Method of and system for processing electronic document and recording medium for recording processing program

A document circulation system for circulating a document having a plurality of data blocks, said document circulation system comprising:

• an encrypting unit for encrypting a certain data block of a plurality of data blocks of a document relevant to a certain worker by using an encrypting key corresponding to said certain worker and encrypting another data block of said plurality of data blocks of said document relevant to another worker by using another encrypting key corresponding to another worker;
• a dialog to be defined by a user as to whether a data block not correctly decrypted is to be displayed on said document;
• a first apparatus having a transmitting unit for circulating said document having encrypted certain data block and encrypted another data block through a network;
• and
• a second apparatus having a display control unit for setting a display condition that said document is displayed after deleting said data block which cannot be decrypted if said dialog is defined not to display said data block not decrypted, when said second apparatus decrypts said document by using a decrypting key corresponding to said certain worker.

A document circulation apparatus for circulating a document having a plurality of data blocks, said document circulation apparatus comprising:

• an encrypting unit for encrypting a certain data block of a plurality of data blocks of a document relevant to a certain worker by using an encrypting key corresponding to said certain worker and encrypting another data block of said plurality of data blocks of said document relevant to another worker by using another encrypting key corresponding to said another worker;
• a transmitting and receiving unit for circulating said document having encrypted certain data block and encrypted another data block over a network;
• and
• a display control unit for decrypting an encrypted portion of said document received from said network by using its own decrypting key and setting a display condition, including preparing a dialog to be defined by a user as to whether a data block not correctly decrypted is to be displayed on said document, such that said document is displayed after deleting said data block which cannot be decrypted, when said dialog is defined by the user not to display said data block not decrypted on said document.

A storage medium for recording a document circulation program for circulating a document having a plurality of data blocks in such a manner that said document circulation program can be read by a computer, said storage medium comprising:

• a code for encrypting a certain data block of a plurality of data blocks of a document relevant to a certain worker by using an encrypting key corresponding to said certain worker and encrypting another data block of said plurality of data blocks of said document relevant to another worker by using an encrypting key corresponding to said another worker;
• a code for circulating said document having encrypted certain data block and encrypted another data block over a network;
• a code for preparing a dialog to be defined by a user as to whether a certain data block not correctly decrypted is to be displayed on said document;
• and
• a code for setting a display condition that said document is displayed after deleting therefrom said certain data block which cannot be decrypted, if said dialog is defined by the user not to display said certain data block not decrypted, when said document is decrypted by using a decryption key corresponding to said certain worker.

A electronic document processing method for circulating an electronic document having a plurality of data groups over a plurality of workers, said electronic document processing method comprising the step of:

• encrypting a certain data group of a plurality of data in a electronic document relevant to a certain worker by using an encrypting key corresponding to said certain worker;
• transmitting an electronic document having encrypted data group over a network;
• decrypting said encrypted data group of said electronic document by using a decrypting key corresponding to said certain worker and displaying whether said encrypted data group is decrypted correctly or displaying said document in response to the existence of said data group;
• preparing a dialog to be defined by a user as to whether a data group not correctly decrypted is to be displayed on said electronic document;
• and
• displaying said electronic document after deleting said data group which cannot be decrypted, if said dialog is defined by the user not to display said data group not decrypted on said electronic document.

A storage medium in which a program for enabling a computer to function as an electronic document processing system for circulating an electronic document having a plurality of data through a plurality of workers may be recorded in such a manner that said medium may be read and executed by a computer, said medium records programs for functioning a computer as:

• a data encryption processing unit for encrypting specific data of a plurality of data in an electronic document relevant to a specific worker by using an encrypting key corresponding to said specific worker;
• a data input/output processing unit for transmitting and receiving electronic data having encrypted specific data over a network;
• a data decryption processing unit for decrypting said encrypted specific data in said electronic data by using a decrypting key corresponding to said specific worker;
• and
• a process defining/executing processing unit for preparing a dialog to be defined by a user as to whether a data block not correctly decrypted is to be displayed, for displaying data after deleting therefrom said data block which cannot be decrypted if said dialog is defined by the user not to display said data block not decrypted, and for effecting a processing in response to whether said encrypted specific data is decrypted correctly or the existence of said data.