Document management device, document management method, and computer program product

• US 20090161152A1
• Filed: 12/17/2008
• Published: 06/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Mori, Shinya
• Granted Patent: US 8,248,667 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.150
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems

Abstract

An operating unit selects a piece of document data from among a plurality of pieces of document data from a document database. A relationship-information searching unit searches a relationship information database that stores relationship information in the form of parent-child relationship between the pieces of document data, for the relationship information pertaining to the selected piece of document data. A related-document-list creating unit creates from the retrieved relationship information, a list that indicates a hierarchical relationship between the selected piece of document data and other pieces of document data. A display unit displays the pieces of document data related to the selected piece of document data on a single screen based on the list.

Claims

1. A document management device comprising:

a document storage unit that stores therein pieces of document data;

a relationship-information storage unit that stores therein relationship information indicating a parent-child relationship between the pieces of document data stored in the document storage unit;

a document selecting unit that selects a piece of document data from among the pieces of document data stored in the document storage unit as a selected piece of document data;

a searching unit that searches the relationship-information storage unit for related-document information that is relationship information pertaining to the selected piece of document data;

a creating unit that creates from the related-document information retrieved by the searching unit a list that indicates a hierarchical relationship between the selected piece of document data and other pieces of document data stored in the document storage unit; and

a related-document display unit that displays the pieces of document data that are related to the selected piece of document data on a single screen based on the list.

2. The document management device according to claim 1, wherein the document storage unit stores therein an association of a piece of a document data and a document ID that identifies the piece of document data for all the pieces of the document data,

the relationship-information storage unit stores therein, as the relationship information, an association of a parent document ID that forms a super-level document ID of the parent-child relationship and a child document ID that forms a sub-level document ID of the parent-child relationship, and

the searching unit performs a first round of search by searching for the relationship information that includes the document ID of the selected piece of document data as the parent document ID or the child document ID, and recursively searches for the relationship information that includes the child document ID or the parent document ID corresponding to the parent document ID or the child document ID found in the first round of search.

3. The document management device according to claim 2, wherein the related-document display unit displays a super-sub relationship between two pieces of document data.

4. The document management device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a document-list display unit that displays the pieces of document data stored in the document storage unit; and

a position-determining unit that determines whether a cursor is placed on a piece of document data displayed on the document-list display unit,

wherein, when the position-determining unit determines that the cursor is placed on a piece of document data, the related-document display unit displays the document data related to the piece of document data on which the cursor is placed.

5. The document management device according to claim 1, wherein the document data includes a document name that indicates a name of the document data, and

the related-document display unit displays as the document data the document name included in the document data.

6. The document management device according to claim 1, further comprising a list storing unit that stores therein the list.

7. The document management device according to claim 1, further comprising a print-document selecting unit selects a piece of document data from among the pieces of document data displayed by the related-document display unit,

the document management device further comprising a printing unit that prints the piece of document data selected by the print-document selecting unit.

8. The document management device according to claim 1, wherein the searching unit stops searching when a preset upper limit for the relationship information is exceeded.

9. A document management method comprising:

providing a document storage unit that stores therein pieces of document data;

providing a relationship-information storage unit that stores therein relationship information indicating a parent-child relationship between the pieces of document data stored in the document storage unit;

selecting a piece of document data from among the pieces of document data stored in the document storage unit as a selected piece of document data;

searching the relationship-information storage unit for related-document information that is relationship information pertaining to the selected piece of document data;

creating from the related-document information retrieved at the searching a list that indicates a hierarchical relationship between the selected piece of document data and other pieces of document data stored in the document storage unit; and

displaying the pieces of document data that are related to the selected piece of document data on a single screen based on the list.

10. The document management method according to claim 9, further comprising stopping the searching when a preset upper limit for the relationship information is exceeded.

11. A computer program product including a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a document management program that implements a document management method, the document management method comprising:

providing a document storage unit that stores therein pieces of document data;

providing a relationship-information storage unit that stores therein relationship information indicating a parent-child relationship between the pieces of document data stored in the document storage unit;

selecting a piece of document data from among the pieces of document data stored in the document storage unit as a selected piece of document data;

searching the relationship-information storage unit for related-document information that is relationship information pertaining to the selected piece of document data;

creating from the related-document information retrieved at the searching a list that indicates a hierarchical relationship between the selected piece of document data and other pieces of document data stored in the document storage unit; and

displaying the pieces of document data that are related to the selected piece of document data on a single screen based on the list.