Access Limited Search Results

• US 20110225627A1
• Filed: 03/11/2010
• Published: 09/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: KATO, Kazuhiko, TANAKA, Shun, UCHIDA, Yuki
• Application Number:
  US12/722,374
• Publication Number:
  US 20110225627A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6227 where protection concerns the structure of data, e.g. records, types, queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices

Abstract

Apparatuses, systems and methods are provided for accessing a document management application through a network, wherein search results provided to an application user, via a user interface, do not include documents or document data that are not within the extent of the data accessible by the specific user.

Claims

1. A system for providing document management services to a terminal, said system comprising:

a document management apparatus configured to execute a document management application that includes a plurality of application functionalities, the application functionalities including a document registration function to register a specified document in a document database, and a search function to search the document database based on specified terms; and

an application user interface apparatus configured to communicate through a network with the document management application, the application user interface apparatus including;

a user authentication part configured to maintain, for each specific one of plural users, user access information corresponding to the specific user, and configured to receive and utilize user information from login of an application user to perform user authentication of the application user; and

an operations user interface part configured to provide a search user interface, receive one or more key terms entered by the application user through the search user interface for a search, communicate a search command, the one or more key terms and the user access information of the application user through the network to the document management apparatus, and provide, via the search user interface, search results returned by the document management application through the network,

wherein the search results provided to the application user through the search user interface include only documents or document data that are within the extent of the data accessible by the specific user in the document database, and do not include documents or document data that are not within the extent of the data accessible by the specific user.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the document management apparatus further includes an access control part configured to control, for each of a plurality of particular users, an extent of data that is accessible by the particular user, from the document database.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the access control part maintains data access information for the particular user, the data access information indicating the extent of data that is accessible by the particular user, from the document database.

4. The system of claim 2,

wherein the access control part of the document management apparatus receives the user access information of the application user, determines the extent of data accessible by the application user in the document database, limits the search based on the one or more key terms to the extent of the data accessible by the specific user, and returns the search results that include only documents or document data that are within the extent of the data accessible by the specific user in the document database.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein

the user access information maintained by the user authentication part of the application user interface apparatus includes business relevancy information indicating a specific business relevancy field pertinent to the specific user, and

the access control part of the document management apparatus receives the user access information including the business relevancy information of the application user and determines based at least in part on the business relevancy information of the application user, the extent of data accessible by the application user in the document database.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein

the document management apparatus further includes an application program interface configured to specify to the application user interface apparatus a format to be used for communication by the application user interface apparatus with the document management application, and

the operations user interface part of the application user interface apparatus conforms the search command to the format specified by the application program interface of the document management apparatus.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the user authentication part of the application user interface apparatus supplies a login user interface through the network to the terminal for the application user to login.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations user interface part supplies the search user interface through the network to the terminal for the application user to supply the one or more key terms, and transmits the search results through the network to the terminal.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the user authentication part of the application user interface apparatus provides a login interface on a multi-function device for the application user to login.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations user interface part supplies the search user interface on the multi-function device for the application user to supply the one or more key terms, and causes the search results to be displayed on a display of the multi-function device.

11. A document access apparatus configured to access a document management application including a plurality of application functionalities through a network, the application functionalities including a document registration function to register a specified document in a document database, and a search function to search the document database based on specified terms, said document access apparatus comprising:

a user authentication part configured to maintain, for each particular one of a plurality of users, user access information corresponding to the particular user, and receive and utilize user information from login of an application user to perform user authentication of the application user and retrieve the user access information maintained for the application user; and

an operations user interface part configured to receive one or more key terms entered by the application user for a search, the operations user interface part including a search interface to communicate with the document management application to perform the search based on the one or more key terms,

the operations user interface part providing, to the application user, search results that include only documents or document data that are within the extent of the data accessible by the application user in the document database, as indicated by the data access at on included in the user access information retrieved by said user authentication part,

wherein the search results provided to the application user do not include documents or document data that are not within the extent of the data accessible by the application user.

12. The document access apparatus of claim 11, wherein the search interface communicates the user access information along with the one or more key terms, through the network, to the document management application, and receives through the network from the document management application the search results that include only the documents or document data that are within the extent of the data accessible by the application user and does not return the documents or document data that are not within the extent of the data accessible by the application user.

13. The document access apparatus of claim 11, wherein the search interface communicates a search command and the one or more key terms to the document management application, receives from the document management application results of the search performed by the document management application, and the search interface filters, based on the user access information, the results received from the document management application to obtain the search results that do not include documents or document data that are not within the extent of the data accessible by the application user.

14. The document access apparatus of claim 11, wherein the user access information maintained by the user authentication part for the particular user includes data access information indicating the extent of data that is accessible by the particular user from a document database through the document management application.

15. The document access apparatus of claim 11, wherein

the user access information maintained by the user authentication part for the application user further includes document parameters information indicating specified document parameters available to the application user for specifying a search to be performed, the specified document parameters not including at least one document parameter maintained for documents in the document database by the document management application, and

the operations user interface part provided to the application user for specifying the search allows for the application user to select from the specified document parameters, and not from other document parameters maintained for documents in the document database by the document management application.

16. The document access apparatus of claim 15, wherein the specified document parameters are selected by the application user through the operations user interface as a subset of all of the document parameters maintained for documents in the document database by the document management application, and the subset of selected document parameters are registered as the document parameters information for the application user.

17. The document access apparatus of claim 11, wherein

the user access information maintained by the user authentication part for the application user includes business relevancy information indicating a specific business relevancy field pertinent to the application user, and

the search interface determines, based at least in part on the business relevancy information of the application user, the extent of data accessible by the application user in the document database.

18. The document access apparatus of claim 17, wherein the search user interface processes the search results received from the document management application, in accordance with the determination of the extent of data accessible by the application user based on the business relevancy information of the application user, to generate processed search results that do not include documents or document data that are not within the extent of the data accessible by the application user.

19. The document access apparatus of claim 11, wherein the operations user interface part of the document access apparatus communicates, when user input is received through a search user interface provided by the operations user interface part, with an application program interface of the document management application, and sends the search command, the one or more key terms and the user access information of the application user to the document management application, in accordance with format information received from the application program interface.

20. A method for streamlining access in a document management system, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) maintaining, by an application user interface apparatus, user access information for a plurality of specific users, the user access information for each one of the plurality of specific users including data access information indicating an extent of data accessible by the specific user in a document database maintained by the document management system;

(b) receiving, by the application user interface apparatus, user information during login of an application user, performing user authentication of the application user, and utilizing the user information to retrieve the user access information maintained in (a) for the application user; and

(c) providing, by the application user interface apparatus, a search user interface to receive user entry of one or more key terms for a search;

(d) communicating, by the application user interface apparatus, a search command, the one or more key terms and the user access information of the application user through a network to a document management application in the document management system, to perform the search based on the one or more key terms; and

(e) providing, by the application user interface apparatus, to the application user, search results that include only documents or document data that are within the extent of the data accessible by the application user in the document database, as indicated by the user access information of the application user, wherein the search results provided to the application user do not include documents or document data that are not within the extent of the data accessible by the specific user.