added to the database as additional input data. FIG. 10 shows a part of the record to which the data of the procedure amendment and examination request and the date of submission have been added.

According to the above-described embodiment, a record for an external document file is accessed using information of a document for a procedure, that is, information of an external document file. Is almost unnecessary, and the operation of the operator is simplified. Further, since there is no typing error in the input operation, there is no search error caused by incorrectly calling the record to be accessed. Also, before adding or updating data, the operator can check the display to see if there are any errors, so that erroneous input can be greatly reduced and a database with few error data can be created. Can be built. In addition, in additional registration and update of data, data of a difference from a record is automatically extracted from an external document file and registered and updated, so that a burden of an input operation by an operator can be reduced and an input error can be reduced. Incorrect data can be prevented from being registered in a record.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to quickly and easily retrieve and display records in a database of procedures for government agencies, private institutions, and the like created as files. Further, according to the present invention, data can be input accurately without error. Further, the present invention can significantly reduce the burden on the operation of the operator.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a data display input method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a reading designation method according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of a reading designation method according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing still another example of the reading designation method according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an external file according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of the external file according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing still another example of the external file according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a record according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another example of the record according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a record according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: External file, 11: Index file,
12, a database, 13, 14, 16 ... a display screen, 21, 31 ... an icon indicating an external file, 2
2 ... Database application icon 32
... Application form, 41 ... File selection menu.

Claims (6)

[Claims] Claims: 1. In a database holding records of various items related to procedures, key items for uniquely identifying records are set, and the contents of the key items are designated to call the records. A data display method of a database to be displayed on a display, wherein a step of designating an external document file created for performing the procedure as an input file of the database, wherein data exists in a key item in the designated external document file A step of determining whether or not to perform the search; and, as a result of the determination, when data exists in the key item, searching the database with the data of the key item. As a result of the search, a corresponding record exists. Sometimes, the record is called and displayed, and the record When there is no data display system characterized by comprising a step of displaying the external document file. 2. The database is for registering, searching and displaying data on procedures relating to industrial property rights, and the external document file is a document file to be submitted to the Patent Office or a document file of various notices from the Patent Office. 2. The data display method according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The external document file and the database are displayed as icons on a display screen, and the external document file is designated by dragging and dropping the icon of the external document file to the icon or window of the database. The database display method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of comparing the content of the external document file with the content of the record, and a step of displaying a difference data between the content of the external document file and the content of the record on a display. The data display method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: 5. In a database holding records of data of various items related to procedures, key items serving as keys for uniquely identifying records are set, and the contents of the key items are designated. A data display and input method of a database for calling and displaying records on a display and inputting data, wherein an external document file created for performing the procedure is designated as an input file of the database; Determining whether data exists in a key item in the external document file; and, as a result of the determination, when data exists in the key item, searching the database with the data of the key item; As a result, if the corresponding record exists, the contents of the external document file and the record Calculating the difference between the content of the external document file and the content of the record by comparing the content existing in the external document file; displaying the data of the difference on a display; And a step of additionally inputting the difference data into a record. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein when there is no data in the key item of the external document file, a new record is created in the database, and the contents of the external document file are used as input data of the record. Data display input method described.