Document control apparatus, document control system, document control method and storage medium

• US 6,948,122 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2000
• Issued: 09/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Matsumoto, Naoyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Sanjiv
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sain, Gautam
• Application Number:
  US09/725,034
• Publication Number:
  US 20010003819A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,756 Days
• Field of Search: 358/402, 395/605, 707/10, 707/102, 707/104.1, 709/226, 709/220, 709/206, 705/14, 705/54, 713/201, 713/187, 715/539, 715/530, 715/513
• US Class Current: 715/272
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

To provide a document control apparatus, a document control system, a document control method and a storage medium that are capable of providing more certain access control by the unit of document and a system (service) for allowing access in the form of charging additional charge with a fixed grace period, and are capable of supporting more flexible and certain storing service. The document control system includes a Web server, a session control part for controlling access, a job control part for controlling job execution, a document registration processing part for registering, updating and deleting a document, a document search processing part for searching an accumulated and controlled document, a document transfer processing part for transmitting and receiving document data, a user control part for controlling user information, a database control part for controlling document data, registration user, charge information and document access histories, and databases.

Claims

1. A document control apparatus for storing and controlling electronic documents accessible from an external apparatus, comprising:

registering means for registering electronic documents to a storage, the electronic documents being transmitted from an external transmitting apparatus;

period controlling means for storing information of a document control period of the electronic documents registered by said registering means;

keeping means for keeping the electronic documents in the storage for a predetermined period even after the document control period of the electronic document has expired;

access prohibiting means for prohibiting access from the external apparatus to the electronic document whose document control period has expired;

period updating means for updating the document control period for an extension of the document control period based on a user confirmation;

temporary access allowing means for allowing temporary access to the electronic document whose document control period has expired based on a predetermined charge; and

transferring means for transferring the electronic document to the external apparatus based on a user request,

wherein the transferred electronic document is a document whose document control period has not expired, a document whose document control period has been extended by said period updating means, or a document to which temporary access has been allowed by said temporary access allowing means.

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

document processing means for updating and/or deleting the electronic document stored in the storage; and

document searching means for searching electronic documents stored in the storage.

3. The document control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said period controlling means stores the information of the document control period together with a body of the electronic document embedded in the electronic document.

4. The document control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic document comprises:

control information of an electronic document including the information of the document control period;

attached information of an electronic document including summary information of a document and/or index information; and

a body of an electronic document transmitted from the external transmitting apparatus.

5. The document control apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the electronic document stored in the storage comprises link information instead of the body of the electronic document, the link information indicating a location of the body of the electronic document.

6. The document control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said keeping means keeps an electronic document that is frequently accessed from the external apparatus for a predetermined period and in a fixed volume, and wherein said temporary access allowing means allows the temporary access to the stored electronic document based on a predetermined charge different from a regular charge for accessing the document.

7. The document control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said document searching means notifies the external apparatus of the information of document control period of the searched electronic document.

8. The document control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

user information storing means for storing information of registered users;

charge information storing means for storing charge information; and

history information storing means for storing information of electronic document access histories.

9. The document control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, when update or deletion of the electronic document is instructed from the external apparatus, said document processing means determines whether or not to accept the update or the deletion of the electronic document based on access authority information set in advance.

10. A document control system comprising:

a document control apparatus for storing and controlling electronic documents; and

an external apparatus to which an access control service of said electronic document is provided from said document control apparatus, wherein said document control apparatus comprises;

registering means for registering electronic documents to a storage, the electronic documents being transmitted from an external transmitting apparatus;

period controlling means for storing information of a document control period of the electronic documents registered by said registering means;

keeping means for keeping the electronic documents in the storage for a predetermined period even after the document control period of the electronic document has expired;

access prohibiting means for prohibiting access from the external apparatus to the electronic document whose document control period has expired;

period updating means for updating said document control period for an extension of the document control period based on a user confirmation;

temporary access allowing means for allowing temporary access to the electronic document whose document control period has expired based on a predetermined charge; and

transferring means for transferring the electronic document to the external apparatus based on a user request,

wherein the transferred electronic document is a document whose document control period has not expired, a document whose document control period has been extended by said period updating means, or a document to which temporary access has been allowed by said temporary access allowing means.

11. The document control system according to claim 10, wherein said document control apparatus further comprises:

document processing means for updating and/or deleting said electronic document stored in the storage; and

document searching means for searching electronic documents stored in the storage.

12. The document control system according to claim 10, wherein said period controlling means of said document control apparatus stores the information of the document control period together with a body of said electronic document embedded in said electronic document.

13. The document control system according to claim 10, wherein said electronic document comprises:

control information of an electronic document including the information of the document control period;

attached information of an electronic document including summary information of a document and/or index information; and

a body of an electronic document transmitted from the external transmitting apparatus.

14. The document control system according to claim 13, wherein the electronic document stored in the storage comprises link information instead of the body of the electronic document, the link information indicating a location of the body of the electronic document.

15. The document control system according to claim 10, wherein said keeping means of said document control apparatus keeps an electronic document that is frequently accessed from the external apparatus for a predetermined period and in a fixed volume, and wherein said temporary access allowing means allows the temporary access to the stored electronic document based on a predetermined charge different from a regular charge for accessing the document.

16. The document control system according to claim 11, wherein said document searching means of said document control apparatus notifies the external apparatus of the information of the document control period of the searched electronic document.

17. The document control system according to claim 10, wherein said document control apparatus further comprises:

user information storing means for storing information of registered users;

charge information storing means for storing charge information; and

history information storing means for storing information of electronic document access histories.

18. The document control system according to claim 11, wherein, when update or deletion of said electronic document is instructed from the external apparatus, said document processing means of said document control apparatus determines whether or not the update or the deletion of said electronic document should be accepted based on access authority information set in advance.

19. A document control method applied to a document control system having a document control apparatus for storing and controlling electronic documents and an external apparatus to which an access control service of said electronic document is provided from said document control apparatus, comprising:

a registering step of registering electronic documents to a storage, the electronic documents being transmitted from an external transmitting apparatus;

a period controlling step of storing information of a document control period of the electronic documents registered by said registering step;

a keeping step of keeping the electronic documents in the storage for a predetermined period even after the document control period of the electronic document has expired;

an access prohibiting step of prohibiting means for prohibiting access from the external apparatus to the electronic document whose document control period has expired;

a period updating step of updating said document control period for an extension of the document control period based on a user confirmation;

a temporary access allowing step of allowing temporary access to the electronic document whose document control period has expired based on a predetermined charge; and

a transferring step of transferring the electronic document to the external apparatus based on a user request,

wherein the transferred electronic document is a document whose document control period has not expired, a document whose document control period has been extended by said period updating means, or a document to which temporary access has been allowed by said temporary access allowing step.

20. The document control method according to claim 19, further comprising:

a document processing step of updating and/or deleting said electronic document stored in the storage; and

a document searching step of searching electronic documents stored in the storage.

21. The document control method according to claim 19, wherein said document control period information is stored together with a body of said electronic document embedded in said electronic document in said period controlling step.

22. The document control method according to claim 19, wherein said electronic document comprises:

control information of an electronic document including said information of the document control period;

attached information of an electronic document including summary information of a document and/or index information; and

a body of an electronic document transmitted from the external transmitting apparatus.

23. The document control method according to claim 22, wherein the electronic document stored in the storage comprises link information instead of the body of the electronic document, the link information indicating a location of the body of the electronic document.

24. The document control method according to claim 19, wherein said keeping step keeps an electronic document that is frequently accessed from the external apparatus for a predetermined period and in a fixed volume, and wherein said temporary access allowing step allows the temporary access to the stored electronic document based on a predetermined charge different from a regular charge for accessing the document.

25. The document control method according to claim 20, wherein said document searching step notifies the external apparatus of the information of the document control period of the searched electronic document.

26. The document control method according to claim 19, further comprising:

a user information storing step of storing information of registered users;

a charge information storing step of storing charge information; and

a history information storing step of storing information of electronic document access histories.

27. The document control method according to claim 20, wherein, when update or deletion of said electronic document is instructed from the external apparatus, whether or not the update or the deletion of said electronic document should be accepted is determined based on access authority information set in advance in said document processing step.

28. A computer readable storage medium storing a program for executing a document control method applied to a document control system having a document control apparatus for storing and controlling electronic documents, and an external apparatus to which an access control service of said electronic document is provided from said document control apparatus, wherein said document control method comprises:

a registering step of registering electronic documents to a storage, the electronic documents being transmitted from an external transmitting apparatus;

a period controlling step of storing information of a document control period of the electronic documents registered by the registering step;

a keeping step of keeping the electronic documents in the storage for a predetermined period even after the document control period of the electronic document has expired;

an access prohibiting step of prohibiting means for prohibiting access from the external apparatus to the electronic document whose document control period has expired;

a period updating step of updating said document control period for an extension of the document control period based on a user confirmation;

a temporary access allowing step of allowing temporary access to the electronic document whose document control period has expired based on a predetermined charge; and

a transferring step of transferring the electronic document to the external apparatus based on a user request,

wherein the transferred electronic document is a document whose document control period has not expired, a document whose document control period has been extended by said period updating means, or a document to which temporary access has been allowed by said temporary access allowing step.

29. The storage medium according to claim 28, wherein said document control method, further comprising:

a document processing step of updating and/or deleting said electronic document stored in the storage; and

a document searching step of searching electronic documents stored in the storage.

30. The storage medium according to claim 28, wherein said information of said document control period is stored together with a body of said electronic document embedded in said electronic document in said period controlling step.

31. The storage medium according to claim 28, wherein said electronic document comprises:

control information of an electronic document including said information of the document control period;

attached information of an electronic document including summary information of a document and/or index information; and

a body of an electronic document transmitted from the external transmitting apparatus.

32. The storage medium according to claim 31, wherein the electronic document stored in the storage comprises link information instead of the body of the electronic document, the link information indicating a location of the body of the electronic document.

33. The storage medium according to claim 28, wherein said keeping step keeps an electronic document that is frequently accessed from the external apparatus for a predetermined period and in a fixed volume, and wherein said temporary access allowing step allows the temporary access to the stored electronic document based on a predetermined charge different from a regular charge for accessing the document.

34. The storage medium according to claim 29, wherein said document searching step notifies the external apparatus of the information of the document control period of the searched electronic document.

35. The storage medium according to claim 28, wherein said document control method further comprises:

a user information storing step of storing information of registered users;

a charge information storing step of storing charge information; and

a history information storing step of storing information of electronic document access histories.

36. The storage medium according to claim 29, wherein, when update or deletion of said electronic document is instructed from the external apparatus, whether or not the update or the deletion of said electronic document should be accepted is determined based on access authority information set in advance in said document processing step.