Document management apparatus, related document extracting method, and document processing assist method
First Claim
1. A document management apparatus which manages a group of documents stored in a document storage device, the document management apparatus comprising:
- a first unit generating an operational history record of one of the stored documents of the group every time an operation on said one of the stored documents is performed by a document operation device;
a second unit storing the operational history records generated by the first unit; and
a third unit determining whether a selected item of the operational history record, stored for a currently processed document among the stored documents, matches with a corresponding item of each of the operational history records, stored for the remaining ones of the stored documents other than the currently processed document, so that the third unit extracts a list of related documents, which are related to the currently processed document, from the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group, based on results of the matching, andwherein the third unit performs the matching between the currently processed document and the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group with respect to at least one item of each operational history record, andwherein the third unit comprises a document relation estimating unit calculating an estimated degree of relation between the currently processed document and each of the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group by a length of operation time period for which a value of an operation time period item of the operational history record of the currently processed document overlaps with a value of a corresponding operation time period item of each of the operational history records of the remaining documents, so that the third unit extracts the list of related documents based on the estimated degrees of relation calculated for the remaining ones of the stored documents.
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Abstract
In a document management apparatus and related document extracting method of the present invention, an operational history record of one of stored documents is generated every time an operation on the one of the stored documents is performed by a document operation device. The generated operational history records are stored. It is determined whether a selected item of the operational history record, stored for a currently processed document among the stored documents of the group, matches with a corresponding item of each of the operational history records, stored for the remaining ones of the stored documents other than the currently processed document, so that a list of related documents, which are related to the currently processed document, is extracted from the remaining ones of the stored documents, based on results of the matching.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A document management apparatus which manages a group of documents stored in a document storage device, the document management apparatus comprising:
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a first unit generating an operational history record of one of the stored documents of the group every time an operation on said one of the stored documents is performed by a document operation device; a second unit storing the operational history records generated by the first unit; and a third unit determining whether a selected item of the operational history record, stored for a currently processed document among the stored documents, matches with a corresponding item of each of the operational history records, stored for the remaining ones of the stored documents other than the currently processed document, so that the third unit extracts a list of related documents, which are related to the currently processed document, from the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group, based on results of the matching, and wherein the third unit performs the matching between the currently processed document and the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group with respect to at least one item of each operational history record, and wherein the third unit comprises a document relation estimating unit calculating an estimated degree of relation between the currently processed document and each of the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group by a length of operation time period for which a value of an operation time period item of the operational history record of the currently processed document overlaps with a value of a corresponding operation time period item of each of the operational history records of the remaining documents, so that the third unit extracts the list of related documents based on the estimated degrees of relation calculated for the remaining ones of the stored documents. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A related document extracting method for use in a document management apparatus which manages a group of documents stored in a document storage device, comprising the steps of:
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generating an operational history record of one of the stored documents of the group every time an operation on said one of the stored documents is performed by a document operation device; storing the operational history records generated in said generating step; determining whether a selected item of the operational history record, stored for a currently processed document among the stored documents of the group, matches with a corresponding item of each of the operational history records, stored for the remaining ones of the stored documents other than the currently processed document; and extracting a list of related documents, which are related to the currently processed document, from the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group, based on results of the matching in the determining step, and wherein the matching between the currently processed document and the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group is performed with respect to at least one item of each operational history record, and wherein the document management apparatus comprises a document relation estimating unit, and wherein the estimating unit calculates an estimated degree of relation between the currently processed document and each of the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group by a length of operation time period for which a value of an operation time period item of the operational history record of the currently processed document overlaps with a value of a corresponding operation time period item of each of the operational history records of the remaining documents, so that the list of related documents is extracted based on the estimated degrees of relation calculated for the remaining ones of the stored documents. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A document processing assist method for use in a document management apparatus which manages a group of documents stored in a document storage device, comprising the steps of:
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generating an operational history record of one of the stored documents of the group every time an operation on said one of the stored documents is performed by a document operation device; storing the operational history records generated in said generating step; determining whether a selected item of the operational history record, stored for a currently processed document among the stored documents of the group, matches with a corresponding item of each of the operational history records, stored for the remaining ones of the stored documents other than the currently processed document; extracting a list of related documents, which are related to the currently processed document, from the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group, based on results of the matching in the determining step; and transmitting the list of related documents from the document management apparatus to an output unit of the document operation device so that the output unit provides the list of related documents, received from the document management apparatus, to an operator who processes the current document on the document operation device, and wherein the matching between the currently processed document and the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group is performed with respect to at least one item of each operational history record, and wherein the document management apparatus comprises a document relation estimating unit, and wherein the estimating unit calculates an estimated degree of relation between the currently processed document and each of the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group by a length of operation time period for which a value of an operation time period item of the operational history record of the currently processed document overlaps with a value of a corresponding operation time period item of each of the operational history records of the remaining documents, so that the list of related documents is extracted based on the estimated degrees of relation calculated for the remaining ones of the stored documents. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. A computer-readable recording medium storing program code instructions causing a processor to execute a related document extracting process on a document management apparatus which manages a group of documents stored in a document storage device, comprising:
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first program code means causing the processor to generate respective operational history records of the stored documents of the group in response to an operation performed on each document by a document operation device; second program code means causing the processor to store the operational history records generated by the first program code means; third program code means causing the processor to determine whether a selected item of the operational history record, stored for a currently processed document among the stored documents of the group, matches with a corresponding item of each of the operational history records, stored for the remaining ones of the stored documents other than the currently processed document; and fourth program code means causing the processor to extract a list of related documents, which are related to the currently processed document, from the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group, based on results of the matching by the third program code means, and wherein the matching between the currently processed document and the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group is performed with respect to at least one item of each operational history record, and wherein the document management apparatus comprises a document relation estimating unit and wherein the estimating unit calculates an estimated degree of relation between the currently processed document and each of the remaining ones of the stored documents of the group by a length of operation time period for which a value of an operation time period item of the operational history record of the currently processed document overlaps with a value of a corresponding operation time period item of each of the operational history records of the remaining documents, so that the list of related documents is extracted based on the estimated degrees of relation calculated for the remaining ones of the stored documents.
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Specification