Patent ID: 7188126

Claim:
An electronic document management method in which an electronic document file is kept in a host server, the electronic document file being copied onto a plurality of subordinate servers so that clients look up or change the electronic document file in each subordinate server, the method comprising: creating an event notice list for electronic document files kept in a subordinate server, the event notice list being a list of electronic document files having a high frequency of use, and copying the event notice list onto the host server so that the host server keeps the event notice list on a subordinate-server-by-subordinate-server basis, wherein the subordinate server creates a log when a client looks up or changes an electronic document file, and at a predetermined timing, accumulates look-up number of times and updating number of times from the log, if the accumulated look-up number of times exceeds a predetermined number of times, the subordinate server creates the event notice list for copying onto the host server; when a change of an electronic document file takes place in a certain subordinate server, copying the changed electronic document file onto the host server, making a check of whether the changed electronic document file is present or not on event notice lists of other subordinate servers kept by the host server, and only when the changed electronic document file is present, notifying a change event to the other subordinate servers to store the change event on a change history list; and when the subordinate server receives a request for looking up an electronic document file, and if the requested electronic document file is present on the change history list, copying a corresponding electronic document file from the host server such that a requester is allowed to look up the electronic document file.