Document management method and apparatus for ensuring consistency of document contents
AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
InventorYosuke Hino
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an client-server electronic filing system, the server performs check-in check-out management on documents that two or more clients share and restrains the check-out of the same document by two or more clients. Through the use of a check-in check-out table for check-in check-out management of documents that the clients share, the server prohibits the check-out of a document requested by a client until the document is checked in or until the check-out of the document is canceled, thereby preventing concurrent multiple updating of the same document by two or more clients.
Claims2
A document management method for use in an electronic filing system having means for storing documents, a plurality of client units, each capable of issuing a check-out request to read out a document from said storing means so as to change the document and issuing a check-in request to write a document, which has been checked out and changed, to said storing means, and means for inhibiting a document, which has been checked out by a first client unit, from being checked out by a second client unit, comprising the steps of:
- issuing, from said first client unit, a first check-out request for a document to read out the document from said storing means so as to change the document;
- setting a time limit of check-out for a document which has been stored in said storing means, when the document is read out from said storing means in accordance with said first check-out request;
- issuing, from a second client unit, a second check-out request for the document which has been checked out by said first client unit;
- checking, in response to said second check-out request, the time limit which has been set for the document and in a case where the time limit has not expired, inhibiting the document from being checked out by said second client unit;
- and
- checking, in response to said second check-out request, the time limit which has been set for the document and in a case where the time limit has expired, canceling the check-out of the checked out by said second client unit.
A document management method for use in an electronic filing system having means for storing documents, a plurality of client units, each capable of issuing a check-out request to read out a document from said storing means so as to change the document and issuing a check-in request to write a document, which has been checked out and changed, to said storing means, and means for inhibiting a document, which has been checked out by a first client unit, from being checked out by a second client unit, comprising the steps of:
- issuing, from said first client unit, a first check-out request for a document to read out the document from said storing means so as to change the document;
- providing a specific client unit with an authority of canceling check-out of a document which has been checked out by another client unit;
- and
- canceling the check-out of the document which has been checked out by said another client unit, in accordance with an instruction from said specific client unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.