Abstract:
This schedule management system can flexibly cope with an exceptional change or deletion of a part of a schedule. In registering a routine schedule, a unique number (routine number) is added to a series of such schedules. The schedule so registered is so adapted to be able to change only the content of the schedule without changing the added routine number in changing individual schedule. Therefore, an exceptional schedule the content of which has been changed can be flexibly managed by being deleted/changed in a bundle together with other routine schedule, for example. A routine basic condition such as every other day and every Monday and a routine exceptional condition such as shifting down week end and holiday to next day can be set in the routine pattern.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a schedule management system and, more particularly, to a system which allows a plurality of users to efficiently register and manage a routine, regular or periodical schedule occurring in a substantially constant condition. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     As described in PUPA 5-61876, a schedule management system is provided for inputting a repetitive or periodical schedule such as “Meeting from 10:00 to 11:00 every day for 10 days from today” and “Morning meeting from 9:00 on every Monday”. 
     However, irregular (or exceptional) factors including a partial change/deletion such as “Meeting starts at 2:00 only today” and: “Morning meeting is canceled in this week” are often brought in a periodically-occurring schedule (hereinafter referred to as a routine schedule) of this kind. Also, it may be desired to delete a registered schedule in a bundle or change the content thereof as a result of a review of a project. 
     A conventional schedule management system was unable to cope with such irregurality because the schedule is generated in the manner similar to a schedule in which a routine schedule was normally or non-exceptionally registered according to a pattern in which a routine pattern was pre registered and could not remove an irregular schedule from an object to be managed as a routine schedule or manage after input (delete or change the routine schedule in a bundle). In addition, the conventional system was unable to cope with a partial change of a pattern such as “Morning meeting starts at 10:00 in this month only”. 
     Further, when it was desired to change a routine pattern of a specific period, for example, to change a schedule which was initially registered for every Monday for one year from January 1st to every Tuesday from April to December, a later change encompassing periods of two patterns (every Wednesday from February to Nay, for example) could not be effected at one time so that the schedule had to be changed for each period (from February to March and from April to May) because the schedule was managed separately for each period (from January to March and from April to December). This invited a cumbersome operation. 
     Therefore, it is a further object of this invention to provide a schedule management system of an improved operability which flexibly cope with a routine schedule in which an exceptional change occurs. 
     It is a further object of this invention to provide a schedule management system which allows a routine schedule and a normal schedule to be grasped at the same time while intuitively recognizing the distinction therebetween. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide a schedule management system in which resources required upon execution are reduced. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In registering a routine schedule, a unique number (routine number) is added to a series of such schedules. The schedule so registered is so adapted to be able to change only the content of the schedule without changing the added routine number in changing individual schedule. Therefore, an exceptional schedule the content of which has been changed can be flexibly managed by being deleted/changed in a bundle together with other routine schedule, for example. A routine basic condition such as every other day and every Monday and a routine,exceptional condition such as shifting down week end and holiday to next day can be set in the routine pattern. 
     This invention provides, in one aspect thereof, a method of displaying schedule data on a schedule management apparatus having a display screen and an input device, said method comprising the steps of; 
     (a) receiving a user input including a schedule starting time, a schedule ending time and a condition of a day on which a schedule is set, 
     (b) generating and registering schedule data including a schedule starting time and a schedule ending time which are associated with a common routine number for each of a plurality of dates corresponding to said condition of a day on which a schedule is set, and 
     (c) displaying schedule data which is associated with said routine number distinctively from schedule data which is not associated with a routine number. 
     In the claims of this specification, a “condition of a day on which a schedule is set” is a concept including every day, a basic condition such as every day, every other day (or every n+1 days) every second Wednesday of a month (or every m-th particular week day of a month), and an exceptional condition such as “a holiday is not registered” and “a registration on a holiday is shifted up to the previous day”. 
     This invention provides, in another aspect thereof, a method of displaying schedule data on a schedule management apparatus having a display screen and an input device, said method comprising the steps of; 
     (a) displaying a schedule data input panel in response to an operator&#39;s operation instructing a schedule input, 
     (b) receiving a user input including a schedule starting time, a schedule ending time, a basic condition of a day on which a schedule is set and an exceptional condition of a day on which a schedule is set in said schedule data input panel, 
     (c) calculating a plurality of setting dates corresponding to said basic condition of a day on which a schedule is set and said exceptional condition of a day on which a schedule is set, 
     (d) generating a routine number having a common value which is allocated to each of the schedule data of said plurality of setting dates, 
     (e) generating schedule data including a schedule starting time and a schedule ending time for each of said plurality of setting dates and storing them in association with said routine number, and 
     (f) displaying schedule data which is associated with said routine number distinctively from schedule data which is not associated with a routine number. 
     This invention provides, in one aspect thereof, a method of displaying schedule data on a schedule management apparatus having a display screen and an input device, said method comprising the steps of; 
     (a) receiving a user input including a schedule starting time, a schedule ending time and a condition of a day on which a schedule is set, 
     (b) generating and registering schedule data including a schedule starting time and a schedule ending time which are associated with a common routine number for each of a plurality of dates corresponding to said condition of a day on which a schedule is set, and 
     (c) displaying schedule data which is associated with said routine number. 
     This invention provides, in one aspect thereof, a method of changing schedule data on a schedule management apparatus having a display screen and an input device, said method comprising, the steps of; 
     (a) displaying a plurality of user schedule information items including information of a schedule starting time and a schedule ending time and a condition of a day on which a schedule is set, 
     (b) detecting that one of said plurality of user schedule information items is specified, 
     (c) obtaining information of a changed period and a changed content inputted by an operator, and 
     (d) reregistering user schedule data included in said obtained changed period and associated with a routine number which is common to the routine number associated with said one user schedule information item according to the changed content. 
     This invention provides, in a further aspect thereof, a schedule management apparatus having a display screen and an input device, said apparatus comprising; 
     (a) a schedule data input panel for receiving a user input including a schedule starting time, a schedule ending time and a condition of a day on which a schedule is set, 
     (b) a routine schedule data generating part for generating and registering schedule data including a schedule starting time and a schedule ending time which are associated with a common routine number for each of a plurality of dates corresponding to said condition of a day on which a schedule is set, and 
     (c) a display part for displaying schedule data which is associated with said routine number. 
     This invention provides, in a further aspect thereof, a schedule management apparatus having a display screen and an input device, said method comprising; 
     (a) a schedule data input panel displayed in response to an operator&#39;s operation instructing a schedule input for receiving a user input including a schedule starting time, a schedule ending time, a basic condition of a day on which a schedule is set and an exceptional condition of a day on which a schedule is set in said schedule data input panel, 
     (b) a routine number generating part for generating a routine number, 
     (c) a routine schedule data generating part for calculating a plurality of setting dates corresponding to said basic condition of a day on which a schedule is set and said exceptional condition of a day on which a schedule is set, and generating schedule data including a schedule starting time and a schedule ending time for each of said plurality of setting dates, and 
     (d) a display control part for displaying schedule data which is associated with said routine number distinctively from schedule data which is not associated with a routine number. 
     This invention provides, in a further aspect thereof, a schedule management apparatus having a display screen and an input device, said method comprising; 
     (a) a display part for displaying a plurality of user schedule information items including information of a schedule starting time and a schedule ending time, 
     (b) an event detecting part for detecting that one of said plurality of user schedule information items is specified, 
     (c) a user schedule data input panel for obtaining information of a changed period and a changed content inputted by an operator, and 
     (d) a control part for reregistering user schedule data included in said obtained changed period and associated with a routine number which is common to the routine number associated with said one user schedule information item according to the changed content. 
     This invention provides, in a further aspect thereof, a storage medium storing a schedule management program for displaying schedule data on a schedule management apparatus having a display screen and an input device, said program comprising; 
     (a) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to receive a user input including a schedule starting time, a schedule ending time and a condition of a day on which a schedule is set, 
     (b) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to generate and registering schedule data including a schedule starting time and a schedule ending time which are associated with a common routine number for each of a plurality of dates corresponding to said condition of a day on which a schedule is set, and 
     (c) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to display schedule data which is associated with said routine number distinctively from schedule data which is not associated with a routine number. 
     This invention provides, in a further aspect thereof, a storage medium storing a schedule management program for displaying schedule data on a schedule management apparatus having a display screen and an input device, said program comprising; 
     (a) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to display a schedule data input panel in response to an operator&#39;s operation instructing a schedule input, 
     (b) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to receive a user input including a schedule starting time, a schedule ending time, a basic condition of a day on which a schedule is set and an exceptional condition of a day on which a schedule is set in said schedule data input panel, 
     (c) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to calculate a plurality of setting dates corresponding to said basic condition of a day on which a schedule is set and said exceptional condition of a day on which a schedule is set, 
     (d) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to generate a routine number having a common value which is allocated to each of the schedule data of said plurality of setting dates, 
     (e) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to generate schedule data including a schedule starting time and a schedule ending time for each of said plurality of setting dates and storing them in association with said routine number, and 
     (f) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to display schedule data which is associated with said routine number distinctively from schedule data which is not associated with a routine number. 
     This invention provides, in a further aspect thereof, a storage medium storing a schedule management program for displaying schedule data on a schedule management apparatus having a display screen and an input device, said program comprising; 
     (a) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to receive a user input including a schedule starting time, a schedule ending time and a condition of a day on which a schedule is set, 
     (b) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to generate and registering schedule data including a schedule starting time and a schedule ending time which are associated with a common routine number for each of a plurality of dates corresponding to said condition of a day on which a schedule is set, and 
     (c) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to display schedule data which is associated with said routine number. 
     This invention provides, in a further aspect thereof a storage medium storing a schedule management program for changing schedule data on a schedule management apparatus having a display screen and an input device, said program comprising; 
     (a) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to display a plurality of user schedule information items including information of a schedule starting time and a schedule ending time and a condition of a day on which a schedule is set, 
     (b) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to detect that one of said plurality of user schedule information items is specified, 
     (c) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to obtain information of a changed period and a changed content inputted by an operator, and 
     (d) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to reregister user schedule data included in said obtained changed period and associated with a routine number which is common to the routine number associated with said one user schedule information item according to the changed content. 
     This invention provides, in a further aspect thereof, a storage medium storing a schedule management program for changing schedule data on a schedule management apparatus having a display screen and an input device, said program comprising; 
     (a) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to display a plurality of user schedule information items including information of a schedule starting time and a schedule ending time and a condition of a day on which a schedule is set, 
     (b) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to detect that one of said plurality of user schedule information items is specified, 
     (c) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to obtain information of a deleted period inputted by an operator, and 
     (d) a program code instructing said schedule management apparatus to delete user schedule data included in said obtained deleted period and associated with a routine number which is common to the routine number associated with said one user schedule information item. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration. 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of components. 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic chart of the user management master table in the preferred embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic chart of the user schedule data table in the preferred embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic chart of the holiday management table in the preferred embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a routine schedule input procedure of this invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a procedure of changing one of routine schedules of this invention. 
     FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the procedure of changing a plurality of routine schedules of this invention. 
     FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an example of a procedure of deleting in a bundle a routine schedule of of this invention. 
     FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an example of a procedure of deleting a part of a routine schedule of this invention. 
     FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing an example of a procedure of displaying schedule data of this invention. 
     FIG. 12 is a chart showing a schedule data input panel in the preferred embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 13 is a chart showing a routine condition input panel in the preferred embodiment of this invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A. Hardware Configuration 
     FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a hardware configuration implementing the schedule management apparatus of this invention. The schedule management apparatus  100  comprises a central processing unit (CPU)  1  and a memory  4 . The CPU  1  and the memory  4  are connected to a hard disk devices  13 ,  31  as an auxiliary storage via a bus  2 . A floppy disk device  20  (or recording medium drives  26 ,  28 ,  29 ,  30  such as an MO  28  and CD-ROM  26 ,  29 ) is connected to the bus  2  through a floppy disk controller  19  (or controllers such as an IDE controller  25 , a SCSI controller  27 ). 
     A floppy disk (or recording medium such as an NO and CD-ROM) is inserted to the floppy disk device  20  (or recording medium drives  26 ,  28 ,  29 ,  30  such as an MO and CD-ROM). A computer program code which gives instructions to the CPU and the like in cooperation with an operating system to practice this invention is recorded in the floppy disk, the hard disk device  13 , and a RCM  14  and executed by being loaded in the memory  4 . The computer program code may be compressed or divided into pieces for recording in a plurality of media. 
     Further, the schedule management apparatus  100  may be a system which is provided with a user interface hardware including a pointing device  7  for inputting screen position information (a mouse, a joystick, track ball, etc.) or a keyboard  6  supporting a key input, and a displays  11 ,  12  for presenting image data to the user. A speaker  23  receives an audio signal from an audio controller  21  via an amplifier  22  for output as a voice. The schedule management apparatus  100  can communicate with other computer via a serial port  15  and a modem or a communication adapter  18  such as a token ring. 
     As such, it will be readily understood that this invention may be implemented by a conventional personal computer (PC), a workstation, a portable information terminal, a computer which is incorporated in various home electric appliances such as a television and a facsimile, or a combination thereof. It should be noted, however, that these components are given for exemplary purpose and it is not meant that all of these components are the indispensable components of this invention. Because this invention is directed to management of a schedule, components such as the serial port  15 , the communication adapter card  18 , the audio controller  21 , the amplifier  22  and the speaker  23  are not necessary. 
     While the operating system may desirably include an operating system which supports a GUI multi-windows environment as a standard such as Windows (a trademark of Microsoft Corporation), OS/2 (a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation), X-WINDOW System (a trademark of MIT) on AIX (a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation), the operating system is not limited to any specific operating system environment. 
     While FIG. 1 shows a system in a stand alone environment, this invention may be implemented in the form of a client/server system in which a client machine is LAN connected to a server machine by Ethernet or a token ring, etc., and the server machine side may be provided with a control part and various management tables to be described later while the rest of functions are disposed in the client macchine side. As such, it is a matter of choice in designing to dispose what functions in the server side and the client side, and various modifications including a combination of a plurality of machines and distribution of functions to them for practicing this invention is a concept included in the spirit of this invention. 
     B. System Configuration 
     The system configuration of this invention is now described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.  2 . In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the schedule management system comprises an input part  101 , an event detecting part  103 , a routine schedule number generating part  113 , a control part  105 , a table input/output part  106 , a display control part  107 , local data storage part  108 , a display part  109 , a schedule display window generating part  111 , a routine schedule data generating part  112 , user schedule management tables  121 ,  131 , holiday management tables  123 ,  133 , and user management master tables  125 ,  135 . 
     The input part  101  obtains a signal from a pointing device such as a mouse and converts it to event information. In the preferred embodiment of this invention, a device driver and an operating system bear this function. The event detecting part  103  interprets the content of an inputted event to determine the kind of the event. 
     The control part  105  controls the schedule display window generating part  111  and the routine schedule number generating part  113 , etc. The routine schedule number generating part  113  generates a routine schedule number which is uniquely identifiable in the user. The table input/output part  106  accesses to various tables located locally and remotely to obtain and write a content from and in the tables. The schedule data input panel generating part  104  generates an input panel for inputting a routine schedule. 
     The display control part  107  generates and changes data for display. The display part  109  converts information received from the display control part  107  and sends it to the display device. In the preferred embodiment of this invention, a device driver and an operating system bear this function. 
     The user management master tables  125 ,  135  are tables for managing the location of a server in which user&#39;s schedule information under the management of the schedule management system is resident. The user management master tables  125 ,  135  are tables which are registered in all servers existing in the schedule management system. In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the integrity of data in the user management master tables in each server is maintained by a replication (differential duplication) which is done among the servers. This technology is implemented by an RDB (relational database) on a server which is used for storing data. While many RDBs having such function are currently available, this invention is not limited to any mode of such technologies. 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic chart of the user management master table in the preferred embodiment of this invention. As shown in FIG. 3, a user name (user ID)  211 , a schedule data table server  213 , the name of section the user belongs and other user information are managed in the user management master table  210  in the preferred embodiment of this invention. The schedule data table server  213  is address information specifying a server which stores a schedule data table of each user. A code of the section to which each user belongs is managed in the name of section user belongs  215 . 
     The user schedule management tables  121 ,  131  are tables for managing schedule information of each user. FIG. 4 is a schematic chart of the user schedule data table in the preferred embodiment of this invention. The user schedule data table  250  in the preferred embodiment of this invention is managed for each user ID and a routine number  251 , the date  253 , the starting time  255 , the ending time  257 , the subject  259  are managed therein. The date, the starting time and the ending time in which the schedule occurs are stored in the date  253 , the starting time  255  and the ending time  257 , respectively. Information of the subject and the place of the schedule is also stored in the subject  259 . The routine schedule number  251  is information for determining as which routine schedule the schedule is managed. 
     The holiday management tables  123 ,  133  are tables for specifying days which are treated as a holiday. The holiday management tables  123 ,  133  are registered in all servers existing in the schedule management system in the preferred embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic chart of the holiday management table in the preferred embodiment of this invention. As shown in FIG. 6, information of dates of national holidays (month/day or year/month/day)  231 , the name of the national holiday  233 , dates of company holiday (month/day or year/month/day)  235  and the name of the company holiday  237  is managed in the holiday management table  230  in the preferred embodiment of this invention. 
     While functional blocks shown in FIG. 2 have been described in the above, they are logical functional blocks and it is not meant that each of them is implemented by an independent hardware or software. It should be understood that they can be implemented by a compound or common hardware or software. 
     C. Description of Operation 
     C-1. Schedule Input 
     FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a routine schedule input procedure in the preferred embodiment of this invention. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a schedule data input panel in the preferred embodiment of this invention. When a user for whom a schedule is to be inputted is selected and an icon instructing a schedule input is clicked by an operator, the control part  105  obtains a user name (information specifying a user such as a user ID and user index) and a specific reference date of the schedule of the user and instructs the schedule data input panel generating part  104  to generate a schedule data input panel. The display control part  107  delivers a reflection of the information generated by the schedule data input panel generating part  104  to the display part  109 . A panel  700  for inputting routine schedule data is thus displayed on the display screen. When an icon  701  instructing input of routine schedule data is clicked, the event detecting part  103  detects this and the procedure is started. 
     When the procedure is started, the schedule data input panel generating part  104  switches the content of the schedule data input panel to a content for inputting a routine schedule. The display control part  107  delivers a reflection of information switched by the schedule data input panel generating part  104  to the display part  109 . A panel for inputting routine schedule data is thus displayed in the display screen. 
     As shown in FIG. 12, the routine schedule data input panel  700  has entries of a routine period starting date  721 , a routine period ending date  722 , a starting time  723 , an ending time  725  and other items  729 - 733 . Also, a routine condition can be set up by clicking the routine pattern input tag  715 . 
     FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the panel for inputting a routine condition in the preferred embodiment of this invention. As shown in FIG. 15, 2 kinds of conditions, a basic condition such as every day, every other day (or every n+1 days), every second Wednesday of a month (or every m-th particular week day of a month), and an exceptional condition such as “a holiday is not registered” and “a registration on a holiday is shifted up to the previous day” can be set up as a routine condition. It is also possible to set up a schedule on certain week days of the 1st to the 6th weeks. 
     When input data shown in FIG. 6 is inputted and a registration icon is clicked by an operator (block  403 ), the routine schedule data generating part  112  obtains information of holidays related to the output of the routine schedule from the holiday management table  230  using the information of the routine period  217  and the routine condition  219  and calculates the date on which the routine schedule is outputted (block  405 ). 
     For example, when the routine period is from 1998/09/01 to 1998/09/17, the routine basic condition is every other day and the routine exceptional condition is “excluding Sunday, national holiday, and the 2nd and the 4th Saturdays”, a date matching the basic condition is calculated by the following equation. 
     
       
           D=SDD +2( n −1)( D&lt;FDD ) 
       
     
     where; 
     SDD is an integer which is the starting date of the period converted to the number of days from a specific reference date and FDD is an integer which is the ending date of the period converted to the number of days from a specific reference date (in the case of every x+1 days, this is calculated by D=SDD+(x+1)*(n−1) (where D&lt;FDD)). 
     In this example, the dates matching the basic condition are; 
     September 01, 03, 05, 07, 09, 11, 13, 15, and 17, 1998. The dates matching the exceptional condition during the routine period are; 
     Sunday: September 06 and 13 
     The 2nd Saturday; September 12 
     National Holiday; September 15 
     By excluding the dates matching the exceptional condition from the dates matching the basic condition, September 01, 03, 05, 07, 09, 11 and 17 are derived. 
     When the dates outputted as a routine schedule have been calculated, a routine schedule number is then generated by the routine schedule number generating part  113  (block  407 ). The routine schedule number is generated as a number which can be uniquely identified in the user. 
     The table input/output part  106  accesses to a schedule data table server of each user using the address of the schedule data table server obtained from the user management master table to write a generated routine number  251 , data of the starting time  211 , the ending time  213  and the subject  215  inputted from the input panel in the schedule data table  250  of that user for each date (blocks  409 ,  411 ). 
     A schedule display window is then regenerated to change the schedule display status (block  413 ). In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the display control part  107  sets the display attribute of the schedule data including a routine number  251  to one which is different from other schedule (attributes of color, mesh, underscore, etc.) so that it is instantly recognized as a sum schedule. 
     C-2. Change of Schedule 
     FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a procedure of changing one of group routine schedule in the preferred embodiment of this invention. When a schedule to be changed is selected by a double clicking operation and the content of the schedule is changed by an operator, the event detecting part  103  detects this and the procedure is started (blocks  451 ,  453 ). 
     Data  253 - 259  other than the routine number is changed and written in the user schedule data management table  250  (blocks  455 ,  457 ). A schedule display window is then regenerated to change the schedule display status (block  413 ). 
     FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the procedure of changing a plurality of routine schedules in the preferred embodiment of this invention. When a schedule to be changed is selected by an operator, an input panel for changing the routine schedule is displayed. When the operator changes the content of the schedule and clicks an OK button, the event detecting part  103  detects this and the procedure is started (blocks  501 ,  503 ). 
     The control part  105  first determines whether or not the inputted routine period includes the entire period of the routine schedule to be changed (block  503 ). Specifically, the control part  105  accesses to the user schedule data tables  121 ,  131  via the table input/output part  106  and searches data having a same routine schedule number as the specified routine schedule to detect the earliest and the latest dates of the currently registered routine schedule. 
     When it is determined that the inputted routine period includes the entire period of the routine schedule to be changed, all existing routine schedule data items having the same routine schedule number as the schedule selected by the operator are extracted (block  507 ). When it is determined that the inputted routine period does not include the entire period of the routine schedule to be changed, the existing routine schedule data items having the same routine schedule number as the schedule selected by the operator are extracted in a specified period (block  509 ). 
     The extracted routine schedule data are deleted (block  511 ). Information of holidays related to the output of the routine schedule is then obtained from the holiday management table  230  based on the information of the routine period  217  and the routine condition  219  in the manner similar to the procedure of “C-1. Schedule Input” and the date for which the routine schedule is outputted is calculated (block  513 ). 
     When the date which is outputted as a routine schedule is calculated, changed data is written in the schedule data table  250  with the current routine schedule number as the routine schedule number (block  515 ). In this example, the schedule of the meeting of every Tuesday 9:00 to 12:00 has been changed to a schedule of every other day 13:00 to 15:00 in a specified period. 
     When the data of the schedule data table  250  has been changed, the schedule display window is regenerated to change the schedule display status (block  521 ). Because a same routine number as the previous number is assigned even when a part or all of the routine schedule is changed in the preferred embodiment of this invention, a change or deletion in a bundle or a partial change can be done even after the change is processed. 
     C-3. Deleting Schedule 
     FIG. 9 is a, flow chart showing a procedure of deleting a routine schedule in a bundle in the preferred embodiment of this invention. When an operation requesting deletion of a routine schedule is done by an operator, the event detecting part  103  detects this and the procedure is started (blocks  551 ,  553 ). 
     In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the operation requesting deletion of a routine schedule may include depression of a delete key or clicking a delete icon of a menu while one of the routine number is selected by a pointing device. 
     The control part  105  then obtains a specified routine number (block  555 ). Thereafter, the control part  105  accesses to the schedule data management table  250  via the table input/output part  106  to delete the schedule data having that routine number (blocks  557 ,  561 ). 
     When the data of the schedule data table  250  has been changed, the schedule display window is regenerated to change the schedule display status (block  563 ). Because a same routine number as the previous number is assigned even when a part or all of the routine schedule is changed in the preferred embodiment of this invention, such deletion in a bundle can be done even after the change is processed. 
     FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing a procedure of deleting a part of a routine schedule in the preferred embodiment of this invention. When an operation requesting deletion of a part of a routine schedule is done by an operator, the event detecting part  103  detects this and the procedure is started (blocks  601 ,  603 ). 
     In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the operation requesting deletion of a part of a routine schedule may include depression of a delete key or clicking a delete icon of a menu while one of the routine number is selected by a pointing device. 
     In response to this operation, the control part  105  accesses to the schedule data management table  250  via the table input/output part  106  to delete the routine schedule data (blocks  605 ,  607 ). 
     When the data of the schedule data table  250  has been changed, the schedule display window is regenerated to change the schedule display status (block  609 ). 
     C-4. Display Schedule 
     FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the schedule display procedure in the preferred embodiment of this invention. When an operator selects a schedule to be displayed and instructs to display the content of the schedule, the event detecting part  103  detects this and the procedure is started (blocks  651 ,  653 ). 
     The control part  105  accesses to the user schedule data management table  250  via the table input/output part  106  to obtain the schedule data of interest and save it in the local data storage part  108  (block  655 ). The local data storage part  108  is then accessed to determine whether or not a routine schedule number is associated with the schedule to be changed (block  659 ). When a routine schedule number is not associated with the schedule to be changed, the normal schedule is displayed in a normal manner (block  663 ). When a routine schedule number is associated with the schedule to be changed, the schedule is displayed in a manner different from a normal schedule so that it may be recognized as a routine schedule (block  661 ). 
     As described in the above, this invention can flexibly cope with a routine schedule in which a change or deletion of the entire or a part of a schedule occurs without forcing a cumbersome operation to the operator. 
     Above we have described an embodiment of our invention. A number of modifications and improvements can be made in this embodiment by those skilled in the art. Therefore, it should be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to this described embodiment but encompassesx the spirit and scope of the appended claims.