JP2995718B2 - Document history management device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document history management device for managing an update history of a document created using a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, computers have been increasingly used to collaboratively create or review documents such as software specifications, manuals, and computer programs. When collaboratively creating a document in this way, it is necessary to know where another person has modified the document.

As a conventional document history management apparatus used for such a purpose, for example, software-practice &
Experience, 15, 7 (July 1985) pp. 637-654 RCS-System for History Management (RC
SA System for Version Co
ntrol, Software-Practice & E
xperience 15,7 (Jully 198
5), 637-654).

As shown in FIG. 6, the conventional document history management device includes an input unit 31, a document history management unit 32, a document extraction unit 33, and a difference creation unit 34. Input unit 31
, A document identifier for identifying a document, a pre-update version identifier for identifying a pre-update version, and a reference version identifier for identifying a version to be referenced are input by a user operation. The document history management unit 32 associates a document identifier with a document identified by the document identifier, and associates and manages a document version with a version identifier identifying the version. The document extraction unit 33, among the versions of the document identified by the document identifier input to the input unit 31, the pre-update version identified by the pre-update version identifier and the reference version identified by the reference version identifier, Document history management unit 3
Extract from 2. The difference creation unit 34 creates update difference information for updating the pre-update version extracted by the document extraction unit 33 to a reference version.

In such a conventional document history management device, first, a user, that is, a document referrer, pre-update version identifier of a pre-update version to obtain a difference, a reference version identifier of a reference version, and a reference version identifier of these documents. The document identifier is input to the input unit 31. At this time, a file name or the like is used as a document identifier, and a version number of each version is used as a pre-update version identifier or a reference version identifier. Thereby, the document extracting unit 33
Of the document version identified by the document identifier input to the input unit 31, the pre-update version identified by the pre-update version identifier, and the reference version identified by the reference version identifier, Extract from 32. As a result, the difference creation unit 34
3. The pre-update version extracted in step 3 is compared with the reference version, and update difference information that is a difference between the pre-update version and the reference version is created.

[0006]

However, in the above-described conventional configuration, the difference when the version is updated by the difference creating unit 34 is extracted, so that the difference occupied by the single update in the updated version is determined. Although it is easy to find, when one or more updates are made thereafter, it is not easy to find the position where the difference due to the first update occupies in the version after the second update. there were.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a document history management device capable of indicating a position where a difference caused by an arbitrary update is occupied in a version after an arbitrary update. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of versions generated in a process of updating a document are provided.
A first pre-update version that matches the search condition specified by the user, and a version before being updated to the first pre-update version by one or more updates that match the search condition specified by the user Is characterized in that a difference from the second pre-update version is represented in a reference version specified by the user.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document history management unit for managing a plurality of versions generated in a process of updating a document by associating the attributes of each version with each other. A first pre-update version that matches the instructed search condition and a version before being updated to the first pre-update version by one or more updates that match the search condition instructed by the user; The pre-update version search unit extracts the pre-update version 2 from the document history management unit, and the second pre-update version and the first pre-update version in the first pre-update version extracted by the pre-update version search unit. An update mark area creating unit for creating a first mark area representing a difference from the version before update of the plurality of versions; A reference version extraction unit that extracts a reference version from the document history management unit; and a reference version extraction unit that extracts the reference version extracted by the reference version extraction unit based on the first mark area created by the update mark area creation unit. And a mark area updating unit that creates a second mark area representing a difference between the pre-update version 2 and the first pre-update version, and a part indicated by the second mark area created by the mark area updating unit. And a mark area emphasis output section that outputs the reference version by emphasizing the reference version.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of versions generated in a process of updating a document, attributes of each version, and a first mark area which is a mark attached to the version in each version are related. A document history management unit to be attached and managed, a first pre-update version that matches a search condition specified by a user among the plurality of versions, and the first mark corresponding to the first pre-update version A pre-update version search unit that extracts an area from the document history management unit; a reference version extraction unit that extracts a reference version specified by a user among the plurality of versions from the document history management unit; The reference version extracted by the reference version extraction unit based on the first mark area extracted by the previous version search unit A mark area updating unit for creating a second mark area representing the location of the first mark area in the first mark area; and a reference mark indicating a portion indicated by the second mark area created by the mark area updating unit. And a mark area emphasis output section that outputs

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, of a plurality of versions generated in the process of updating a document, a first pre-update version that matches a search condition specified by a user and a version specified by the user. The difference from the second pre-update version, which is the version before being updated to the first pre-update version by one or more updates that match the search condition, is indicated in the reference version specified by the user. .

In the invention according to claim 2, the document history management unit manages a plurality of versions generated in the process of updating the document in association with attributes of each version. The pre-update version search unit includes a first pre-update version that matches a search condition specified by a user among a plurality of versions, and a first pre-update version that matches one or more updates that match a search condition specified by a user. A second pre-update version, which is a version before being updated to the pre-update version, is extracted from the document history management unit. The update mark area creation unit,
A first mark area representing a difference between the second pre-update version and the first pre-update version in the first pre-update version extracted by the pre-update version search unit is created. The reference version extraction unit extracts, from the document history management unit, a reference version designated by the user among the plurality of versions. The mark area updating unit is configured to compare a second pre-update version and a first pre-update version in the reference version extracted by the reference version extracting unit based on the first mark area created by the update mark area creating unit. A second mark area representing the difference is created. The mark area emphasizing output section outputs a reference version by emphasizing a portion indicated by the second mark area created by the mark area updating section.

[0013] In the third aspect of the present invention, the document history management unit includes a plurality of versions generated in the process of updating the document, attributes of each version, and a first mark indicating the version. Is managed in association with the mark area. The pre-update version search unit stores a first pre-update version that matches a search condition specified by a user among a plurality of versions, and a first mark area corresponding to the first pre-update version in a document. Extracted from the history management unit. The reference version extraction unit extracts, from the document history management unit, a reference version designated by the user among the plurality of versions. The mark area updating unit is configured to, based on the first mark area extracted by the pre-update version search unit, generate a second mark area representing the location of the first mark area in the reference version extracted by the reference version extracting unit. create. The mark area emphasizing output section outputs a reference version by emphasizing a portion indicated by the second mark area created by the mark area updating section.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a document history management device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The document history management device includes a search condition input unit 1, a document history management unit 2, and a pre-update version search unit. 3, a reference version extraction unit 4, and a mark area update unit 5. The mark area update unit 5 includes an update mark area creation unit 6, a mark area update unit 7, a mark area enhancement output unit 8, It has. Search condition input section 1
Includes a document identifier for identifying a document (hereinafter, the document identifier is referred to as a file name for simplicity) by a user operation,
A version identifier that identifies the version of the document identified by the file name (hereinafter, the version identifier is referred to as a version number for simplicity), a reference version number indicating the version to be referred to, and an updater name for searching for the version And a pre-update version search condition including an update date and time, an update purpose, and the like. The document history management unit 2 manages one set of a document version having a file name, a version number, and a version attribute including an updater name, an update date, an update purpose, and the like. Based on the file name input to the search condition input unit 1 and the pre-update version search condition, the pre-update version search unit 3 determines the first pre-update version that matches the search condition and the first pre-update version in one update. A second pre-update version before the pre-update version is extracted from the document history management unit 2. The reference version extraction unit 4 extracts a corresponding reference version from the document history management unit 2 based on the file name and the reference version number input to the search condition input unit 1. The update mark area creation unit 6 is a first mark that is a position in the first pre-update version of a difference between the first pre-update version and the second pre-update version extracted by the pre-update version search unit 3. Create an area. The mark area updating unit 7 creates a second mark area where the first mark area created by the update mark area creating unit 6 occupies in the reference version extracted by the reference version extracting unit 4. That is, the mark area update unit 7 occupies a difference between the second pre-update version extracted by the pre-update version search unit 3 and the first pre-update version in the reference version extracted by the reference version extraction unit 4. A second mark area to be a position is created. The mark area emphasis output unit 8 emphasizes the second mark area created by the mark area update unit 7 by inversion, underlining, coloring, or the like in the reference version extracted by the reference version extraction unit 4. Output to a display, printer, file, etc.

Next, the operation of the document history management device will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the user, that is, the document referrer, wants to refer to the file name “TEXT” of the document T and the pre-update version search condition “updater = Suzuki & update date> ==” to search for the first pre-update version of the document T. January 1, 1992 "
The reference version number of the reference version of the document T (for example, the version number “38” of the latest version), which is the version for confirming the update location of the version before the update, is input to the search condition input unit 1. (Step S1). Next, the pre-update version search unit 3
The first pre-update version of the document T that matches the pre-update version search condition (version numbers “19, 20, 24,
31, 36 ") and the second pre-update version (version number" 18, 19, 23, 30, 35 ") before being updated once to become the first pre-update version. (Step S2) Next, the reference version extraction unit 4 extracts the reference version of the reference version number "38" of the file name "TEXT" from the document history management unit 2.
(Step S3). Next, the update mark area creation unit 6 determines whether or not there is a pair of the first pre-update version extracted by the pre-update version search unit 3 and the corresponding second pre-update version (step). S4) If one exists, take out one of the set, and determine the difference between the first pre-update version (eg, version number = 24) and the second pre-update version (eg, version number = 23) before the first update. The first mark area occupying the position within the version (“the deleted part after the fifth line, 10
Lines to 19 are added (“S”) (step S)
5). Note that, in FIG. 3, a mesh portion and an arrow portion on the left side indicate changed portions in the first pre-update version.
Next, the mark area updating unit 7 outputs information on the location of the change from the first pre-update version (version number = 24) to the reference version (version number = 38) (“4 lines added after the 3rd line, 12th line Change the 14th line to 6 lines ")
Is created using a command for creating a difference between two files such as diff (step S6), and the first mark area created by the update mark area creating unit 6 is updated using the information on the changed location. Then, a second mark area ("the deleted portion after the ninth line, the added portion from the 14th to 15th lines, and the added portion from the 22nd to 26th lines") is created (step S7). In FIG. 3, the mesh on the right side and the arrow indicate the update location of the first pre-update version in the reference version. The above operations from step S4 to step S7 are repeated one by one as long as a pair of the first pre-update version and the corresponding second pre-update version exists. The region emphasis output unit 8 displays the reference version (version number = 38) of the document T on the screen, and for all the second mark regions created by the mark region update unit 7,
For the deleted portion, a mark "→" is inserted between the deleted lines, and if a line is added, the range of the added line is highlighted (step S8), and this routine ends.

As described above, even if the document is updated an arbitrary number of times, the second mark area, which is the positional information that the updated portion occupies in an arbitrary version thereafter, can be created. Therefore, since the update position by another person can be easily confirmed, the user can create his / her own document based on the update of the other person. Also, by examining the updated portion of the document for each co-author in the latest version, it is possible to confirm the scope and amount of work for each co-author.

[0017] In addition, by extracting a version that has not been referred by the referrer according to the pre-update version search condition, it is possible to easily identify a portion that has been updated since the referrer referred to the document last time. Also, by giving the attribute of the version, such as the name of the person who updated the version stored in the document history management unit 2 and the comment at the time of updating, to the second mark area, the format and color of emphasis can be changed for each updater. As a result, the updater of the update location can be easily specified, or the update intention can be notified to another person, which can be used for collaborative editing work.

The document history management unit 2 attaches a version number to a file name like VMS (TEXT: 1,
TEXT: 2, TEXT: 38) Even if managed, SC
It may be managed by the difference between the initial version and each version like CS, or may be managed by the difference between the latest version and each version like RCS. In the first embodiment, the update position is set in units of lines. However, instead of diff that points out differences between two files in units of lines, differences in two files are pointed out in units of characters or paragraphs. A program may be used to indicate the update location in character units or paragraph units.

Further, in the first embodiment, an example has been described in which the second pre-update version is a version before being updated to the first pre-update version by one update. May be a version before being updated to the first pre-update version by two or more updates that match the search condition specified by the user. (Embodiment 2) FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a document history management device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. This document history management device includes a search condition input unit 11, a document history management unit 12, and a pre-update version search unit. 13, a reference version extraction unit 14, and a mark area update unit 15. The mark area update unit 15 includes a mark area update unit 17 and a mark area enhancement output unit 18. The search condition input unit 11 includes a document identifier for identifying a document (hereinafter, the document identifier is referred to as a file name for simplicity) and a version identifier (for the sake of simplicity) identifying a version of the document identified by the file name. In the following, the version identifier is referred to as a version number for simplicity), and a reference version number indicating a version to be referred to, and a pre-update version search condition including an updater name for searching the version, an update date and time, and an update purpose. Is entered. The document history management unit 12
A plurality of pairs of a version obtained in the process of updating the document with the file name, a version number, and a version attribute including a first mark area assigned to the version, an updater name, an update date, an update purpose, and the like are managed. I do. The pre-update version search unit 13 is configured to perform a search based on the file name input to the search condition input unit 11 and the pre-update version search condition.
A first pre-update version that matches the search condition and a first mark area included in the version attribute are extracted from the document history management unit 2. The reference version extraction unit 14 extracts a corresponding reference version from the document history management unit 12 based on the file name and the reference version number input to the search condition input unit 11. Mark area updating unit 17
Is the first version searched by the pre-update version search unit 13.
A second mark area is created in which the first mark area of the pre-update version is occupied in the reference version extracted by the reference version extraction unit 14. The mark area emphasis output section 18 outputs the mark area update section 17 in the reference version extracted by the reference version extraction section 14.
Is emphasized by inversion, underlining, coloring, or the like, and output to a display, a printer, a file, or the like.

The operation of the document history management device will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the user, that is, the document referrer, wants to refer to the file name “TEXT” of the document T and the pre-update version search condition “updater = Suzuki & update date> ==” to search for the first pre-update version of the document T. January 1, 1992 "and the reference version number of the reference version of the document T, which is the version for confirming the mark area of the first pre-update version (for example, the version number" 38 of the latest version "). ") Is input to the search condition input unit 11 (step S11). Next, the pre-update version search unit 13
The first pre-update version of the document T that matches the pre-update version search condition (version numbers “19, 20, 24,
31, 36 ") and the first corresponding to these versions
Are extracted from the document history management unit 12 (step S12). Next, the reference version extraction unit 14 extracts the reference version of the reference version number “38” of the file name “TEXT” from the document history management unit 12 (Step S13). Furthermore, the version search unit 13 before updating
Determines whether there is a pair of the first pre-update version searched in step S12 and the corresponding first mark area (step S14), and if so, retrieves one of the pair, From the pre-update version (version number = 24) to the reference version (version number = 3)
8) Information of the changed part (“4 lines added after the 3rd line, 1
Change the second to fourteenth lines to the contents of six lines ") using a command, such as diff, for creating a difference between the two files (step S15). Further, the mark area updating unit 17 performs step S15. The first mark area ("the fifth to seventh lines and the tenth to nineteenth lines are additional parts") is updated using the information of the changed part created in step (2), and the second mark area ("line 9 to line 9") is updated. (Steps S16 to S16). The operations from step S14 to step S16 are the same as those of the first pre-update version. While the corresponding pair with the first mark area exists, the set is repeated one by one. When the pair no longer exists, the mark area emphasis output unit 8 displays the reference version (version number = 38) of the document T on the screen. Display,
With respect to all the second mark areas created by the mark area updating unit 7, the designated line range is highlighted (step S17), and this routine ends.

As described above, by specifying the update position that the updater considers particularly important in the mark area, not only the update position but also a special update position can be pointed out.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, of a plurality of versions generated in the process of updating a document, a first pre-update version that matches a search condition specified by a user; The user specifies the difference from the second pre-update version, which is the version before being updated to the first pre-update version by one or more updates that match the search condition specified by the user. Since the configuration is expressed in the reference version, the difference occupied by the arbitrary number of updates can be designated as the position occupied in the version after the arbitrary number of subsequent updates. In other words, it is possible to emphasize the position of the update location of the past version in any subsequent version and indicate it to the document reference person, and it is possible to save the trouble of confirming the update position of the document. . In addition, by placing a mark as a mark area in an arbitrary version, the mark can be tracked even if updating is performed an arbitrary number of times thereafter. In addition, by referring to updated parts and landmarks that meet various conditions, even when creating and drafting a huge amount of documents jointly, it is possible to make your own document based on others and your changed parts and landmarks. It can be a reference for creation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a document history management device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the document history management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an output state of the document history management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a document history management device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the document history management device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a conventional document history management device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Document history management unit 3 Pre-update version search unit 4 Reference version extraction unit 5 Mark area update unit 6 Update mark area creation unit 7 Mark area update unit 8 Mark area highlight output unit 12 Document history management unit 13 Pre-update version search unit 14 Reference version extraction unit 15 Mark area update unit 17 Mark area update unit 18 Mark area enhancement output unit

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first pre-update version that matches a search condition specified by a user among a plurality of versions generated in a process of updating a document and a search condition specified by a user A configuration in which a difference from a second pre-update version, which is a version before being updated to the first pre-update version by one or more updates, is represented in a reference version specified by a user. Characteristic document history management device. 2. A document history management unit for managing a plurality of versions generated in a process of updating a document in association with attributes of each version, and a search condition designated by a user among the plurality of versions. And a second pre-update version that is a version before being updated to the first pre-update version by one or more updates that match a search condition specified by the user. And a second pre-update version and a first pre-update version in the first pre-update version extracted by the pre-update version search section. An update mark area creating unit that creates a first mark area representing a difference between the reference version and a reference version designated by a user among the plurality of versions. A reference version extraction unit that extracts from the document history management unit; and a second update in the reference version extracted by the reference version extraction unit based on the first mark area created by the update mark area creation unit A mark area updating unit that creates a second mark area representing a difference between the previous version and the first pre-update version; and a part indicated by the second mark area created by the mark area updating unit. And a mark area emphasis output section for outputting the reference version. 3. A document which manages a plurality of versions generated in a process of updating a document by associating a plurality of versions, attributes of each version, and a first mark area which is a mark attached to the version in each version. A history management unit; a first pre-update version that matches a search condition specified by a user among the plurality of versions;
A pre-update version search unit that extracts the first mark area corresponding to the pre-update version of the document from the document history management unit; and a reference version designated by a user among the plurality of versions to the document history management unit. A reference version extracting unit that extracts the first mark area from the reference version extracted by the reference version extracting unit based on the first mark area extracted by the pre-update version searching unit. A mark area updating section for creating a second mark area; and a mark area highlighting output section for enhancing the portion indicated by the second mark area created by the mark area updating section and outputting the reference version. A document history management device.