Common document editing apparatus

• US 6,757,871 B1
• Filed: 06/05/2000
• Issued: 06/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Sato, Chihiro, Noguchi, Takashi, Takeo, Nobuyuki, Kurosawa, Akira, Katsurabayashi, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, CHAU T
• Application Number:
  US09/586,990
• Time in Patent Office: 1,485 Days
• Field of Search: 715/530, 707/200, 707/202, 707/203, 707/204, 707/205, 707/8, 709/210, 709/214, 709/229
• US Class Current: 715/236
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99938 Concurrency, e.g. lock management in shared database
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability

Abstract

The invention provides a common document editing apparatus that is capable of reflecting the edition content based on a exclusive edition right on a common document even in the case where the exclusive edition right is cancelled forcibly. When an exclusive edition right of a common document stored in a document storing unit is requested, a lock information managing unit issues an exclusive edition right to permit exclusive edition and the lock information in stored in a lock information storing unit. Upon receiving the edition content together with the lock information, the lock information managing unit stores the edition content in the document storing unit only when the received lock information is identical with the lock information stored in the lock information storing unit. When the exclusive edition right is cancelled forcibly, the lock information managing unit 23 stores the lock information in an unlocked lock information storing unit. When the edition content that is identical with the same lock information is requested to be stored before a new exclusive edition right of the same document is requested, the lock information is overwritten in the document storing unit.

Claims

1. A common document editing apparatus, comprising:

a document storing unit which stores a common document shared by a plurality of users including first and second users;

a lock information managing unit which issues an exclusive edition right permitting editing of the common document in response to a request by the first user, wherein the exclusive edition right is identified by lock information, which is associated with the common document to be edited by the first user;

a lock information storing unit which stores the lock information specifying the issued exclusive edition right and the common document; and

an unlocked lock information storing unit;

wherein the lock information managing unit permits overwriting of the common document stored in the document storing unit with the edited common document when the lock information associated with the edited common document is identical to the lock information stored in the lock information storing unit; and

wherein the lock information managing unit forcibly cancels the issued exclusive edition right at the request of the second user, transfers the lock information of the forcibly canceled exclusive edition right from the lock information storing unit to the unlocked lock information storing unit, and performs overwriting of the common document with the edited common document in the document storing unit if the lock information associated with the edited common document is identical to the lock information transferred to the unlocked lock information storing unit and if the edited common document is requested to be stored before the second user requests a second exclusive edition right for the common document.

2. The common document editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the document editing apparatus comprises a server apparatus and a client apparatus operated by a user connected to each other by way of a communication line,

the server apparatus comprises the document storing unit, the lock information managing unit, the lock information storing unit and the unlocked lock information storing unit, and

the client apparatus comprises a document editing unit for issuing the exclusive edition right request that specifies the common document and for editing the common document supplied from the server apparatus.

3. The common document apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lock information managing unit forcibly cancels the exclusive edition right issued in response to the request form the second user.

4. A common document editing apparatus, comprising:

a first client computing device requesting an exclusive edition right permitting editing of a common document;

a second client computing device; and

a server including;

a document storing unit which stores the common document;

a document managing unit coupled to the document storing unit, wherein the document managing unit retrieves the common document from the document storing unit upon receipt of a request from the first client computing device and forwards the common document to the first client computing device;

a lock information managing unit which issues the exclusive edition right permitting editing of the common document in response to the exclusive edition right request, wherein the issued exclusive edition right is identified by lock information associated with the common document;

a lock information storing unit coupled to the lock information managing unit, wherein the lock information managing unit stores lock information identifying the issued exclusive edition right associated with the common document in the lock information storing unit; and

an unlocked lock information storing unit coupled to the lock information storing unit and the lock information managing unit, wherein;

the lock information managing unit stores the lock information identifying the issued exclusive edition right in the unlocked lock information storing unit when an unlock request is received by the server from the second client computing device; and

the lock information managing unit deletes the lock information identifying the issued exclusive edition right from the lock information storing unit to cancel the exclusive edition right issued to the first client computing device after the lock information managing unit has stored the lock information in the unlocked lock information storing unit.

5. The common document editing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the server further comprises a server communication unit coupled to the document managing unit, lock information managing unit, and client computing device.

6. The common document editing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the client computing device comprises a document editing unit coupled to a client lock information storing unit and client communications unit, which couples to the client computing device to the server.

7. The common document editing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first client computing device requests overwriting the common document with the edited common document in the document storing unit, and the lock information managing unit overwrites the common document with the edited common document if the lock information associated with the edited common document is identical to the lock information stored in the unlocked lock information storing unit.

8. The common document editing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein:

the second client computing device requests exclusive edition right of the common document;

the lock information managing unit issues the exclusive edition right to the second user, wherein second lock information is associated with the common document and transferred to the second client computing device;

the lock information managing unit deletes the lock information from the unlocked lock information storing unit; and

the lock information managing unit stores the second lock information in the lock information storing unit.

9. The common document editing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the second client computing device requests overwriting the common document with the edited common document in the document storing unit, and the lock information managing unit overwrites the common document with the edited common document if the second lock information associated with the edited common document is identical to the second lock information stored in the locked information storing unit.