Patent Publication Number: US-2022222602-A1

Title: Information management system, server, and user terminal

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation application of International Application No. PCT/JP2020/026888, filed on Jul. 9, 2020, which claims priority to and the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-194310, filed on Oct. 25, 2019. The contents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     1. Field 
     The present invention relates to an information providing method and in particular, to a technology for changing the way of providing information depending on users. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Various software tools for sharing information among a plurality of users have been provided. For example, checking one&#39;s schedule on a group calendar, checking work progress by using workflow software, and the like have been improving environments that facilitate team work involving a number of users even at geographically distant locations. 
     RELATED ART LIST 
     
         
         Patent Literature 1: JP 2016-207012 A 
       
    
     As the number of people involved is larger, information is likely to be more and more enormous and structured. For example, in a product development project, a variety of information on research and development, material procurement, advertising, money management, and the like is produced. In addition, research and development includes software development, which may include work for developing a communication protocol. 
     A project leader would want to get a general overview covering from research and development to money management, but those who attempt to know every detail of information relating to a project thoroughly would suffer from information overload, which would end up being unproductive. In contrast, a development engineer needs to know information on research and development in detail, but need not know much about work in other fields such as money management in detail. Each of members of one project may want information different in level and in quantity from that other members want. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     The present invention has been achieved on the basis of recognition of the aforementioned problems, and a chief object thereof is to provide a technology for allowing each user to readily extract information necessary for the user from an information set. 
     A server according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected with a plurality of user terminals via a communication network. 
     The server includes a user screen providing unit for providing a user terminal with user screens capable of displaying both of a form defining a data structure and an entity being a data set created on the basis of a form; an entity setting unit for creating an entity in accordance with an entity creating instruction based on selection of a form performed on a user screen by a user and the selected form; and a member setting unit for setting one or more users to be members of a form or an entity in accordance with specification performed on a user screen by a user. 
     When providing a user screen to a user, the user screen providing unit selects, as an entity to be displayed on the user screen, an entity with which the user is associated as a member thereof from among a plurality of entities. 
     A user terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a user screen displaying unit for displaying user screens capable of displaying both of a form defining a data structure and an entity being a data set created on the basis of a form; an item inputting unit for receiving, from a user, specification of an item to be enabled from a plurality of items provided in advance in a form; an entity creating and inputting unit for receiving input of item data of an item enabled in a form; and a member inputting unit for receiving specification of one or more users to be members of a form or an entity. 
     The user screen displaying unit selectively displays, on the user screens, an entity with which the user of the user terminal is associated as a member thereof from among a plurality of entities. 
     An information management system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes one or more user terminals and a server connected with each other via a communication network. 
     The server includes: a user screen providing unit for providing the user terminals with user screens capable of displaying both of a form defining a data structure and an entity being a data set created on the basis of a form; a form setting unit for defining a data structure of a form by enabling an item specified by a user from a plurality of items provided in advance in the form; an entity setting unit for setting an entity based on a form by receiving input of item data of an item enabled in the form; a member setting unit for setting one or more users to be members of a form or an entity in accordance with specification performed on a user screen by a user; an entity updating unit for updating item data of an entity in accordance with an instruction to update the item data of the entity from a user; and an update notifying unit for notifying a user terminal of update of an entity. 
     The user terminal includes: a user screen displaying unit for displaying user screens; an item inputting unit for receiving, from a user, specification of an item to be enabled in a form; an entity creating and inputting unit for receiving input of item data of an item enabled in a form; and a member inputting unit for receiving specification of one or more users to be members of a form or an entity. 
     When providing a user screen to a user, the user screen providing unit of the server selects, as an entity to be displayed on the user screen, an entity with which the user is associated as a member thereof from among a plurality of entities. The update notifying unit of the server sets a member of an updated entity to be a user to be notified of the update. The user screen displaying unit of the user terminal displays, on a user screen, an entity with which the user of the user terminal is associated as a member thereof from among a plurality of entities. 
     According to the present invention, a user can readily extract information necessary for the user from an information set. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a hardware configuration diagram of an information management system; 
         FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram of a server; 
         FIG. 3  is a functional block diagram of a user terminal; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram for explaining the relation between forms and entities; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram for explaining association setting of forms; 
         FIG. 6  is a screen diagram of a home screen; 
         FIG. 7  is a screen diagram of a form creation screen; 
         FIG. 8  is a screen diagram of a first form definition screen; 
         FIG. 9  is a screen diagram of a second form definition screen; 
         FIG. 10  is a screen diagram of a member registration screen; 
         FIG. 11  is a screen diagram of an entity creation screen; 
         FIG. 12  is a screen diagram of a form list screen; 
         FIG. 13  is a screen diagram of an entity list screen; 
         FIG. 14  is a screen diagram of an association setting screen; 
         FIG. 15  is a screen diagram of an entity view screen; 
         FIG. 16  is a flowchart illustrating processes of entity display; 
         FIG. 17  is a screen diagram of the form list screen at update notification; 
         FIG. 18  is a schematic diagram for explaining the relation between genres and forms; and 
         FIG. 19  is a screen diagram of a form list screen when a genre is set. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An embodiment will be described with reference to project management of a clothing manufacturer that designs children&#39;s clothing. 
     Typically, in a clothing manufacturer, a “chief director” creates a concept for children&#39;s clothing. At the concept stage, only images and features of children&#39;s clothing are put into rough sketches. A “designer” makes a plurality of design ideas in line with the concept. 
     Once a design idea is determined, a “pattern maker” makes a pattern by computer-aided design (CAD). Subsequently, a trial product of children&#39;s clothing is actually made on the basis of the pattern. A “person in charge of material procurement” supplies materials for trial production (such as cloth and zippers). While trial production and supply are repeated, comfort, silhouettes, productivity (manufacturability), and the like. The pattern maker also checks the resulting trial product and modifies the pattern as necessary. 
     After the trial production, the clothing manufacturer places an order with an “outsourcing contractor” that operates factories for mass production. The outsourcing contractor makes the trial product by using materials to be used for products to be sold. The outsourcing contractor actually makes the trial product to examine the mass productivity thereof. It is not unusual that a designer considers opinions from an outsourcing contractor and thus reviews a design. 
     In this manner, a number of people need to cooperate with each other to pursue a project while controlling a number of processes until a piece of children&#39;s clothing is completed. A “manager” who manages a project controls overall complicated schedules until children&#39;s clothing is completed. Typically, a clothing manufacturer has hundreds to thousands of children&#39;s clothing projects ongoing simultaneously, which is likely to impose extremely heavy management burdens particularly on managers. 
     In order to make a project go smoothly, it is important to improve the efficiency of communication of various information on the project. In order to improve the information communication efficiency, it is preferable to process information into a format that is easily understandable for recipients and standardize the information before passing the information. If recipients receive too much information, however, this may lower the productivity and may lead to human error. Thus, it is also important to separate necessary information from unnecessary information depending on the recipients. 
     In an information management system described in the embodiment, information is managed in units of “entities”. An entity refers to a set of information necessary for managing one process for certain products such as “trial production of a design idea of hakama (Japanese divided skirt) A” or “a trial piece for mass production of a lesson tote bag B”. An entity is created on the basis of a standard called a “form”. A form defines the data structure of an entity. 
     One or more users are associated as “members” with a form. For example, in a case where users P 1 , P 2 , and P 3  are associated with a form F 1 , an entity E 11  (information set) created on the basis of the form F 1  can be accessed only by the users P 1 , P 2 , and P 3 . In other words, users other than these three users cannot know information in the entity E 11 . Such an information managing method allows limiting of members depending on entities (information sets). 
     Hereinafter, details of the information management system of the embodiment will be described. 
       FIG. 1  is a hardware configuration diagram of an information management system  100 . 
     In the information management system  100 , a plurality of user terminals  110   a ,  110   b , . . . ,  110   n  (hereinafter collectively referred to as “user terminals  110 ” when all the user terminals are referred to or when the user terminals are not particularly distinguished from each other) are connected with a server  200  via the Internet  102 . The user terminals  110  in the embodiment are assumed to be smartphones. The user terminals  110  may alternatively be general-purpose computers such as laptop PCs. The user terminals  110  are connected wirelessly with the Internet  102 . 
     The user terminals  110  are used by users (employees or outsourcing contractors) of a clothing manufacturer. The server  200  provides an information sharing service relating to a children&#39;s clothing project to the user terminals  110 . There is no need to install special software in the user terminals  110 , and the user terminals  110  can receive the service by accessing the server  200  via web browsers. 
       FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram of the server  200 . 
     Components of the server  200  are implemented by hardware including computing units such as central processing units (CPUs) and various coprocessors, storage devices such as memories and storages, and wired or wireless communication lines that connect these units and devices, and software that is stored in the storage devices and supplies processing instructions to the computing units. Computer programs may be constituted by device drivers, operating systems, various application programs on upper layers thereof, and a library that provides common functions to these programs. Blocks to be described below do not refer to configurations in units of hardware but to blocks in units of functions. 
     The same is applicable to the user terminals  110 . 
     The server  200  includes a communication unit  202  (com unit  202 ), a data processing unit  204  (data proc. unit  204 ), and a data storage unit  206  (data str unit  206 ). 
     The communication unit  202  performs communication processing. The data storage unit  206  stores various data relating to forms and entities. The data processing unit  204  performs various processes on the basis of data obtained by the communication unit  202  and data stored in the data storage unit  206 . The data processing unit  204  also functions as an interface of the communication unit  202  and the data storage unit  206 . 
     The communication unit  202  includes a transmitting unit  208  (trans unit  208 ) and a receiving unit  210  (recv unit  210 ). 
     The transmitting unit  208  transmits various data to the user terminals  110 , and the receiving unit  210  receives various data from the user terminals  110 . The transmitting unit  208  includes an update notifying unit  212  (up-notif unit  212 ). When data included in an entity is updated, the update notifying unit  212  notifies members of the entity of the update (this will be described later with reference to  FIG. 17 , etc.). 
     The data processing unit  204  includes a user screen providing unit  214  (us-prov unit  214 ), a form setting unit  216  (fm-set unit  216 ), an entity setting unit  218  (en-set unit  218 ), a member setting unit  220  (mem-set unit  220 ), an entity updating unit  222  (en-up unit  222 ), an association registering unit  224  (ass-reg unit  224 ), a searching unit  226  (search unit  226 ), a friend setting unit  228  (fr-set unit  228 ), and a genre setting unit  229  (gen-set unit  229 ). 
     The user screen providing unit  214  generates various user screens, and provides the user screens to the user terminals  110 . The user screens are provided as web pages. The form setting unit  216  creates a form in accordance with an instruction from a user. The form is assigned a form ID. The entity setting unit  218  creates an entity in accordance with an instruction from a user. The entity is assigned an entity ID and a form ID of the form from which the entity is derived. 
     The member setting unit  220  sets members for a form. The creator of the form invites other users as members, and associates the form ID with user IDs of the members (this will be described later with reference to  FIG. 10 ). The entity updating unit  222  updates data included in an entity in accordance with an instruction from a user. The association registering unit  224  associates a form with another form in accordance with an instruction from a user (hereinafter referred to as “association setting”) (this will be described later with reference to  FIG. 14 ). The searching unit  226  searches for a form or an entity in accordance with a search instruction from a user. 
     The friend setting unit  228  manages friend setting among users. A method for setting friends is similar to that of a typical social networking service (SNS). For example, a user P 1  selects a user P 2  with whom the user P 1  wants to be friends from users registered in the server  200 , and sends a “friend request” thereto. If the user P 2  “accepts”, the friend setting unit  228  registers the user P 1  and the user P 2  as “friends”. The genre setting unit  229  sets a “genre” as a group of forms (this will be described later with reference to  FIG. 18 ). 
       FIG. 3  is a functional block diagram of a user terminal  110 . 
     The user terminal  110  includes a user interface processing unit  114  (ui-proc unit  114 ), a data processing unit  116  (data proc unit  116 ), a communication unit  118  (com unit  118 ), and a data storage unit  120  (data str unit  120 ). 
     The communication unit  118  performs communication processing. The user interface processing unit  114  receives operations from a user, and performs processing relating to a user interface such as image display and audio output. The data storage unit  120  stores various data. The data processing unit  116  performs various processes on the basis of data obtained by the communication unit  118  and the user interface processing unit  114  and data stored in the data storage unit  120 . The data processing unit  116  also functions as an interface of the user interface processing unit  114 , the communication unit  118 , and the data storage unit  120 . 
     The communication unit  118  includes a transmitting unit  134  (trans unit  134 ) for transmitting various data to the server  200 , and a receiving unit  136  (recv unit  136 ) for receiving data from the server  200 . Results of inputs from the user are transmitted by the transmitting unit  134  to the server  200  as necessary. 
     The user interface processing unit  114  includes an input unit  122  for receiving inputs made by the user, and an output unit  124  for outputting various data for the user. 
     The input unit  122  includes a form creating and inputting unit  125  (fm-create unit  125 ), an entity creating and inputting unit  128  (en-create unit), a member inputting unit  130  (mem-in unit  130 ), an association inputting unit  132  (ass-in unit  132 ), and a genre creating and inputting unit  133  (gen-create unit  133 ). The form creating and inputting unit  125  receives creation and update of a form. The form creating and inputting unit  125  includes an item inputting unit  126 . The item inputting unit  126  receives setting of whether an “item (to be described later)” of a form is enabled or disabled. The entity creating and inputting unit  128  receives creation and update of an entity. The member inputting unit  130  receives setting of associating a member with a form. The association inputting unit  132  receives association setting of a form and another form. The genre creating and inputting unit  133  receives creation and update of a genre. 
     The output unit  124  includes an update notifying unit  129 . The update notifying unit  129  notifies the user of the update of an entity on a screen. Details thereof will be described later with reference to  FIG. 17 . 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram for explaining the relation between forms and entities. 
     As described above, an entity is an information set, and a form is a standard defining the data structure of an entity. A number of items (hereinafter referred to as a “base item group”) are prepared for a form. In creation of a form, items to be used are selected from the base item group and enabled, and thus the types and quantity of data of an entity can be defined, details of which will be described later. 
     For example, in a case where a form Fa enables an item  1 , an item  2 , and an item  3 , an entity Ea 1  created from the form Fa also includes the item  1 , the item  2 , and the item  3 , and data (hereinafter referred to as “item data”) associated with the three items are set. In addition, in a case where a form Fb enables the item  1 , an item  4 , an item  5 , an item  6 , and an item  7 , an entity Eb 1  created from the form Fb also includes the item  1 , the item  4 , the item  5 , the item  6 , and the item  7 , and includes five item data. The entity Eb 1  has a larger data quantity than the entity Ea 1 , and has the item  1  and the item  4 , that is, a data structure partially in common with that of the entity Ea 1 . 
     As described above, an entity is created from a form (standard). A plurality of entities can be created from one form. In  FIG. 4 , three entities E 11 , E 12 , and E 13  are created from a form F 1 . In addition, two entities E 21  and E 22  are created from a form F 2 . 
     An entity in the embodiment is an information set for managing the schedule of one process among a number processes relating to manufacture of children&#39;s clothing. Hereinafter, assume that a form F 1  corresponds to “scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces”, an entity E 11  corresponds to “scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A”, an entity E 12  corresponds to “scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of lesson tote bag B”, and an entity E 13  corresponds to “scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of lunch bag C”. In addition, assume that a form F 2  corresponds to “design pattern making”, an entity E 21  corresponds to “design pattern making of hakama A”, and an entity E 22  corresponds to “design pattern making of apron D”. 
     For example, for schedule management of scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of children&#39;s clothing, the form F 1  for “scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces” is created. Subsequently, for managing the scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A, the entity E 11  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A) is created on the basis of the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces). For the lesson tote bag B, another entity E 12  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of lesson tote bag B) can be created on the basis of the same form F 1 . Because the entity E 11  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A) and the entity E 12  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of lesson tote bag B) are both created on the basis of the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces), the two entities have different item data (contents) from each other, but have the same data structure (item). As a result of defining a data structure by a form, data structures of entities can be made common or standardized, which improves visual recognition of information. 
     As described above, one or more members (users) are associated with a form. In  FIG. 4 , three members, which are users P 1 , P 2 , and P 3 , are associated with the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces). Users having access rights to the entities E 11 , E 12 , and E 13  derived from the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) are limited to the users P 1 , P 2 , and P 3 . 
     Similarly, the members of the form F 2  (design pattern making) are users P 1  and P 4 . Users having access rights to the entity E 21  (design pattern making of hakama A) and the entity E 22  (design pattern making of apron D) derived from the form F 2  (design pattern making) are limited to the users P 1  and P 4 . 
     Thus, the users P 2  and P 3  can access the entities E 11 , E 12 , and E 13 , but cannot access the entities E 21  and E 22 . The user P 1  can access all of the five entities. The user P 4  can only access the entities E 21  and E 22 . A user P 5  can access none of the entities in  FIG. 4 . 
     As described above, members are associated with a form, so that users having access rights to entities derived from the form can be limited. This enables separation of information to be passed to individual users (persons concerned) involved in a project from information not to be passed. Limiting provision of unnecessary information while improving information sharing performance can reduce stress attributed to information overload. In addition, setting access rights to each entity is effective in preventing leakage of information. 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram for explaining association setting of forms. 
     A user can associate one form with another. In  FIG. 5 , assume that the user P 1  has associated the form F 2  (design pattern making) with the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces). In this case, the form F 2  that is associated is referred to as a “related form”. In contrast, the form F 1  with which the form F 2  is associated is referred to as an “upper form”. 
     As a result of association of the form F 2  with the form F 1 , the entity E 21  (hakama A) derived from the form F 2  is associated with the entity E 11  (hakama A), among the entities E 11  (hakama A), E 12  (lesson tote bag B), and E 13  (lunch bag C) derived from the form F 1 . In this case, the entity E 21  is referred to as a “related entity”, and the entity E 11  is referred to as an “upper entity”. When selecting an upper entity, the association registering unit  224  searches for a related entity that has some item data in common like “hakama A” (details of which will be described later). 
     More specifically, when the user P 1  makes the entity E 11  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A: upper entity) be displayed, the entity E 21  (design pattern making of hakama A: related entity) is also displayed in association therewith. Thus, when the user P 1  checks the scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A, the user P 1  can also check the progress of design pattern making of hakama A (which will be described later with reference to  FIG. 15 ). 
     Association setting of forms is performed for each user. For example, association of the form F 2  with the form F 1  by the user P 1  does not affect the provision of information to another user. Thus, when a user P 4  makes the entity E 11  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A) be displayed, the user screen providing unit  214  does not display the entity E 21  (design pattern making of hakama A) as a related entity in association therewith. Each user can freely associate a plurality of forms depending on his/her range of work, in an easy-to-grasp manner for himself/herself, and the like. 
     In a case where the user P 1  has associated the form F 2  (design pattern making) with the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces), the entity E 11  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A) is not displayed as a related entity in display of the entity E 21  (design pattern making of hakama A). This is because the form F 1  is not a related form of the form F 2  although the form F 2  is a related form of the form F 1 . In this manner, the association setting is unidirectional. 
     In a case where the user P 1  has further associated the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) with the form F 2  (design pattern making), the form F 1  and the form F 2  are related forms of each other and upper forms of each other. In this case, when the user P 1  makes the entity E 21  (design pattern making of hakama A) be displayed, the entity E 11  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A) is also displayed as a related entity in association therewith. 
     Explanation of a main processing flow will be provided below focusing on user screens. 
       FIG. 6  is a screen diagram of a home screen  150 . 
     For accessing the server  200  from a user terminal  110 , a user first enters a user ID (email address) and a password for user registration. When the user accesses the server  200  after user registration, the user screen providing unit  214  of the server  200  displays the home screen  150  on the user terminal  110 . 
     A “user screen” in the embodiment is a generic term for a plurality of kinds of screens, such as the home screen  150 , provided from the server  200  to the user terminals  110 . A home button  152 , a form button  154 , a user button  156 , a genre button  158 , and a custom button  160  are displayed in a lower part of each user screen. The user can cause the home screen  150  to be displayed anytime by touching the home button  152 . The form button  154  and other buttons will be described later. 
     A search region  162  is displayed at the center of the home screen  150 . When the user inputs a search term in the search region  162 , the search term is transmitted from the user terminal  110  to the server  200 . The searching unit  226  searches for a form or an entity including the search term. The user screen providing unit  214  displays a search result on the user terminal  110 . 
     In the following description, assume that user P 1  creates the form F 1 . 
       FIG. 7  is a screen diagram of a form creation screen  170 . 
     When the user P 1  touches the form button  154  and then touches a new form button (not illustrated), which is displayed on the screen as a result of touching the form button  154 , the user screen providing unit  214  causes the form creation screen  170  to be displayed on the user terminal  110 . A form name region  172  is displayed at the center of the form creation screen  170 . The user inputs the form name of the form F 1  in the form name region  172 . In  FIG. 7 , a form name “scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces” is input. Any name may be used for a form name. When the user P 1  touches a cancel button  174 , the creation of a form is canceled. When the user P 1  touches a save button  176 , the form setting unit  216  creates a new form. The form setting unit  216  generates a form ID, and registers the form ID (form F 1 ), the form name (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces), and the creator (user P 1 ) in association with each other in the data storage unit  206 . 
       FIG. 8  is a screen diagram of a first form definition screen  180 . 
     When the form F 1  is newly created, the user screen providing unit  214  causes the first form definition screen  180  to be displayed. The user defines the data structure of the form F 1 , that is, enabled items and disabled items on the first form definition screen  180 . The user P 1  can cause the first form definition screen  180  to be displayed by touching the custom button  160 . 
     When a name change button  182  is touched, the name of a form can be changed. When an association setting button  184  is touched, association can be set, that is, a related form can be selected (which will be described later with reference to  FIG. 14 ). 
     When a public disclosure button  186  is touched, public disclosure or limited disclosure can be selected. In the case of public disclosure, access to an entity derived from the form F 1  (hereinafter may also be referred to as “entity (F 1 )”) is not limited to members. In this case, the entity setting unit  218  may disclose the entity (F 1 ) as a normal web page. 
     When an item definition button  188  is touched, items to be enabled (hereinafter also referred to as “enabled items”) in the form F 1  can be selected from the base item group. Details thereof will be described with reference to  FIG. 9  below. 
       FIG. 9  is a screen diagram of a second form definition screen  190 . 
     When the item definition button  188  on the first form definition screen  180  of  FIG. 8  is touched, the user screen providing unit  214  causes the second form definition screen  190  to be displayed. The second form definition screen  190  displays the base item group in a form of a list. The user P 1  selects items necessary for the form F 1 , which are enabled items, from the base item group. The user P 1  selects ON (enable) or OFF (disable) for each item. The items that are set to be ON are enabled items of the form F 1 . The item inputting unit  126  detects ON or OFF of each item, the transmitting unit  134  of the user terminal  110  transmits the selection result to the server  200 , and the form setting unit  216  registers the enabled items of the form F 1  in accordance with the selection result. 
     Because a plurality of items are provided in advance in the base item group, a user can control the quantity and the quality of information included in a form (entity) by simply selecting enabled items from the base item group. Every form is based on the base item group, which is advantageous in that the data structures of forms vary little depending on the form creators. This item selecting method provides unity of all data structures in addition to ease of form creation and flexibility of form creation. 
       FIG. 10  is a screen diagram of a member registration screen  230 . 
     The user P 1  can add a member to the form F 1  by selecting the form F 1  and then selecting a member add button (not illustrated), which is displayed on the screen as a result of selecting the form F 1 . A user to be a member should be a user that is registered in server  200  as a user and that is registered as a “friend” of the user P 1 , who is the creator of the form. 
     For example, when the user P 1  creates the form F 1  and then touches a member add button, which is displayed at a predetermined position such as a right corner on the screen after the form is created, the friend setting unit  228  selects, as member candidates, users that are “friends” of the user P 1 . According to the member registration screen  230  of  FIG. 10 , two persons in addition to the user P 1 , that is, a total of three persons are registered as members of the form F 1  being edited. The user P 1  can voluntarily withdraw from the members of the form F 1  by touching a withdraw button  232 . When the member inputting unit  130  has detected touching of the withdraw button  232 , the member setting unit  220  removes the user who has touched the withdraw button  232  from a member list of the form. 
     When the user P 1  touches an invite button  234 , the member setting unit  220  causes a friend list of the user P 1  (not illustrated) to be displayed. The user P 1  selects a user to be invited, that is, in other words, a new member of the form F 1  from the friend list. 
     Furthermore, by touching a member name, the user P 1  can set whether to permit the member to read item data only or to permit the member to edit (input and modify) item data. The member setting unit  220  registers each form in association with members and whether or not each of the members is permitted to edit the form in the data storage unit  206 . 
       FIG. 11  is a screen diagram of an entity creation screen  240 . 
     When the user selects the created form F 1  and then selects a new entity button (not illustrated), which is displayed at a right corner of the screen as a result of selecting the form F 1 , the user screen providing unit  214  causes the entity creation screen  240  for creating an entity based on the form F 1  to be displayed. The entity E 11  or the like is generated by inputting item data for enabled items of the form F 1 . 
     In the following description, assume that the user P 1  creates the entity E 11  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A) on the basis of the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces). 
     The entity creating and inputting unit  128  detects input of item data on the entity creation screen  240 . The transmitting unit  134  of the user terminal  110  transmits the input item data together with an item ID to the server  200 . The entity setting unit  218  of the server  200  sets an entity ID when an entity is created. The entity setting unit  218  registers the item data with the form ID, the entity ID, and the item ID. 
     An entity name region  242  is a region for inputting an entity name. The entity name region  242  is an always-enabled item. In  FIG. 11 , “arrival of new hakama set” is input therein. The entity E 11  is an information set relating to “scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces” of a “new hakama set (hakama A)” base on the form F 1  “scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces”. 
     A photo region  244  is a region for registering a photo. A schedule region  246  is a region for registering a start date and an end date as the schedule of an entity. The schedule region  246  is also an always-enabled item. Registration of a photo is not essential. A stock number region  248  is a region for inputting a stock number (S-No.) (see  FIG. 9 ). The stock number region  248  can be selected to be enabled or disabled. In  FIG. 11 , a stock number “12074” associated with the hakama A is input therein. A lot region  250  is a region for inputting a lot (see  FIG. 9 ). The user P 1  scrolls through the entity creation screen  240  to input item data of other enabled items. Other various items can be enabled. The user P 1  can input and check all the item data of the entity E 11  by scrolling through the entity creation screen  240 . 
     When the user touches a delete button  252 , the entity E 11  being created is deleted without being saved. When the delete button  252  is touched while a created entity is being edited, the entity setting unit  218  deletes the entity. When the user touches a cancel button  254 , the entity remains but newly input item data is discarded without being registered. The user can make a copy of an entity by touching a copy button  256 . When the user touches a save button  258 , the entity setting unit  218  formally registers the entity E 11  based on the form F 1  in the data storage unit  206 . 
       FIG. 12  is a screen diagram of a form list screen  270 . 
     When the user touches the form button  154  after creating some forms or after participating in a form created by another user as a member, a list of forms is displayed. The form list screen  270  is divided into a created form region  272  and a joined form region  274 . 
     A list of forms created by the user P 1  is displayed in the created form region  272  on the user terminal  110  of the user P 1 . A list of forms of which the user P 1  is a member among forms created by users other than the user P 1  is displayed in the joined form region  274 . The form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) created by the user P 1  is displayed in the created form region  272  on the form creation screen  170  of  FIG. 7 . 
     The form setting unit  216  of the server  200  creates a number of forms in accordance with instructions to create forms from a number of users. As described above, the form setting unit  216  registers a form ID, the creator of the form, members thereof, and enabled items thereof in association with each other in the data storage unit  206 . The user screen providing unit  214  does not display forms of which the user P 1  is not a member on the user terminal  110  of the user P 1 . The user P 1  cannot view forms and entities with which the user P 1  is not associated. Thus, only information that the user P 1  needs can be selected from a vast amount of information accumulated in the data storage unit  206  of the server  200  and provided to the user P 1 . 
       FIG. 13  is a screen diagram of an entity list screen  280 . 
     The entity list screen  280  illustrated in  FIG. 13  is displayed when the user P 1  touches the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) on the form list screen  270  (see  FIG. 12 ). Assume here that a number of entities E 11 , E 12  have been created on the basis of the form F 1 . The entity list screen  280  displays a list of entities derived from the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) in a form of thumbnails (abstract pictures). 
     A thumbnail  282  is a thumbnail of an entity (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A; entity name: new hakama set arrived) created on the entity creation screen  240  of  FIG. 11 . The thumbnail  282  displays only some item data such as a progress status “outstanding” in addition to a reduced image of the photo region  244 , the entity name region  242 , the schedule region  246 , the stock number region  248 , and the like among the item data input on the entity creation screen  240 . The user P 1  can check the schedules, the progress statuses, and the like of the entities relating to the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) at the same time by referring to the entity list screen  280 . 
     When the user P 1  touches the thumbnail  282  on the entity list screen  280 , a group of item data of the entity E 11  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A) is displayed in detail in the same display format as that on the entity creation screen  240 . 
       FIG. 14  is a screen diagram of an association setting screen  290 . 
     The association setting screen  290  is displayed when the user P 1  selects the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) and then turns on the “association setting” on the first form definition screen  180  ( FIG. 8 ). The association inputting unit  132  detects the ON state of association setting, the transmitting unit  134  notifies the server  200  of the ON state of association setting, and the user screen providing unit  214  of the server  200  displays the association setting screen  290  on the user terminal  110 . 
     The user screen providing unit  214  displays a list of five forms other than the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) among six forms relating to the user P 1  (see  FIG. 12 ). Each form is displayed with a checkbox  292 . The user P 1  ticks a checkbox  292  of a form to be associated with the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) or, in other words, a related form of the form F 1  (upper form). A plurality of forms may be ticked. 
     In  FIG. 14 , the user P 1  has ticked the form F 2  (design pattern making). When the user P 1  touches a save button  296  in this state, the form F 2  (design pattern making) becomes related form of the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces: upper form). The transmitting unit  134  of the user terminal  110  notifies the server  200  of association of the two kinds of forms, and the association registering unit  224  of the server  200  registers the two kinds of forms in association with each other. When the user P 1  touches a cancel button  294 , the association setting of the forms is not performed. 
     The association setting is performed in units of users. Thus, the association of the form F 2  (related form) with the form F 1  (upper form) made by the user P 1  does not affect information management of other users. As described above, while the form F 2  (design pattern making) is a related form of the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces), the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) is not a related form of the form F 2  (design pattern making). Because the association setting is unidirectional in manner, a plurality of forms, or entities derived from the forms, can be made hierarchical. In  FIG. 14 , when checking the entities derived from the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces), the user P 1  can also check the entities derived from the form F 2  (design pattern making) that is a related form of the form F 1 . This will be described in detail later with reference to  FIG. 15 . 
     When the user P 1  wants to associate the form F 2  (design pattern making) and the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) with each other, the user P 1  selects the form F 2  as an upper form and associates the form F 1  (related form) with the selected form F 2  on the association setting screen  290 . It is assumed in the following description that, for the user P 1 , the form F 1  is an upper form and the form F 2  is a related form thereof. 
       FIG. 15  is a screen diagram of an entity view screen  300 . 
     The entity view screen  300  of  FIG. 15  is displayed when the user P 1  selects the entity E 11  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A) on the entity list screen  280 . In the entity view screen  300 , the item data of the entity E 11  can be checked. A related entity region  302  is displayed at a bottom of the entity view screen  300 . 
     The user P 1  has associated the form F 2  (design pattern making) with the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) (see  FIG. 14 ). Assume that the entity E 11  is created from the form F 1  (upper form), and that the entity E 21  (design pattern making of hakama A; entity name: pattern making of new hakama) is created from the form F 2  (related form). In this case, the entity E 21  (design pattern making of hakama A) is a related entity of the entity E 11  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A; entity name: new hakama set arrived). When the user P 1  causes the entity E 11  (upper entity) to be displayed, the entity E 21  is displayed as a related entity in the related entity region  302  at the bottom of the entity view screen  300 . 
     When displaying the entity E 11 , the user screen providing unit  214  also checks “key data”, which is item data of a “key item”, in addition to the related form. Some items of the base item group are set as key items in advance. In the embodiment, the item “stock number” is a key item (see the stock number region  248  in  FIG. 11 ). 
     When the entity E 11  (upper entity) is selected by the user P 1 , the user screen providing unit  214  first identifies the form F 2 , which is a related form of the form F 1  (upper form) from which the entity E 11  is derived. Subsequently, the user screen providing unit  214  identifies the entities E 21  and E 22  derived from the form F 2  (related form). The item data of the key item (stock number) of the entity E 11  (upper entity) is “12074 (hakama A)” (see  FIG. 11 ). The user screen providing unit  214  checks the key items (stock numbers) of the entities E 21  and E 22 , and identifies the entity E 21  (design pattern making of hakama A) with the stock number being the same “12074” as that of the entity E 11  as a related entity. Such a control method enables the user P 1  checking an entity to also check information on another entity related thereto with the same stock number (the same product). 
     In  FIG. 15 , while checking the scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces of hakama A (stock number: 12074), the user P 1  can also check the progress status of design pattern making of the same hakama A. When the user P 1  touches the related entity region  302 , details of the entity E 21  (design pattern making of hakama A; entity name: pattern making of new hakama) are displayed. 
       FIG. 16  is a flowchart illustrating processes of entity display. 
     A user first selects a form in the form list screen  270  to display the entity list screen  280  displaying entities derived from the selected form in a form of thumbnails (S 10 ). Specifically, the transmitting unit  134  of the user terminal  110  transmits a form ID and a user ID to the server  200 , and the user screen providing unit  214  of the server  200  generates a web page of the entity list screen  280  and transmits the web page to the user terminal  110 . The user selects, on the entity list screen  280 , an entity to be displayed in detail (S 12 ). 
     The user screen providing unit  214  searches for a related form. If a related form is present (Y in S 14 ), the user screen providing unit  214  checks the key data thereof (S 16 ). If no related form is present (N in S 14 ), the process skips to S 20 . If an entity with coincident key data is present (Y in S 16 ), the related entity is added into the related entity region  302  (S 18 ). If no entity with coincident key data is present (N in S 16 ), another form is checked. After checking all the forms (N in S 14 ), the user screen providing unit  214  displays the entity view screen  300  (S 20 ). 
       FIG. 17  is a screen diagram of the form list screen  270  at update notification. 
     A user permitted to edit among the members of a form (see  FIG. 10 ) can rewrite item data of entities derived from the form. For example, assume that the user P 2  has rewritten item data of the entity E 11 . In this case, the entity updating unit  222  changes and registers the item data of the entity E 11 , and instructs the update notifying unit  212  to transmit an update notification. 
     The entity updating unit  222  identifies the users P 1 , P 2 , and P 3  as members of the entity E 11  (see  FIG. 4 ). Because the update is made by the user P 2 , the entity updating unit  222  provides instruction on an update notification for the users P 1  and P 3 . The update notifying unit  212  transmits the update notification together with the entity ID of the entity E 11  to the user terminals  110  of the users P 1  and P 3 . 
     The update notifying unit  129  of each user terminal  110  first displays an update mark  312  on the form button  154 . The update notifying unit  129  also displays the update mark  312  next to the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) from which the entity E 11  is derived. When the user P 1  selects the form F 1  to display thumbnails of the entities, the update notifying unit  129  displays the update mark  312  at a position associated with the entity E 11 . The update mark  312  enables the user to readily know of a change in an entity (schedule of processes, etc.) in which the user is involved. For example, when item data indicating the progress status is changed from “outstanding” to “done”, the user can recognize the change in the status from the update mark  312 , and check the progress of a schedule in which the user is involved in real time. 
       FIG. 18  is a schematic diagram for explaining the relation between genres and forms. 
     As the number of forms increases, the visual recognition of information on the form list screen  270  may be degraded. Thus, in the embodiment, a “genre” is defined as a group of forms. A user can create genres, and associate a plurality of forms with one genre. In  FIG. 18 , the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces), the form F 2  (design pattern making), and a form F 3  (trial production) are associated with a genre J 1  (manufacture). In addition, the form F 1  (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces) and a form F 4  (online sales) are associated with a genre J 2  (inventory control). Like the case of the form F 1 , one form may be associated with a plurality of genres. 
       FIG. 19  is a screen diagram of the form list screen  270  when a genre is set. 
     A user can touch the genre button  158  to display a genre creation screen (not illustrated). On the genre creation screen, the user inputs a genre name, and selects forms to be associated with the genre. The association is performed by a user interface similar to the association setting screen  290  illustrated in  FIG. 14 . The genre creating and inputting unit  133  associates a genre ID with a form ID on the basis of a result of input from the user. Genres are also set for each user. The genre setting unit  229  of the server  200  sets the relation between genres and forms for each user by associating the user ID, genre IDs and form IDs with each other. 
     On the form list screen  270  of  FIG. 19 , a list of three genre names of the genre J 1  (manufacture), the genre J 2  (inventory control), and a genre J 3  (private), and “all forms” is displayed. When the user selects the genre J 1  (manufacture), a list of the forms F 1 , F 2  and F 3  associated with the genre J 1  (manufacture) is displayed in a format similar to that in  FIG. 12 . When the user selects “all forms”, a list of all the forms with which the user P 1  is associated is displayed. 
     Setting of a genre is optional. The user P 1  touches the form button  154  to display the form list screen  270 , and can then hierarchically reach information included in a plurality of entities by sequentially selecting a genre, a form, and an entity. 
     [Overview] 
     The information management system  100  has been described above on the basis of the embodiment. 
     According to the information management system  100 , a user can create a plurality of entities based on one form as a “standard”. Because entities are created from a form, information productivity is improved. A plurality of items (base item group) are provided in advance for each form, and a user can easily define the data structure of a form by selecting enabled items therefrom. Because each form is based on a base item group, a plurality of forms can have unity. A form is customized from the base item group, and an entity is produced as an individual information set from the form. 
     The quality and the quantity of information of an entity are determined on the basis of the kinds and the number of enabled items. For example, a form (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces (overall)) may include minimum enabled items such as stock numbers and a schedule, and a form (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces (on site)) may include detailed enabled items such as prices, a ratio of returned unsold products, and locations of display shelves to be reserved at arrival. In this case, a manager may check entities derived from the form (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces (overall)), and an on-site personnel may check entities derived from the form (scheduled arrival of mass-produced pieces (details)). In this manner, the amount of information necessary for each user can be adjusted on the basis of job duties and position. 
     A form creator can register members of a form. Users having access right are set for each form, which enables information necessary for each of a plurality of people involved in a project to be selected and provided. Limiting users having access rights is useful for preventing information leakage through a project. For example, in a case where a project is pursued in cooperation with an outsourcing contractor, there are information to be provided to the outsourcing contractor and information that need not be provided thereto. In this case, registration of members of a form prevents inside information of the project from being excessively leaked to the outsourcing contractor. 
     When item data of an entity is updated, an update notification is promptly transmitted to people involved in the entity. This enables the change in situation to be quickly shared by the people involved. 
     For example, assume that, when item data of an entity Ex of a project is updated, all the people involved in the project are notified of the update. In this case, most of the users may not need to know the update of the item data. Thus, if such a method is employed, the users may find the update notification bothersome and end up paying no attention to the update notification. In the embodiment, members are associated with a form, and users to notify of the update can thus be limited, which reduces wasted update notification. As a result, users are more likely to pay attention to update notification. 
     Members may be associated with a form, or a form may be available to the public. For example, an entity relating to an event planning may be created, and only involved members work on the plan. The exposure of information relating to the event may be gradually increased by increasing the members of the entity at some stage of the work and eventually disclosing the information to the public. Such a control method allows an entity to be used as a tool for advertising to the public. 
     A user can arrange forms and entities derived from forms in hierarchy by association setting of forms. For example, assume that an entity EB is associated as a related entity of an entity EA, and that an entity EC is associated as a related entity of the entity EB. In this case, the hierarchy of information, in which the entity EA is an uppermost entity, the entity EB is a middle entity, and the entity EC is a lower entity, can be defined. Because such hierarchical arrangement can be defined for each user, the user P 1 , for example, can freely arrange entities in hierarchy depending on his/her own style of information arrangement. The flexible arrangement of information in hierarchy depending on users allows information to be provided to users in a user-friendly manner. For example, this enables such workflow management as checking the entity EA and, at the same time, checking the progress of the entity EB related thereto. 
     The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and modifications thereof, and any component thereof can be modified and embodied without departing from the scope of the invention. Components described in the embodiment and modifications can be combined as appropriate to form various other embodiments. Some components may be omitted from the components presented in the embodiment and modifications. 
     [Modifications] 
     The embodiment has been described on assumed schedule management of projects relating to design of children&#39;s clothing. The information management system  100  can be widely applied to any scene involving information sharing among users relating to not only children&#39;s clothing but also software development, product promotions, sport event planning, and others. 
     In the description of the embodiment, members are associated with a form. In a modification, the member setting unit  220  may associate members with each entity, instead of each form. For example, the member setting unit  220  may associate the users P 1  and P 2  with the entity E 11  derived from the form F 1 , and associate the users P 1  and P 3  with the entity E 12  derived from the same form F 1 . Such a control method enables users having access rights to be controlled in unit of entities instead of in units of forms. 
     In the description of the embodiment, forms are available to the public. In a modification, each entity, instead of forms, may be determined to be available to the public or not to be available to the public. 
     In the description of the embodiment, association setting is performed between forms. In a modification, association setting may also be enabled between entities. 
     The entity updating unit  222  may select users to be notified of update on the basis of a key item. For example, assume that item data (for example: scheduling start date) of an entity EY including an item “stock number” being “13068” is updated. In this case, the entity updating unit  222  may detect all the entities including the stock number “13068” as key data, and set the members of these entities as users to be notified of the update. In this manner, users to be notified of update may be selected for each item instead of entity. 
     A user who updates an entity may input whether or not update notification is necessary when inputting item data. For example, assume that the user P 1  has changed item data of an item Q 1  of an entity E 16 . In this case, the output unit  124  of the user terminal  110  asks the user P 1  whether or not update notification is necessary. If the user P 1  inputs “notification necessary”, the entity updating unit  222  notifies the members of the entity E 16  to be notified of the update. If the user P 1  inputs “notification unnecessary”, the entity updating unit  222  does not notify the members of the update of the item Q 1 . Such a control method prevents frequent update notification due to minor updates. 
     When creating a form, a user may set items for notification and items not for notification. When item data is updated, the update notifying unit  212  may perform notification when item data of an item for notification is updated, and not perform notification when item data of an item not for notification is updated. According to such a control method, update notification is not performed when item data of relatively low importance is changed, which prevents frequent update notification due to unimportant updates. 
     A plurality of kinds of update notification may be set. For example, the update mark  312  may be displayed with a large size in a case of important notification, and with a small size in a case of semi-important notification. In addition, when a form is created, items for important notification, items for semi-important notification and items not for notification may be set accordingly. 
     In the description of the embodiment, association setting of forms is performed for each user. For example, even when the user P 1  has associated the form F 1  with the form F 4 , association setting of the form F 1  with the form F 4  is not performed for the user P 2 . In a modification, association setting of forms may be performed for all users. For example, when the creator of the form F 1  associates the form F 1  with the form F 4 , this association setting may be performed for all the users. 
     A plurality of key items may be present. For example, assume that two key items Q 1  and Q 2  are set. The user screen providing unit  214  may select a related entity based on an exact match of key data of the key items Q 1  and Q 2 , or based on a match of at least one of the key data. 
     The entity setting unit  218  of the server  200  may suggest to an entity creator that an entity that is rarely accessed should be deleted. For example, when an entity E 35  has not been edited or view for more than a year since it was created, the entity setting unit  218  may transmit a suggestion that the entity E 35  should be deleted to the user who created the entity E 35 . When the user agrees to delete the entity E 35 , the entity setting unit  218  deletes the entity E 35 . Such a control method enables rational deletion of unnecessary entities after a large quantity of entities are created, which facilitates prevention of accumulation of unnecessary information. 
     The form setting unit  216  may suggest deletion of a form without any entity derived therefrom. The entity setting unit  218  may suggest deletion of an entity relating to an old schedule, such as an entity relating to a schedule of more than a year ago. 
     The searching unit  226  searches for an entity on the basis of a search term input in the search region  162  on the home screen  150 . For example, when a user inputs a search term in the search region  162 , an entity with which the user is associated as a member may be detected from among entities including the search term as item data. 
     The user terminals  110  of the information management system  100  may visually display a diagram of the hierarchical relation of forms, the hierarchical relation of entities, or the relation between genres and forms as illustrated in  FIGS. 4, 5, and 18 . 
     Members of a form or an entity may be associated in units of group of users based on the attributes thereof instead of individually. For example, all the users belonging to a marketing department may be associated together with a form F 6 . In this manner, such a user attribute as “belonging to the marketing department” may be provided, and members may be set on the basis of the user attribute. According to such a control method, when a user P 5  moves out from the marketing department, the user P 5  loses access rights to entities relating to the marketing department. This control method facilitates appropriate management of access rights to each entity reflecting changes in members in departments. 
     The description of the embodiment is based on the presence of the server  200 . This is based on information sharing among a plurality of user terminals  110 . Part of the present embodiment is also applicable to personal information management instead of information management among a group. 
     For example, functions such as creation of an entity based on a form and association setting of forms may be implemented on a user terminal  110 , the user&#39;s schedule and tickler may be managed in units of entities by the user terminal  110  alone. 
     [Supplementary Note] 
     The following invention can further be derived on the basis of the embodiment. 
     B1. A server connected with a plurality of user terminals via a communication network, the server comprising: 
     a user screen providing unit for providing a user terminal with user screens capable of displaying both of a form defining a data structure and an entity being a data set created on the basis of a form; 
     an association registering unit for registering association of a second form with a first form when the second form is associated with the first form on a user screen by a user; and 
     an entity setting unit for creating an entity when a form is specified and an entity based on the specified form is created on a user screen by a user, wherein 
     when displaying a first entity created on the basis of the first form on a user screen, the user screen providing unit displays, as a related entity of the first entity, a second entity created on the basis of the second form. 
     B2. The server according to B1, wherein when a first user associates the second form with the first form, the association registering unit registers the first form, the second form, and the first user in association with each other, and 
     when displaying the first entity on a user screen of the first user, the user screen providing unit displays the second entity as a related entity of the first entity, and when displaying the first entity on a user screen of a second user that does not associate the second form with the first form, the user screen providing unit does not display the second entity as a related entity of the first entity. 
     B3. The server according to B1 or B2, wherein the entity setting unit sets a data set of an entity by receiving input of item data of one or more items included in a form, and 
     the user screen providing unit displays the second entity as a related entity of the first entity when a condition that item data of a key item in the first entity matches with item data of the key item included in the second entity is met. 
     B4. The server according to any one of B1 to B3, wherein in a case where the second form is associated with the first form unidirectionally, when displaying the first entity on a user screen, the user screen providing unit displays the second entity as a related entity of the first entity, and when displaying the second entity on a user screen, the user screen providing unit does not display the first entity as a related entity of the second entity. 
     B5. The server according to B4, wherein in a case where the second form is associated with the first form and the first form is associated with the second form, the user screen providing unit also displays the first entity as a related entity of the second entity when displaying the second entity on a user screen. 
     B6. A user terminal comprising: 
     a user screen displaying unit for displaying user screens capable of displaying both of a form defining a data structure and an entity being a data set created on the basis of a form; 
     an association inputting unit for obtaining an instruction from a user to associate a second form with a first form on a user screen; and 
     an entity creating and inputting unit for receiving an instruction to create an entity based on a form on a user screen, wherein 
     when displaying a first entity created on the basis of the first form on a user screen, the user screen displaying unit displays a second entity created on the basis of the second form associated with the first form as a related entity of the first entity. 
     B7. The user terminal according to B6, wherein when displaying the first entity on a user screen, the user screen displaying unit displays the second entity as a related entity of the first entity, and when displaying the second entity on a user screen, the user screen displaying unit does not display the first entity as a related entity of the second entity. 
     B8. An information management system comprising one or more user terminals and a server connected with each other via a communication network, wherein 
     the server includes:
         a user screen providing unit for providing a user terminal with user screens capable of displaying both of a form defining a data structure and an entity being a data set created on the basis of a form;   an association registering unit for registering, when a second form is associated with a first form on a user screen by a first user, the first user, the first form, and the second form in association with each other; and   an entity setting unit for creating an entity when a form is specified and an entity based on the specified form is created on a user screen by a user,       

     the user terminal includes:
         a user screen displaying unit for displaying user screens;   an association inputting unit for obtaining an instruction from a user to associate the second form with the first form on a user screen; and   an entity creating and inputting unit for receiving input of item data of an item provided in advance in a form and obtaining an instruction to create an entity based on a form on a user screen, and       

     when displaying the first entity on a user screen of a first user, the user screen providing unit of the server displays, as a related entity of the first entity, a second entity created on the basis of the second form associated with the first form when a condition that item data of a key item in the first entity matches with item data of the key item included in the second entity is met.