Patent Publication Number: US-2006004776-A1

Title: Digital document discussion apparatus and digital document discussion method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/022,536, filed on Dec. 20, 2001, now pending and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No.: 2001-290138, filed on Sep. 21, 2001. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a digital document discussion apparatus and a digital document discussion method for realizing the discussion of a digital document in a company or the like by a client server system, and particularly relates to a digital document discussion apparatus and a digital document discussion method allowing operations related to discussion to be promptly carried out.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital document discussion apparatus and a digital document discussion method capable of performing operations related to the discussion of a written document.  
      A according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital document discussion apparatus comprising, a discussion document storage unit which stores a digitized document in a discussion document database, an attribute information storage unit which stores attribute information on a user as an attribute information database, a template providing unit which provides a templates to a discussion requester as the user by a frame with a work process and the attribute information corresponding to the discussion document used as keys, a discussion document creation unit which creates the discussion document based on the template, and a discussion request unit which requests a discussion participant as the user to discuss the discussion document created by the discussion document creation unit.  
      Further, the template is provided to the discussion requester by the frame with the work process and the attribute information corresponding to the discussion document used as keys, and the discussion document for which a request is issued is created based on this template. Due to this, it is possible to promptly create the discussion document and to issue the request to correspond to the work process.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital document discussion method comprising, a discussion document storage step of storing a digitized discussion document in a discussion document database, an attribute information storage step of storing attribute information on a user as an attribute information database, a template providing step of providing a template to a discussion requester as the user by a frame with a work process and the attribute information corresponding to the discussion document used as keys, a discussion document creation step of creating the discussion document based on the template, a material information accumulation step of accumulating a plurality of items of material information, a discussion request step of requesting a discussion participant as the user to discuss the discussion document created in the discussion document creation step, a search step of searching material information associated with the discussion document requested in the discussion request step from the plurality of items of material information, a material information providing step of providing the material information searched in the search step to the discussion participant when discussing the discussion document.  
      Further, the template is provided to the discussion requester by the frame with the work process and the attribute information corresponding to the discussion document used as keys, and the discussion document for which a request is issued is created based on this template. Due to this, it is possible to promptly create the discussion document and to issue the request to correspond to the work process. Further, since the searched material information is provided to the discussion participant when discussing the discussion document, it is possible to save labor for searching a material necessary for a discussion and to discuss the discussion document more promptly.  
      According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital document discussion method comprising, a discussion document storage step of storing a digitized discussion document in a discussion document database, an attribute information storage step of storing attribute information on a user as an attribute information database, a template providing step of providing a template to a discussion requester as the user by a frame with a work process and the attribute information corresponding to the discussion document used as keys, a discussion document creation step of creating the discussion document based on the template, a discussion request step of requesting a discussion participant as the user to discuss the discussion document created in the discussion document creation step, a search step of searching material information designated by the discussion participant from a plurality of items of material information associated with the discussion document requested in the discussion request step, a material information providing step of providing the material information searched in the search step to the discussion participant when discussing the discussion document, and a discussion step of allowing the discussion participant to discuss the discussion document requested in the discussion request step in accordance with the work process.  
      Further, the template is provided to the discussion requester by the frame with the work process and the attribute information corresponding to the discussion document used as keys, and the discussion document for which a request is issued is created based on this template. Due to this, it is possible to promptly create the discussion document and to issue the request to correspond to the work process. Further, since material information designated by the discussion participant from a plurality of items of material information associated with the discussion document is provided to the discussion participant when discussing the discussion document, it is possible to save labor for searching a material necessary for a discussion and to discuss the discussion document more promptly.  
      Other objects and features of this invention will become understood from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is an explanatory view for the outline of this embodiment;  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a material information database  410  shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 4  shows the table structure of a user profile information database  600  shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 5  shows the table structure of a responsible user organization profile information database  610  shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram of an XML database  620  shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 7  shows one example of an XML file  700  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 8  is a flow chart for describing the operations of this embodiment;  
       FIG. 9  is a flow chart for describing an authentication processing shown in  FIG. 8 ;  
       FIG. 10  is a flow chart for describing a document creation processing shown in  FIG. 8 ;  
       FIG. 11  is a flow chart for describing a work process search processing shown in  FIG. 10 ;  
       FIG. 12  is a flow chart for describing a standard list display processing shown in  FIG. 11 ;  
       FIG. 13  is a flow chart for describing a drawing list display processing shown in  FIG. 11 ;  
       FIG. 14  is a flow chart for describing a document list display processing shown in  FIG. 11 ;  
       FIG. 15  is a flow chart for describing a work process flow change processing shown in  FIG. 11 ;  
       FIG. 16  is a flow chart for describing work process arrangement change processing shown in  FIG. 11 ;  
       FIG. 17  is a flow chart for describing a discussion request processing shown in  FIG. 8 ;  
       FIG. 18  is a flow chart for describing a discussion receive processing shown in  FIG. 8 ;  
       FIG. 19  is a flow chart for describing a standard display processing shown in  FIG. 18 ;  
       FIG. 20  is a flow chart for describing a drawing display processing shown in  FIG. 18 ;  
       FIG. 21  is a flow chart for describing a document display processing shown in  FIG. 18 ;  
       FIG. 22  is a flow chart for describing a discussion replay processing shown in  FIG. 18 ;  
       FIG. 23  is a flow chart for describing a discussion result processing shown in  FIG. 8 ;  
       FIG. 24  shows one example of an authentication screen  800  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 25  shows one example of a menu screen  810  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 26  shows a document creation screen  820  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 27  shows a discussion request screen  830  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 28  shows a discussion receive screen  840  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 29  shows a discussion result processing screen  850  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 30  shows company ID error screen  860  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 31  shows a user ID error screen  865  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 32  shows a password error screen  870  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 33  shows a work process screen  880  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 34  is an explanatory view for the work process flow change processing shown in  FIG. 15 ;  
       FIG. 35  is an explanatory view for the work process flow change processing shown in  FIG. 15 ;  
       FIG. 36  is an explanatory view for the work process arrangement change processing shown in  FIG. 16 ;  
       FIG. 37  shows an E-mail address list  900  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 38  shows a protocol file  910  in this embodiment;  
       FIG. 39  is an explanatory view for the discussion result processing shown in  FIG. 23 ;  
       FIG. 40  is a block diagram showing a modification example of this embodiment; and  
       FIG. 41  is an explanatory view for a conventional written document discussion flow. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      One embodiment of a digital document discussion apparatus and a digital document discussion method according to the present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment according to the present invention. A digital document discussion system shown in  FIG. 1  consists of discussion requester side clients  100   1  to  100   n , discussion participant side clients  300   1  to  300   m , a search server  400  and a digital document discussion apparatus  500 , which constituent elements are connected to a network  200  such as a WAN (Wide Area Network)/LAN (Local Area Network). For the sake of simple discussion,  FIG. 1  does not show communication devices (a terminal adapter, a router, a firewall and the like) necessary for network connection.  
      The discussion requester side clients  1001  to  100   n  are, for example, n computer apparatuses accessible to the digital document discussion apparatus  500  through the network  200  according to the TCI/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). Each of these discussion requester side clients  1001  to  100   n  consists of a computer main body, a display, a keyboard, a mouse and the like.  
      In addition, these discussion requester side clients  1001  to  100   n  are operated by a plurality of document discussion requesters who request discussion participants to discuss a digitized document (including all types of documents including digitized standard documents, drawings and documents), respectively. The discussion participant means herein a person who discusses a document and sends a reply of a discussion result. Further, each of the discussion requester side clients  1001  to  100   n  is provided with a mailer (not shown) and a Web browser.  
      The mailer provides a function of transmitting/receiving electronic mail through a mail server which is not shown in  FIG. 1 . This electronic mail transmission/receiving is conducted using the SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) or the POP 3 (Post Office Protocol version 3). The Web browser is a software program for viewing Web pages provided by the digital document discussion apparatus  500 .  
      The discussion participant side clients  3001  to  300   m  are m computers accessible to the digital document discussion apparatus  500  through the network  200  according to the TCI/IP. Each of these discussion participant side clients  3001  to  300   m  consists of a computer main body, a display, a keyboard, a mouse and the like.  
      In addition, these discussion participant side clients  3001  to  300   m  are operated by a plurality of discussion participants who receive the above-stated document discussion request, respectively. Further, each of these discussion participant side clients  3001  to  300   m  is provided with a mailer and a Web browser, as well.  
      The search server  400  is a server which searches various types of materials which are referred to, from a material information database  410 , when a discussion requester create a standard, a drawing, a document or the like to be discussed or when the discussion participants hold a discussion, with XML (extensible Markup Language) tags to be described later used as keys.  
      A material information database  410  stores materials having XML tags added to phrases (keywords) as XML files. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the material information database  410  stores XML files of the originals of discussion rules (standards, drawings, documents and the like), discussion results and the like as materials.  
      The digital document discussion apparatus  500  is an apparatus which provides various functions related to digital document discussions to the discussion requester side clients  1001  to  100   n  and the discussion participant side clients  3001  to  300   m  through Web screens (see FIGS.  24  to  33 ) or electronic mail.  
      In the digital document discussion apparatus  500 , a communication interface  501  controls communication between the apparatus  500  and external apparatuses through the network  200  according to the TCP/IP. A control section  502  exercises control in various manners for realizing a digital document discussion function. The operations of this control section  502  will be described later in detail.  
      A mail transmission/receiving section  503  controls mail transmission and receiving between the digital document discussion apparatus  500  and the external apparatuses. A Web screen creation section  504  automatically creates Web screens shown in FIGS.  24  to  33 , respectively.  
      Here, in this embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 2 , Rules  1  to  5  are set for each design and manufacture work process (to be referred to as “work process” hereinafter) consisting of a flow of “design process”→“manufacturing process”→“assembly”→“test process”→“site adjustment”, and a discussion document creation processing, a discussion processing and a discussion result processing are executed. The Rules  1  to  5  are specifications or standards.  
      Referring back to  FIG. 1 , a user profile information database  600  is a database which stores profile information (user ID, name, . . . , responsible standard, responsible drawing, responsible document, . . . ) on each user (discussion requester or discussion participant) of the digital document discussion apparatus  500  as shown in  FIG. 4 .  
      Referring back to  FIG. 1 , a responsible organization profile information database  610  is a database which stores responsible organization profile information (company name, headquarters name, . . . , responsible standard, responsible drawing, responsible document, . . . ) on each user (discussion requester or discussion participant) as shown in  FIG. 5 .  
      Referring back to  FIG. 1 , an XML database  620  stores XML files such as templates used to create a discussion document, the originals of discussion rules (standards, drawings, documents and the like), discussion results and the like.  
       FIG. 7  shows one example of an XML file  700  stated above. Since each user can define user-specific tags (to be referred to as “XML tags” hereinafter) using this XML, the XML is a markup language having high extension capability. In addition, the XML enables a user to view information using the Web browser and to directly pick up information from the material information database  410  and the XML database  620 .  
      Referring back to  FIG. 1 , a management information database  630  stores user management information (user ID&#39;s, company ID&#39;s, passwords, and the like).  
      Next, the operations of the embodiment stated above will be described while referring to flow charts shown in FIGS.  8  to  23 , respectively and screens (Web pages) shown in FIGS.  24  to  33 , respectively.  
      At step SA 1  shown in  FIG. 8 , the control section  502  of the digital document discussion apparatus  500  determines whether or not the apparatus  500  is accessed through the network  200  by any one of the discussion requester side clients  1001  to  100   n  and the discussion participant side clients  3001  to  300   m . If the determination result of the step SA 1  is “No”, the control section  502  repeats this determination.  
      Here, if the discussion requester side client  1001  accesses the digital document discussion apparatus  500  through the network  200 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SA 1 . At step SA 2 , the control section  502  executes an authentication processing. To be specific, at step SB 1  shown in  FIG. 9 , the control section  502  controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display an authentication screen  800  shown in  FIG. 24 .  
      This authentication screen  800  is a screen for inputting authentication information (company ID, user ID and password) necessary to authenticate an associated user (discussion requester in this case). On this authentication screen  800 , a company ID enter column  801  for inputting a company ID, a user ID enter column  802  for inputting a user ID and a password enter column  803  for inputting a password are displayed.  
      The discussion requester inputs the company ID, the user ID and the password of the requester into the company ID enter column  801 , the user ID enter column  802  and the password enter column  803 , respectively, and then depresses a log-in button (not shown).  
      Following this, at step SB 2 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the company ID inputted into the company ID enter column  801  is registered in the management information database  630 . If the determination result of the step SB 2  is “No”, the control section  502  controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display a user ID error screen  860  shown in  FIG. 30  indicating that the authentication result is a company ID error at step SB 7 .  
      On the other hand, if the determination result of the step SB 2  is “Yes”, the control section  502  determines whether or not the user ID inputted into the user ID enter column  802  is registered in the management information database  630  at step SB 3 . If the determination result of the step SB 3  is “No”, the control section  502  controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display a user ID error screen  865  shown in  FIG. 31  indicating that the authentication result is a user ID error at step SB 8 .  
      On the other hand, if the determination result of the step SB 3  is “Yes”, the control section  502  determines whether or not the password inputted in the password enter column  803  is registered in the management information database  630  at step SB 4 . If the determination result of this step SB 4  is “No”, the control section  502  controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display a password error screen  870  shown in  FIG. 32  indicating that the authentication result is a password error at step SB 9 .  
      If the determination result of the step SB 4  is “Yes”, i.e., all authentication results are OK, then the control section  502  acquires user profile information corresponding to the discussion requester from the user profile information database  600  (see  FIG. 4 ) at step SB 5 . At step SB 6 , the control section  502  acquires responsible organization profile information corresponding to the discussion requester from the responsible organization profile information database  610  (see  FIG. 5 ).  
      Referring back to  FIG. 8 , at step SA 3 , the control section  502  controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display a menu screen  810  shown in  FIG. 25 . This menu screen  810  is a screen for making the user (discussion requester or discussion participant) select one of “Document creation”, “Discussion request”, “Discussion receive” and “Discussion result processing”.  
      “Document creation”, “Discussion request” and “Discussion result processing” are selected by discussion requesters. “Document creation” is a menu for creating a document or the like (standard, drawing, document or the like) to be discussed and corresponds to a document creation button  811 . “Discussion request” is a menu for requesting the discussion of a document or the like to discussion participants from the discussion requester and corresponds to a discussion request button  812 .  
      “Discussion result processing” is a menu for executing a processing related to discussion results so as to reflect the discussion results in the document or the like and corresponds to a discussion result processing button  814 . “Discussion receive” is selected by the discussion requesters. “Discussion receive” is a menu for receiving a discussion request from the discussion requester and corresponds to a discussion receive button  813 .  
      Referring back to  FIG. 8 , at step SA 4 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the document creation button  811  shown in  FIG. 25  has been depressed. In this case, the determination result of the step SA 4  is assumed as “No”. At step SA 5 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the discussion request button  812  has been depressed. In this case, the determination result of the step SA 5  is assumed as “No”.  
      At step SA 6 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the discussion receive button  813  has been depressed. In this case, the determination result of the step SA 6  is assumed as “No”. At step SA 7 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the discussion result processing button  814  has been depressed. In this case, the determination result of the step SA 7  is assumed as “No”. At step SA 8 , the control section  502  determines whether or not an end indication has been issued. In this case, the determination result of the step SA 8  is assumed as “No”. Subsequently, the control section  502  repeats the determinations of the steps SA 4  to SA 8 .  
      Here, if the discussion requester depresses the document creation button  811 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SA 4 . At step SA 9 , the control section  502  executes a document creation processing.  
      To be specific, at step SC 1  shown in  FIG. 10 , the control section  502  controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display a document creation screen  820  shown in  FIG. 26 . This document creation screen  820  is a screen for displaying responsible work in the responsible organization profile information (see  FIG. 5 ) corresponding to the discussion requester in a responsible work display column  821  and for making the discussion requester select one of “Design process”, “Manufacturing process”, “Assembly”, “Test process” and “Site adjustment” as a work process (see  FIG. 2 ) in a work process select column  822 .  
      At step SC 2 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the work process has been selected in the work process select column  822 . In this case, the determination result of the step SC 2  is assumed as “No”. If the discussion requester selects the work process in the work process select column  822 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SC 2 .  
      At step SC 3 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the document or the like (standard, drawing, document or the like) to be discussed has been already completed, based on the input operation of the discussion requester. If the determination result of this step SC 3  is “No”, the control section  502  acquires document templates from the XML database  620  with the responsible work in the responsible organization profile information (see  FIG. 5 ) corresponding to the discussion requester used as a key at step SC 4 .  
      At step SC 5 , the control section  502  narrows down the document templates acquired in the step SC 4  with the responsible work and responsible machine type in the user profile information (see  FIG. 4 ) corresponding to the discussion requester used as keys. At step SC 6 , the control section  502  further narrows down the document templates narrowed down in the step SC 5  with the work process as a key selected in the work process select column  822  (see  FIG. 26 ) on the document creation screen  820 .  
      At step SC 7 , the control section  502  automatically selects a file type for the document to be discussed based on a preset file type priority order. At step SC 8 , the control section  502  controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to search a document creation tool corresponding to the file type selected in the step SC 7  from a plurality of document creation tools installed in the discussion requester side client  1001 .  
      At step SC 9 , the control section  502  controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to start the document creation tool searched in the step SC 8 . At step SC 10 , the control section  502  controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display the finally narrowed-down document template on the document creation tool on a frame (a screen of HTML, XML or the like).  
      As a result, the discussion requester creates a document to be discussed using the document template corresponding to the responsible work in the responsible organization profile information, the responsible work and responsible machine type in the user profile information and the work process.  
      On the other hand, if the determination result of the step SC 3  is “Yes”, the control section  502  determines whether or not a work process is displayed on the completed document at step SC 11 . If the determination result of the step SC 11  is “Yes”, the control section  502  executes a processing at step SC 13 . If the determination result of the step SC 11  is “No”, the control section  502  executes a work process search processing for searching a work process corresponding to the document at step SC 12 .  
      To be specific, at step SD 1  shown in  FIG. 11 , the control section  502  acquires user profile information corresponding to the discussion requester. At step SD 2 , the control section  502  acquires responsible organization profile information corresponding to the discussion requester. At step SD 3 , the control section  502  creates a work process pattern based on the user profile information and the responsible organization profile information, and controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display a work process screen  880  shown in  FIG. 33  based on the created work process pattern.  
      On this work process screen  880 , a responsible machine type corresponding to the user profile information and the responsible organization profile information is displayed in a responsible machine type display column  881 . In a responsible work display column  882 , responsible work corresponding to the user profile information and the responsible organization profile information is displayed. An object select column  883  is a column for selecting an object (standard, drawing or document) to be discussed.  
       FIG. 33  also shows a work flow representing a work process flow of “Design step”→“Manufacturing step”→“Assembly”→“Test step”→“Site adjustment”. A design step object list  884  is a list of objects (standards, drawings or documents) in a design step. A manufacturing step object list  885  is a list of objects (standards, drawings or documents) in a manufacturing step.  
      An assembly object list  886  is a list of objects (standards, drawings or documents) in an assembly step. A test step object list  887  is a list of objects (standards, drawings or documents) in a test step. A site adjustment object list  888  is a list of objects (standards, drawings or documents) in a site adjustment step.  
      At step SD 4 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the discussion requester has selected a standard in the object select column  883 . In this case, the determination result of the step SD 4  is assumed as “No”. At step SD 5 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the discussion requester has selected a drawing in the object select column  883 . In this case, the determination result of the step SD 4  is assumed as “No”.  
      At step SD 6 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the discussion requester has selected a document in the object select column  883 . In this case, the determination result of the step SD 6  is assumed as “No”. Subsequently, the control section  502  repeats the determinations of the steps SD 4  to SD 6 .  
      Here, if the discussion requester selects a standard in the object select column  883 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SD 4 . At step SD 7 , the control section  502  executes a standard list display processing. To be specific, at step SE 1  shown in  FIG. 12 , the control section  502  acquires responsible machine type information and responsible work information on the work process screen  880  shown in  FIG. 33 . At step SE 2 , the control section  502  displays (controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display) a work process standard list (such as the design step object list  884 ) from a matrix according to the responsible machine type and the responsible type on the work process screen  880 .  
      Further, if the discussion requester selects the drawings in the object select column  883 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SD 5 . At step SD 8 , the control section  502  executes a drawing list display processing. To be specific, at step SF 1  shown in  FIG. 13 , the control section  502  acquires responsible machine type information and responsible work information on the work process screen  880  shown in  FIG. 33 . At step SF 2 , the control section  502  displays (controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display) a work process drawing list (such as the design step object list  884 ) from a matrix according to the responsible machine type and the responsible work on the work process screen  880 .  
      Further, if the discussion requester selects the document in the object select column  883 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SD 6 . At step SD 9 , the control section  502  executes a document list display processing. To be specific, at step SG 1  shown in  FIG. 14 , the control section  502  acquires responsible machine type information and responsible work information on the work process screen  880  shown in  FIG. 13 . At step SG 2 , the control section  502  displays (controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display) a work process document list (such as the design step object list  884 ) from a matrix according to the responsible machine type and the responsible type on the work process screen  880 .  
      Referring back to  FIG. 11 , at step SD 10 , the control section  502  executes a work process arrangement change processing for changing the arrangement of the list (such as the design step object list  884 ) in the work process on the work process screen  880 .  
      To be specific, at step SI 1  shown in  FIG. 16 , the control section  502  sets a counter x at 1. At step SI 2 , the control section  502  selects a work process fx from work processes f 1  to fn shown in  FIG. 36 . The work processes f 1  to fn correspond to “Design step” to “Site adjustment” shown in  FIG. 33 , respectively.  
      At step SI 3 , the control section  502  fetches standards, drawings or documents (which are specifically the design step object list  884  or the like) referred to by the work process fx. In the example shown in  FIG. 36 , objects A, B, . . . and N (standards, drawings or documents) are referred to by the work process fx. At step SI 4 , the control section  502  rearranges the standards, drawings or documents (object list) in the order of weights (w 0 , w 1 , w 2 , . . . and wn) according to the frequency of use.  
      At step SI 5 , the control section  502  increments the counter by 1. At step SI 6 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the counter x is n. In this case, the determination result of the step SI 6  is assumed as “No”.  
      Subsequently, after the step SI 2 , the arrangement of the work process is sequentially rearranged for each of the work processes f 2  to fn. If the determination result of the step SI 6  is “Yes”, the control section  502  stores information on the standards, drawings or documents after changing the arrangement thereof for each of the work processes f 1  to fn in the XML database  620  at step SI 7 .  
      Referring back to  FIG. 11 , at step SD 11 , the control section  502  executes a work flow change processing for changing the work flow on the work process screen  880  shown in  FIG. 33 . To be specific, at step SH 1  shown in  FIG. 15 , the control section  502  acquires a work process flow (f 1 , f 2  and f 3 : see  FIG. 34 ).  FIG. 34  shows a work process flow consisting of the work processes f 1 , f 2  and f 3 . In  FIG. 34 , the number of work processes is set at three for the brevity of description.  
      At step SH 2 , the control section  502  obtains patterns each of a combination of the work processes f 1 , f 2  and f 3  as shown in  FIG. 35 . Pattern names P 0  to P 5  are allocated to the respective patterns. Next, the control section  502  counts work paths in each pattern.  FIG. 35  shows counters C 0  to C 5  as a result of counting for the respective patterns.  
      At step SH 3 , the control section  502  rearranges the work flow in a descending order of counter (in a descending order of the frequency of use). At step SH 4 , the control section  502  stores a rearrangement result in the XML database  620 .  
      Referring back to  FIG. 10 , at step SC 13 , the control section  502  reads the completed document file (standards, drawings or documents) from the discussion request side client  1001 . At step SC 14 , the control section  502  converts the document file into an XML file in accordance with the user ID, the responsible work, the responsible machine type and the responsible model. At step SC 15 , the control section  502  stores the XML file in the XML database  620 . The control section  502  also stores the XML file in the material information database  410  as a material (technical document or the like).  
      Next, description will be given to a case where a discussion requester requests discussion participants to discuss an object (standard, drawing or document). In this case, the discussion requester depresses the discussion request button  812  shown in  FIG. 25 . If the button  812  is depressed, the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SA 5  and executes a discussion request processing at step SA 10 .  
      To be specific, at step SJ 1  shown in  FIG. 17 , the control section  502  controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display a discussion request screen  830  shown in  FIG. 27 . This discussion request screen  830  is a screen for requesting discussion participants to discuss an object (standard, drawing or document) created in advance.  
      On this discussion request screen  830 , a discussion request standard designation column  831  is a column for designating a standard as an object for which a discussion request is issued. A discussion request drawing designation column  832  is a column for designating a drawing as an object for which the discussion request is issued. A discussion request document designation column  833  is a column for designating a document as an object for which the discussion request is issued.  
      At step SJ 2 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the discussion requester has designated an object for which the discussion request is issued. In this case, the determination result of the step SJ 2  is assumed as “No” and this determination is repeated. If the discussion requester designates an object, the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SJ 2 .  
      At step SJ 3 , the control section  502  acquires user file information corresponding to the discussion requester from the user profile information database  600 . At step SJ 4 , the control section  502  acquires responsible organization profile information corresponding to the discussion requester from the responsible organization profile information database  610 .  
      At step SJ 5 , the control section  502  searches departments to which a discussion is requested from the responsible organization profile information database  610 . At step SJ 6 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the responsible machine type, responsible work and responsible standard (or responsible drawing or responsible document) corresponding to the object exist in the responsible organization profile information database  610 . If the determination result of the step SJ 6  is “No”, the control section  502  conducts a determination at step SJ 8 .  
      On the other hand, if the determination result of the step SJ 6  is “Yes”, the control section  502  creates an E-mail address list  900  shown in  FIG. 37  based on company names, department names, department chief names and E-mail addresses in the responsible organization profile information database  610  (see  FIG. 5 ) at step SJ 7 . This E-mail address list  900  is a list related to parties to which the discussion of the object is requested.  
      At step SJ 8 , the control section  502  determines whether or not search of all departments has been completed. In this case, the determination result of the step SJ 8  is assumed as “No”. Subsequently, the steps SJ 5  to SJ 8  are repeatedly executed and the E-mail addresses of the respective object discussion request parties (departments) are stored in the E-mail address list  900 .  
      If the determination result of the step SJ 8  becomes “Yes”, the control section  502  issues a request to discuss the object (standard, drawing or document) to the E-mail addresses (relevant discussion participant side clients among the discussion participant side clients  3001  to  300   m ) in the E-mail address list  900  by attaching the request to each electronic mail.  
      Next, description will be given to a case where a discussion request from a discussion requester is received by a discussion participant. In this case, the discussion participant who received the above-stated mail depresses the discussion receive button  813  shown in  FIG. 25 . If the button  813  is depressed, the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SA 6  and executes a discussion receive processing at step SA 11 .  
      To be specific, at step SK 1  shown in  FIG. 18 , the control section  502  controls, for example, the discussion participant side client  3001  to display a discussion receive screen  840  shown in  FIG. 28 . This discussion receive screen  840  is a screen for receiving a discussion of an object (standard, drawing or document) requested from a discussion requester.  
      On this discussion receive screen  840 , a discussion receive standard designation column  841  is a column for designating a standard as a discussion receive target object. A discussion receive drawing designation column  842  is a column for designating a drawing as a discussion receive target object. A discussion receive document designation column  843  is a column for designating a document as a discussion receive target object.  
      At step SK 2 , the control section  502  determines whether or not a discussion receive target object has been designated on the discussion receive screen  840 . In this case, the determination result of the step SK 2  is assumed as “No” and this determination is repeated. If the discussion recipient designates an object, the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SK 2 .  
      At step SK 3 , the control section  502  acquires user profile information corresponding to the discussion participant from the user profile information database  600 . Next, the control section  502  acquires a property (user ID) from the user profile information (user profile information database  600 ).  
      At step SK 4 , the control section  502  acquires responsible organization profile information corresponding to the discussion participant from the responsible organization profile information database  610 . Next, the control section  502  acquires properties (responsible work, responsible machine type and responsible model) from the responsible organization profile information (responsible organization profile information database  610 ).  
      At step SK 5 , the control section  502  determines whether or not a standard has been designated in the discussion receive standard designation column  841  shown in  FIG. 28 . In this case, the determination result of the step SK 5  is assumed as “Yes”. At step SK 8 , the control section  502  executes a standard display processing for displaying a material (materials) related to the discussion receive target object (standard in this case) shown in  FIG. 33 .  
      To be specific, at step SL 1  shown in  FIG. 19 , the control section  502  controls the client of the corresponding discussion participant (e.g., the discussion participant side client  3001 ) to display the work process screen  880 . On this work process screen  880 , information on the object (standard in this case) for which the discussion requester has requested discussion is displayed.  
      At step SL 2 , the control section  502  determines whether or not a reference character part (a part of, for example, the design step object list  884 ) on the work process screen  880  has been clicked. Here, if the discussion participant clicks XXAAA on the design step object list  884 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SL 2 .  
      At step SL 3 , the control section  502  acquires the content (keyword) of a tag corresponding to the character part which has been clicked from the management information database  630 . That is, in the step SL 3 , a keyword is extracted from the XML file corresponding to the discussion receive target object (standard in this case).  
      At step SL 4 , the control section  502  stores the above-stated keyword in a protocol file  910  shown in  FIG. 38 . At step SL 5 , the control section  502  transmits the protocol file  910  to the search server  400 . The search server  400  searches material information including this keyword from the material information database  410 . This material information is information on a material (materials) closely associated with the object (standard in this case) and referred to when the object is discussed.  
      At step SL 6 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the digital document discussion apparatus  500  has received search result information from the search server  400 . In this case, the determination result of the step SL 6  is assumed as “No” and this determination is repeated.  
      Then, if the digital document discussion apparatus  500  has received the search result information (material information) corresponding to the keyword from the search server  400 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SL 6 . At step SL 7 , the control section  502  controls the discussion participant side client  3001  to display the search result related to the material (materials) referred to when the object (standard in this case) is discussed.  
      On the other hand, if the determination result of the step SL 2  is “No”, the control section  502  acquires a keyword for free search designated by the discussion participant at step SL 8 . Subsequently, after the step SL 4 , the processing based on the keyword is executed.  
      If the determination result of the step SK 5  shown in  FIG. 18  is “No”, the control section  502  determines whether or not the discussion participant has designated a drawing at step SK 6 . If the determination result of this step SK 6  is “Yes”, the control section  502  executes a drawing display processing for displaying a material (materials) related to the discussion receive target object (drawing in this case) at step SK 9 .  
      To be specific, at step SM 1  shown in  FIG. 20 , the control section  502  controls the client of the discussion participant (e.g., the discussion participant side client  3001 ) to display the work process screen  880 . On this work process screen  880 , information on the object (drawing in this case) for which the discussion participant has received a discussion request is displayed.  
      At step SM 2 , the control section  502  determines whether or not a reference character part on the work process screen  880  (a part of, for example, the design step object list  884 ) has been clicked. Here, if the discussion participant clicks XXAAA on the design step object list  884 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SM 2 .  
      At step SM 3 , the control section  502  acquires the content (keyword) of a tag corresponding to the character part which has been clicked from the management information database  630 . That is, in the step SM 3 , a keyword is extracted from the XML file corresponding to the discussion receive target object (drawing in this case).  
      At step SM 4 , the control section  502  stores the keyword in the protocol file  910  shown in  FIG. 38 . At step SM 5 , the control section  502  transmits the protocol file  910  to the search server  400 . The search server  400  searches material information including the keyword from the material information database  410 . This material information is information on a material (materials) closely associated with the object (drawing in this case) and referred to when the object is discussed.  
      At step SM 6 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the digital document discussion apparatus  500  has received search result information (material information) corresponding to the keyword from the search server  400 . In this case, the determination result of the step SM 6  is assumed as “No” and this determination is repeated.  
      Then, if the digital document discussion apparatus  500  has received search result information (material information) corresponding to the keyword from the search server  400 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SM 6 . At step SM 7 , the control section  502  controls the discussion participant side client  3001  to display a search result, i.e., a search result related to the material (materials) referred to when the object (drawing in this case) is discussed.  
      On the other hand, if the determination result of the step SM 2  is “No”, the control section  502  acquires a keyword for free search designated by the discussion participant at step SM 8 . Subsequently, after the step SM 4 , the control section  502  executes a processing based on the keyword.  
      Further, if the determination result of the step SK 6  shown in  FIG. 18  is “No”, i.e., the discussion participant designates a document, the control section  502  executes a document display processing for displaying a material (materials) related to the discussion receive target object (document in this case) at step SK 10 .  
      To be specific, at step SN 1  shown in  FIG. 21 , the control section  402  controls the client of the discussion participant (e.g., the discussion participant side client  3001 ) to display the work process screen  880 . On this work process screen  880 , information on the object (document in this case) for which the discussion participant has received a discussion request is displayed.  
      At step SN 2 , the control section  502  determines whether or not a reference character part on the work process screen  880  (a part of, for example, the design step object list  884 ) has been clicked. Here, if the discussion participant clicks XXAAA on the design step object list  884 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SN 2 .  
      At step SN 3 , the control section  502  acquires the content (keyword) of a tag corresponding to the character part which has been clicked from the management information database  630 . That is, in the step SN 3 , a keyword is extracted from the XML file corresponding to the discussion receive target object (document in this case).  
      At step SN 4 , the control section  502  stores the keyword in the protocol file  910  shown in  FIG. 38 . At step SN 5 , the control section  502  transmits the protocol file  910  to the search server  400 . The search server  400  searches material information including the keyword from the material information database  410 . This material information is information on a material (materials) closely associated with the object (document in this case) and referred to when the object is discussed.  
      At step SN 6 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the digital document discussion apparatus  500  has received search result information (material information) corresponding to the keyword from the search server  400 . In this case, the determination result of the step SN 6  is assumed as “No” and this determination is repeated.  
      Then, if the digital document discussion apparatus  500  has received search result information (material information) corresponding to the keyword from the search server  400 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SN 6 . At step SN 7 , the control section  502  controls the discussion participant side client  3001  to display a search result, i.e., a search result related to the material (materials) referred to when the object (document in this case) is discussed.  
      On the other hand, if the determination result of the step SN 2  is “No”, the control section  502  acquires a keyword for free search designated by the discussion participant at step SN 8 . Subsequently, after the step SN 4 , the control section  502  executes a processing based on the keyword.  
      Referring back to  FIG. 18 , at step SK 7 , the control section  502  executes a discussion reply processing for sending the discussion result of a discussion target object (standard, drawing or document) to a discussion requester. To be specific, at step SO 1  shown in  FIG. 22 , the control section  502  controls the discussion participant side client  3001  to display the page or pages (original) of an object (standard, drawing or document) for which a discussion request has been issued from the discussion requester to the discussion participant. Here, the original to be displayed is, for example, “This design and manufacturing information . . . design efficiency . . . ” described in an original row shown in  FIG. 39 ( a ).  
      At step SO 2 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the discussion of the page(s) (correction to the original or the like) has been completed. In this case, the determination result of the step SO 2  is assumed as “No” and this determination is repeated.  
      The discussion participant corrects “information” to “knowledge” (correction  1 ) in the original shown in  FIG. 39 ( a ) as shown in a correction row. It is noted that other discussion participants requested to discuss the object hold the discussion (make corrections and the like). In correction  2  shown in  FIG. 39 ( a ), “efficiency” in the original is corrected to “improvement”.  
      If the discussion participant completes with the discussion of the corresponding page, the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SO 2 . At step SO 3 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the discussion of all pages of the object has been completed. In this case, the determination result of the step SO 3  is assumed as “No”. At step SO 5 , the control section  502  controls the discussion participant side client  3001  to display the next page (original) by down-scrolling. Subsequently, the steps SO 2 , SO 3  and SO 5  are repeated and the discussion is thereby held.  
      If the determination result of the step SO 3  becomes “Yes”, at step SO 4 , the control section  502  transmits a discussion reply mail representing the content of the above-stated discussion (correction or the like) to the discussion requester (the discussion requester side client  1001  in this case). It is noted that the control section  502  also transmits the discussion reply mail to other discussion requesters.  
      Next, description will be given to a case where a discussion result (correction or the like) is reflected in the original of an object (standard, drawing or document) after the completion of the discussion. The discussion requester depresses the discussion result processing button shown in  FIG. 25 . By doing so, the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SA 7  and executes a discussion result processing at step SA 12 .  
      To be specific, at step SP 1  shown in  FIG. 23 , the control section  502  controls the discussion requester side client  1001  to display a discussion result processing screen  850  shown in  FIG. 29 . This discussion result processing screen  850  is a screen to be displayed if a discussion result (correction or the like) is reflected in the original of the object (standard, drawing or document).  
      On this discussion result processing screen  850 , a discussion result processing standard designation column  851  is a column for designating a standard as an object for which a discussion result processing is performed. A discussion result processing drawing designation column  852  is a column for designating a drawing as an object for which a discussion result processing is performed. A discussion result processing document designation column  853  is a column for designating a document as an object for which a discussion result processing is performed.  
      At step SP 2 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the discussion result processing object has been designated on the discussion result processing screen  850 . In this case, the determination result of the step SP 2  is assumed as “No” and this determination is repeated. Here, if a discussion participant has designated an object, the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SP 2 .  
      At step SP 3 , the control section  502  displays an original corresponding to the object (standard, drawing or document) in an original row on the original reflection screen  920  shown in  FIG. 39 ( a ), referring to the XML database. At step SP 4 , the control section  502  displays a correction (correction  1 : “knowledge” in this case) in a correction row to correspond to the original (“information”).  
      At step SP 5 , the control section  502  determines whether or not there is a correction from the other department. In this case, the determination result of the step SP 5  is assumed as “Yes”. In the step SP 4 , the control section  502  displays a correction (correction  2  in this case: “improvement”) in a correction row to correspond to the original (“efficiency”) in the original row. In the step SP 5 , the control section  502  determines whether or not there is a correction from the other department and the determination result of this step SP 5  is assumed as “No” in this case.  
      At step SP 6 , the control section  502  executes the above-stated work process search processing (see  FIG. 11 ). At step SP 7 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the correction parts shown in  FIG. 39 ( a ) have been clicked. If it is assumed that a discussion participant clicks “knowledge” of correction  1 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SP 7 .  
      At step SP 8 , the control section  502  reflects the “knowledge” of correction  1  in the original as shown in  FIG. 39 ( b ). At step SP 9 , the control section  502  determines whether or not the other correction part has been clicked on the original reflection screen  920  shown in  FIG. 39 ( a ). Here, if it is assumed that the discussion participant has clicked “improvement” of correction  2 , the control section  502  outputs “Yes” as the determination result of the step SP 9 .  
      In the step SP 8 , the control section  502  reflects “improvement” of correction  2  in the original as shown in  FIG. 39 ( c ). If the determination result of the step SP 9  becomes “No”, the control section  502  determines whether or not all the discussion results related to the corresponding page have been checked at step SP 10  and outputs “No” as a determination result in this case.  
      At step SP 12 , the control section  502  scrawls down the screen to display the next page. Subsequently, corrections are reflected in the original with respect to the following pages. If the determination result of the step SP 10  is “Yes”, the control section  502  stores correction results (contents of corrections, the original of the corrections and the like) in the XML database  620  while allocating XML tags to phrases (keywords), respectively at step SP 11 .  
      As stated so far, according to one embodiment, a template is provided to the discussion requester by a frame with a work process and attribute information (user profile information and responsible organization profile information) corresponding to an object (standard, drawing or document) as a discussion document used as keys, and the request target object is created based on this template. Due to this, it is possible to promptly create the discussion document and issue a discussion request to correspond to the work process.  
      Further, according to one embodiment, since a plurality of templates corresponding to a plurality of work processes forming a work flow are prepared, respectively, it is possible to select a necessary work process from the work flow and further to provide the template to the discussion requester with this work process and attribute information used as keys.  
      Also, according to one embodiment, since various items of information, in which the user&#39;s situation is reflected based on the attribute information (user profile information, responsible organization profile information) are disclosed for the information disclosure to the user, it is possible to accurately disclose information necessary for the user.  
      Moreover, according to one embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 37 , since an object request receiving party is automatically designated by the E-mail address list  900 , it is possible to request the object more promptly.  
      Further, according to one embodiment, since the requested object is allowed to be discussed by the discussion participant according to the work process, it is possible for the discussion participant to promptly discuss the object.  
      Furthermore, according to one embodiment, since material information designated by the discussion participant is searched from a plurality of items of material information associated with the requested object by the search server  400  and the searched material information is provided to the discussion participant when the object is discussed, it is possible to save labor for searching a material necessary for the discussion and to discuss the object more promptly.  
      Moreover, according to one embodiment, as described with reference to  FIG. 16 , since a plurality of items of material information are rearranged in an order of the frequency of use for each work process forming a work flow and the rearranged material information are disclosed to the discussion participant, it is possible to shorten time required for the discussion participant to designate the material.  
      Additionally, according to one embodiment, as described with reference to  FIG. 15 , since the work processes forming the work flow are rearranged in accordance with the frequency of use, it is possible to provide accurate information on the work processes to the discussion participant.  
      One embodiment according to the present invention has been described in detail so far while referring to the drawings. Concrete configuration examples should not be limited to this embodiment but design changes and the like within the scope of the invention are also included in the present invention.  
      For example, in the embodiment described above, a program for realizing the functions of the digital document discussion apparatus  500 , the discussion requester side clients  1001  to  100   n  and/or the discussion participant side clients  3001  to  300   m  may be recorded on a computer readable recording medium  200  shown in  FIG. 40  and the program recorded on this recording medium  200  may be read and executed by a computer  1000  shown in  FIG. 40 , thereby realizing the above-stated functions.  
      The computer  100  consists of a CPU  1010  executing the above-stated program, an input unit  1020  such as a keyboard, a mouse and/or the like, a ROM (Read Access Memory)  1030  storing various data, a RAM (Random Access Memory)  1040  storing operation parameters and the like, a reader  1050  reading the program from the recording medium  200 , an output unit  1060  such as a display, a printer and/or the like, and a path  1070  mutually connecting the respective constituent elements of the computer  1000 .  
      The CPU  1010  reads the program recorded on the recording medium  200  through the reader  1050  and then executes the program, thereby realizing the above-stated functions. It is noted that the recording medium  200  not only includes portable type recording mediums such as an optical disk, a floppy disk and a hard disk but also a transmission medium, such as a network, temporarily recording and holding data.  
      As stated so far, according to the present invention, a template is provided to the discussion requester by a frame with a work process and attribute information corresponding to a discussion document used as keys, and the request target discussion document is created based on this template. Due to this, it is advantageously possible to promptly create the discussion document and issue a discussion request to correspond to the work process.  
      Further, according to the present invention, since a plurality of templates corresponding to a plurality of work processes forming a work flow are prepared, respectively, it is advantageously possible to select a necessary work process from the work flow and further to provide the template to the discussion requester with this work process and attribute information used as keys.  
      Also, according to the present invention, since various items of information, in which the user&#39;s situation is reflected based on the user attribute information are disclosed for the information disclosure to the user, it is advantageously possible to accurately disclose information necessary for the user.  
      Moreover, according to the present invention, since discussion document request receiving party is automatically set, it is advantageously possible to request the discussion more promptly.  
      Further, according to the present invention, since the requested discussion document is allowed to be discussed by the discussion participant according to the work process, it is advantageously possible for the discussion participant to promptly discuss the discussion document.  
      Furthermore, according to the present invention, since material information designated by the discussion participant is searched from a plurality of items of material information associated with the requested discussion document and the searched material information is provided to the discussion participant when the object is discussed, it is advantageously possible to save labor for searching a material necessary for the discussion and to discuss the object more promptly.  
      Moreover, according to the present invention, since a plurality of items of material information are rearranged in an order of the frequency of use for each work process forming a work flow and the rearranged material information are disclosed to the discussion participant, it is advantageously possible to shorten time required for the discussion participant to designate the material.  
      Additionally, according to the present invention, since the work processes forming the work flow are rearranged in accordance with the frequency of use, it is advantageously possible to provide accurate information on the work processes to the discussion participant.  
      According to the present invention, the template is provided to the discussion requester by the frame with the work process and the attribute information corresponding to the discussion document used as keys, and the discussion document for which a request is issued is created based on this template. Due to this, it is advantageously possible to promptly create the discussion document and to issue the request to correspond to the work process. Further, since the searched material information is provided to the discussion participant when discussing the discussion document, it is advantageously possible to save labor for searching a material necessary for a discussion and to discuss the discussion document more promptly.  
      According to the present invention, the template is provided to the discussion requester by the frame with the work process and the attribute information corresponding to the discussion document used as keys, and the discussion document for which a request is issued is created based on this template. Due to this, it is advantageously possible to promptly create the discussion document and to issue the request to correspond to the work process. Further, since material information designated by the discussion participant from a plurality of items of material information associated with the discussion document is provided to the discussion participant when discussing the discussion document, it is advantageously possible to save labor for searching a material necessary for a discussion and to discuss the discussion document more promptly.  
      Although the invention has been described with respect to a specific embodiment for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying all modifications and alternative constructions that may occur to one skilled in the art which fairly fall within the basic teaching herein set forth.