Document processing method and apparatus which can add comment data added to an original document to a revised document

• US 6,438,566 B1
• Filed: 10/21/1996
• Issued: 08/20/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Sasaki, Takayuki, Nagashima, Masaaki, Okuno, Yasuhiro, Yamakawa, Tadashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen S.
• Application Number:
  US08/734,308
• Time in Patent Office: 2,129 Days
• Field of Search: 395/762, 395/766, 395/772, 395/773, 395/774, 395/776, 395/792, 395/793, 395/802, 395/336, 395/337, 395/338, 395/347, 395/601, 395/619, 707/501, 707/505, 707/511, 707/512, 707/513, 707/514, 707/530, 707/100, 707/203, 345/336, 345/337, 345/338, 345/347
• US Class Current: 715/233
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems

Abstract

A comment added to a certain portion in a first document can be automatically re-added to an equivalent position in a second document, and comment transfer processing between documents is automatically performed. Position information of a comment with respect to an old document obtained from an old document comment file is stored in a position information area, and comment contents also obtained from the old document comment file are stored in a comment content area. A character string corresponding to the position information is extracted from an old document file, and is stored in a character string area. A new document file is searched on the basis of the character string stored in the character string area, and position information of the detected character string is stored in a candidate area. One of position information stored in the candidate area is selected according to a predetermined rule, and the selected position information is stored in a new position information area. The comment contents stored in the comment content area, and the position information stored in the new position information area are written in a new document comment file.

Claims

1. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for storing an old document to be updated;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

extraction means for extracting a character string within the old addition range from the old document as a search key character string;

second document memory means for storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

search means for searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string extracted from the old document by said extraction means;

determination mans for determining a range of the same character string detected by said search means in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

second comment data memory means for storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination means.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

selection means for, when a plurality of equivalent portions are detected by said search means, selecting the equivalent portion at a position closest to the addition position indicated by the old position information, and

wherein said second memory means stores the plurality of the equivalent portions detected by said search means or the equivalent portion selected by said selection means as the new position information representing the addition position of the comment data in the new document, in correspondence with the comment data.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the old position information and the new position information designates start and end positions of the addition position of the comment data by the numbers of characters from the beginning of a corresponding one of the new and old documents.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the old position information and the new position information designates the addition position by the number of lines from the beginning of a corresponding one of the old and new documents.

49. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

first display means for displaying a certain range of the document data of the old document or the new document and document data to be added thereto;

discrimination means for discriminating whether or not the addition range of the displayed comment data is present within a range of the document data currently displayed by said first display means;

second display means for, when said discrimination means discriminates that the addition range is present within the currently displayed range of the document data, displaying a first graphic symbol representing a correspondence between the displayed comment data and the addition range; and

third display means for, when said discrimination means discriminates that the addition range is not present within the currently displayed range of the document data, displaying a second graphic symbol identifiably representing that the addition range falls outside the currently displayed range, and a correspondence between the document data and the displayed comment data.

50. The apparatus according to claim 49, wherein said second display means displays the correspondence between the comment data and the addition position using a line segment indicating a line where the addition position is present in the displayed range of the document data and a display of the comment data, and

said third display means displays the correspondence between the document data and the comment data by connecting a predetermined position of a display region of the document data and a display region of the comment data using a line segment.

51. The apparatus according to claim 49, further comprising:

change means for changing line types of the line segments used by said second and third display means depending on whether the line segment is used by said second or third display means.

52. The apparatus according to claim 49, further comprising:

calculation means for, when said discrimination means discriminates that the addition position is not present within the currently displayed range of the document data, calculating an amount on the basis of a distance between the currently displayed range and the addition position, and

wherein said third display means changes the correspondence display between the currently displayed document data and the comment data on the basis of the amount calculated by said calculation means.

5. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for storing an old document to be updated and constituted by a plurality of document elements based on a predetermined logical structure;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

extraction means for extracting a character string within the old addition range from the old document as a search key character string, and extracting element information for specifying a document element including the old addition range as search key information;

second document memory means for storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

first search means for searching the new document for a document element specified by the search key information;

second search means for searching the document element detected by said first search means for the same character string as the search key character string extracted from the old document by said extraction means;

determination means for determining a range of the same character string detected by said second search means in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

second comment data memory means for storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination means.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined logic structure has a header area for storing a character string representing contents of a document stored in the document element, in a start portion of each document element,

said extraction means extracts, as the search information, the information associated with the addition position in the old document, and the character string stored in the header area of the document element including the addition position, and

said first search means searches the new document for a document element including a header area having the same character string as the extracted character string.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined logic structure includes a section having one or a plurality of paragraphs as the document element, and the section has a header area for storing a title thereof.

8. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for storing an old document to be updated;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

extraction means for extracting a character string having a predetermined number of characters from the old addition range of the old document as a search key character string;

second document memory means for storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

search means for searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string extracted by said extraction means;

determination means for determining a range including the same character string detected by said search means in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

second comment data memory means for storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination means.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the addition range is expressed in units of lines divided by new line codes, and

said second memory means determines a line including the equivalent portion detected by said search means as the addition range of the comment data in the new document, and stores the determined addition range as the new position information in correspondence with the comment data.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said extraction means extracts the character string including the predetermined number of characters from the beginning of a range designated as the addition range of the old document on the basis of the old position information.

11. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said extraction means extracts the character string including the predetermined number of characters from the end of a range designated as the additional range of the old document on the basis of the old position information.

12. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said extraction means extracts the character string including the predetermined number of characters from each of the beginning and the end of a range designated as the addition range of the old document on the basis of the old position information.

13. The apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising:

setting means for setting the number of characters of the character string to be extracted by said extraction means to be a desired value.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising:

change means for changing the number of characters of the character string to be extracted by said extraction means on the basis of a result of a search by said search means.

15. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for storing an old document to be updated and constituted by a plurality of document elements on a basis of a predetermined logic structure;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

extracting means for extracting a character string including a predetermined number of characters in the old addition range of the old document as a search key character string, and extracting information for specifying a document including the old additional range as search key information;

second document memory means for storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

first search means for searching the new document for a document element specified by the search key information;

second search means for searching the document element of the new document detected by said first search means for the same character string as the search key character string;

determination means for determining a range including the same character string detected by said second search means in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

second comment data memory means for storing the comment data in correspondence with the new additional range determined by said determination means.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein each of the document elements has one or a plurality of paragraphs in the predetermined logic structure,

the addition range is expressed in units of paragraphs, and

said second comment data memory means determines a paragraph including the equivalent portion detected by said second search means as the addition range of the comment data in the new document, and stores the determined addition range as the new position information in correspondence with the comment data.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising:

setting means for setting the number of characters of the character string to be extracted by said extraction means to be a desired value.

18. The apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising:

change means for changing the number of characters of the character string to be extracted by said extraction means on the basis of a result of a search by said search means.

19. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for strong an old document data to be updated;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old additional range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

extracting means for extracting words included in the old addition range in the old document;

second document memory means for storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

search means for searching the new document for the same words as the words extracted by said extraction means;

determination means for determining a range in which an amount of the words detected by said search means beyond a predetermined amount, in the new document, as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

second comment data memory means for storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination means.

20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the addition range is expressed in units of lines divided by new line codes,

said search means searches the new document obtained by modifying the old document for, as the equivalent range, a line in which the words extracted by said extraction means occur at a predetermined rate.

21. The apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising:

setting means for setting a value of the predetermined rate used in said search means to be a desired value.

22. The apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising:

change means for changing a value of the predetermined rate used in said search means on the basis of a search state of the equivalent range by said search means.

23. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for storing an old document data to be updated;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

extraction means for extracting a character string within the old addition range in the old document as a search key character string;

second document memory means for storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

search means for searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string extracted by said extraction means;

determining means for determining a range of the same character string detected by said search means in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document;

second comment data memory means for storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determining means; and

third comment data memory means for, when said search means does not detect the character string, storing the comment data in a different format from the comment data stored in said second comment data memory means.

24. The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said third comment data memory means creates a file for storing the comment data for which an equivalent portion is not detected by said search means, and stores the comment data, for which an equivalent portion is not detected, in the created file.

25. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said third comment data means stores the comment data and the old position information in the special-purpose file when said search means does not detect an equivalent portion.

26. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for storing an old document to be updated;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old additional range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

extraction means for extracting a character string within the old addition range in the old document as a search key character string;

second document memory means for storing a new document by updating the old document;

search means for searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string;

determination means for determining a range of the corresponding character string detected by said search means in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

second comment data memory means for, when said search means detects the character string, storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination means; and

third comment data memory means for extracting comment data which is not stored in said second comment data memory means from the comment data stored in said first comment data memory means, and storing the extracted comment data.

27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said third comment data memory means creates a specific file for storing comment data for which said search means does not detect an equivalent portion,

extracts additional data which is not stored in said second comment data memory means from the comment data stored in said first comment data memory means, and

stores the extracted comment data in the specific file.

28. The apparatus according to claim 27, wherein said third comment data memory means extracts comment data which is not stored in said second comment data memory means from the comment data stored in said first comment data memory means, and old position information corresponding to the extracted comment data, and stores the comment data and old position data in the specific file.

29. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for storing an old document to be updated;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

extraction means for extracting a character string within the old addition range from the old document as a search key character string on a basis of the old range information;

second document memory means for storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

search means for searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string;

determination means for determining a range of the same character string detected by said search means in the new document as a new addition range in the new document;

second comment data memory means for, when said search means detects the character string, storing, in a data file, the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination means; and

third comment data memory means for, when said search means does not detect the character string, storing the comment data in the data file to be identifiable from the comment data stored in said second comment data memory means.

30. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein said third comment data memory means stores the comment data and the corresponding old position data in the data file to be identifiable from the comment data stored in said second comment data memory means when said search means does not detect an equivalent portion.

31. The apparatus according to claim 29, further comprising:

storage means for, when said search means does not detect an equivalent portion, temporarily storing the comment data, and

wherein said third comment data memory means collectively stores the comment data stored in said storage means in a predetermined area of the data file.

32. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein said third comment data memory means stores the comment data in the data file together with predetermined identification information when said search means does not detect an equivalent portion.

33. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein said third comment data memory means determines data, which cannot exist as an addition position, as the new position information, and stores the comment data in the data file together with the new addition information when said search mens does not detect an equivalent portion.

34. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for storing an old document to be updated;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

extraction means for extracting a character string within the old addition range from the old document as a search key character string;

second document memory means for storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

search means for searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string extracted by said extraction means;

determination means for determining a range of the same character string detected by said search means in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

second comment data memory means for, when said search means detects the character string, storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination means; and

third comment data memory means for, when said search means does not detect the character string, storing the comment data; and

display means for identifiably displaying the comment data stored in said second comment data memory means and the comment data stored in said third comment data memory means upon display of the new document.

35. The apparatus according to claim 34, wherein, upon display of the new document, said display means always displays the comment data stored in said third comment data memory means at a predetermined position of a display screen, and displays the comment data stored in said second comment data memory means by connecting a line between the comment data and the addition position of the comment data in the new document.

36. The apparatus according to claim 34, wherein said third comment data memory means stores the comment data and the corresponding old position data when said search means does not detect an equivalent portion,

said display means displays the addition position of the comment data in a display region of the new document on the basis of the position information stored in said second and third comment data memory means, and displays a correspondence with the corresponding addition position upon display of the comment data, and

the display of the addition position by said display means allows identification as to whether the displayed addition position is stored in the second or third comment data memory means.

37. The apparatus according to claim 34, wherein said display means displays the addition position in a display region of the new document on the basis of the position information stored in said second and third comment data memory means, and displays the comment data corresponding to the displayed addition position to allow identification as to whether the comment data is one stored in said second or third comment data memory means.

38. The apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the display of the comment data by said display means distinguishes the comment data stored in said second comment data memory means from that stored in said third comment data memory means by a line type of a line segment connecting the addition position and the comment data.

39. The apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the display of the comment data by said display means distinguishes the comment data stored in said second comment data memory means from that stored in said third comment data memory means by a normal display or a reversal display.

40. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for storing an old document to be updated;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

extraction means for extracting a character string within the old addition range from the old document as a search key character string;

second document memory means for storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

search means for searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string;

determination means for determining a range of the same character string determined by said search means in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

second comment data memory means for storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination means; and

third comment data memory means for, when said search means does not detect the character string, storing range information indicating a range near the addition range represented by the old addition range information as new range information representing the addition range of the comment data in the new document in correspondence with the comment data.

41. The apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the old position information represents and addition range to which the comment data is to be added, and

the new position information in said third comment data memory means is determined to represent a range for one start character of the addition range represented by the old position information.

42. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for storing an old document to be updated constituted by a plurality of document elements;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with a document element to which the comment data is added;

second document memory means for storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

search means for searching the new document for a document element equivalent to the document element specified by old range information;

determination means for determining range information specifying the document element detected by said search means in the new document as new range information;

second comment data memory means for storing the comment data in correspondence with the new range information determined by said determination means; and

third comment data memory means for, when said search means does not detect an equivalent document element, selecting a document element near a range corresponding to the document element specified by the old range information the new document, and storing new range information specifying the selected document element in correspondence with the comment data.

43. The apparatus according to claim 42, wherein each of the old and new documents has a hierarchical structure, and

when said search means does not detect an equivalent document element, said third comment data memory means selects a higher-level document element including a document element near a position corresponding to the document element represented by the old position information in the new document, and stores new position information representing the selected document element in correspondence with the comment data.

44. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for storing an old document to be updated constituted by a plurality of document elements;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

extraction means for extracting a character string within the old addition range from the old document as a search key character string on a basis of the old addition range information;

second document memory means for storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

search means for searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string extracted by said extraction means;

determination means for determining a range of the same character string detected by said search means in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

second comment data memory means for storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination means; and

third comment data memory means for, when said search means does not detect the character string, selecting a document element including the range, represented by the old addition range information, in the new document, and storing information representing the selected document element as the new range information in correspondence with the comment data.

45. The apparatus according to claim 44, wherein each of the old and new documents has a hierarchical structure of document elements, and

when said search means does not detect an equivalent document element, said third comment data memory means selects a document element in a lowermost layer including the entire position, represented by the old position information in the new information, in the new position, and stores information representing the selected document element as the new position information in correspondence with the comment data.

46. A document processing apparatus comprising:

first document memory means for storing an old document to be updated;

first comment data memory means for storing comment data to be added to the old document in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

extraction means for extracting a character string within the old addition range in the old document as a search key character string on a basis of the old range information;

second document memory means for storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

search means for searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string;

determination means for determining a range of the same character detected by said search means in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

second comment data memory means for storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determining means; and

storage means for, when said search means does not detect an equivalent character string, storing the comment data in a predetermined area of the new document.

47. The apparatus according to claim 46, further comprising:

temporary memory means for, when said search means does not detect an equivalent portion, temporarily storing the comment data, and

wherein said storage means collectively stores comment data, for which an equivalent portion is not searched for in the new document, in the predetermined area of the new document.

48. The apparatus according to claim 46, wherein said storage means stores the comment data in the new document together with predetermined identification information when said search means does not detect an equivalent portion.

53. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document to be updated;

a first comment data memory step of storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

an extraction step of extracting a character string within the old addition range from the old document as a search key character string;

a second document memory step of storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

a search step of searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string extracted from the old document by said extraction step;

a determination step of determining a range of the same character string detected by said search step in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

second comment data memory step of storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination step.

66. The method according to claim 53, further comprising:

a first display step of displaying a certain range of the document data of the old document or the new document and comment data to be added thereto;

a discrimination step of discriminating whether or not the addition range of the displayed comment data is present within a range of the document data currently displayed in the first display step;

a second display step of displaying a first graphic symbol representing a correspondence between the displayed comment data and the addition range when it is discriminated in the discrimination step that the addition range is present within the currently displayed range of the document data; and

a third display step of displaying a second graphic symbol identifiably representing that the addition range falls outside the currently displayed range, and a correspondence between the document data and the displayed comment data when it is discriminated in the discrimination step that the addition range is not present within the currently displayed range of the document data.

54. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document to be updated which is constituted by a plurality of document elements based on a predetermined logic structure;

a first comment data memory step of storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of the a character string to which comment data is added in the old document;

an extraction step of extracting a character string within the old addition range in the old document as a search key character string, and extracting information for specifying a document element including the old addition range as search key information;

a second document memory step of storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

a first search step of searching the new document for a document element specified by the search key information;

a second search step of searching the document element detected in the first search step for the same character string as the search key character string extracted from the old document by said extraction step;

a determination step of determining a range of the same character string detected by said second search step in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

a second comment data memory step of storing the comment data in correspondence with new range information representing the new addition range.

55. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document to be updated;

a first comment data memory step of storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

an extraction step of extracting a character string having a predetermined number of characters within the old addition range of the old document as a search key character string;

a second document memory step of storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

a search step of searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string extracted by said extraction step;

a determination step of determining a range of the same character string detected by said search step in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

a second comment data memory step of storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination step.

56. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document to be updated which is constituted by a plurality of document elements on a basis of a predetermined logic structure;

a first comment data memory step of storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

an extraction step of extracting a character string including a predetermined number of characters in the old addition range of the old document as a search key character string, and extracting information for specifying a document element including the old addition range as search key information;

a second document memory step of storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

a first search step of searching the new document for a document element specified by the search key information;

a second search step of searching the document element of the new document detected in the first search step for the same character string as the search key character string;

a determination step of determining a range of the same character string detected by said second search step in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

a second comment data memory step of storing the comment data in correspondence with new range information representing the new addition range determined by said determination step.

57. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document data to be updated;

a first comment data memory step of storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

an extraction step of extracting words included in a character string in the old addition range in the old document;

a second document memory step of storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

a search step of searching the new document for the same words as the words extracted in the extraction step;

a determination step of determining a range in which an amount of the words detected by said search step beyond a predetermine amount, in the new document, as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

a second comment data memory step of storing the comment data in correspondence with new range information representing the new addition range determined by said determination step.

58. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document to be updated;

a first comment data memory step of storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

an extraction step of extracting a character string within the old addition range in the old document as a search key character string on a basis of the old range information;

a second document memory step of storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

a search step of searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string extracted by said extraction step;

a determination step of determining a range of the same character string detected by said search step in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document;

a second comment data memory step of storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination step, in correspondence with the comment data in the new document; and

a third comment data memory step of storing the comment data in a different format from the comment data stored in the second comment data memory step when the character string is not detected in the search step.

59. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document to be updated;

a first comment data memory step of storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

an extraction step of extracting a character string within the old addition range in the old document as a search key character string;

a second document memory step of storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

a search step of searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string;

a determination step of determining a range of the same character string detected by said search step in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

a second comment data memory step of storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination step, when the equivalent character string is detected in the search step; and

a third memory step of extracting comment data which is not stored in the first comment data memory step, and storing the extracted comment data.

60. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document to be updated;

a first comment data memory step of storing commend data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

an extraction step of extracting a character string within the old addition range in the old document as a search key character string;

a second document memory step of storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

a search step of searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string;

a determination step of determining a range of the same character string detected by said search step in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document;

a second comment data memory step of storing, in a data file the comment data in correspondence with the new addition position determined by said determination step, when the character string is detected in the search step; and

a third comment data memory step of storing the comment data in the data file to be identifiable from the comment data stored in the second comment data memory step when the character string is not detected in the search step.

61. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document to be updated;

a first comment data memory step of storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

an extraction step of extracting a character string within the old addition range in the old document as a search key character string on a basis of the old range information;

a second document memory step of storing a new document by updating the old document;

a search step of searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string extracted by said extraction step;

a determination step of determining a range of the same character string detected by said search step in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

a second comment data memory step of storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination step when the character string is detected in the search step;

a third comment data memory step of storing the comment data when the character string is not detected in the search step; and

a display step of identifiably displaying the comment data stored in the second comment data memory step and the comment data stored in the third comment data memory step upon display of the new document.

62. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document to be updated;

a first comment data memory step of storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

an extraction step of extracting a character string within the old addition range from the old document as a search key character string on a basis of the first range information;

a second document memory step of storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

a search step of searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string;

a determination step of determining a range of the same character string detected by said search step in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

a second comment data memory step of storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination step; and

a third comment data memory step of storing range information indicating a range near the addition range represented by the old range information as new range information representing the addition range of the comment data in the new document in correspondence with the comment data, when the character string is not detected in the search step.

63. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document to be updated, which is constituted by a plurality of document elements;

a first comment data memory step of storing comment data to be added to the old document constituted by a plurality of document elements, in correspondence with a document element to which the comment data is added;

a second document memory step of storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

a search step of searching the new document for a document element equivalent to the document element specified by the old position information;

a determination step of determining range information specifying the document element detected by said search step in the new document as new range information;

a second comment data memory step of storing the comment data in correspondence with the equivalent document element, detected in the search step in the new document; and

a third comment data memory step of selecting a document element near a position corresponding to the document element specified by the old position information in the new document, and storing new position information specifying the selected document element in correspondence with the comment data, when an equivalent document element is not detected in the search step.

64. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document to be updated, which is constituted by a plurality of document elements;

a first comment data memory step of storing comment data to be added to the old document constituted by a plurality of document elements, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

an extraction step of extracting a character string within the old addition range from the old document as a search key character string on a basis of the old range information;

a second document memory step of storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

a search step of searching the new document for the character string as the search key character string extracted by said extraction step;

a determination step of determining a range of the same character string detected by said search step in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document;

a second comment data memory step of storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination step; and

a third comment data memory step of selecting a document element including the old range, represented by the old range information, in the new document, and storing information representing the selected document element as the new range information in correspondence with the comment data, when the character string is not detected in the search step.

65. A document processing method comprising:

a first document memory step of storing an old document to be updated;

a first comment data memory step of storing comment data to be added to the old document, in correspondence with an old addition range of a character string to which the comment data is added in the old document;

an extraction step of extracting a character string within the old addition range in the old document as a search key character string on a basis of the old range information;

a second document memory step of storing a new document obtained by updating the old document;

a search step of searching the new document for the same character string as the search key character string;

a determination step of determining a range of the same character string detected by said search step in the new document as a new addition range of the comment data in the new document; and

a second comment data memory step of storing the comment data in correspondence with the new addition range determined by said determination step; and

a storage step of storing the comment data in a predetermined area of the new document when an equivalent character string is not detected in the search step.