JP3358641B2 - Information processing system and information processing method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an order of a plurality of work processes, a work content of each work process, and each work for a work (referred to as a workflow) composed of a plurality of work processes that cooperate with each other through information. The present invention relates to an information processing system and an information processing method for supporting a work process, such as determining a person in charge of a process and transferring information between work processes. In particular, the invention relates to the degree of urgency of the work process to be communicated to a person in charge of each work process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, so-called office automation using a computer has been proposed in order to improve work efficiency of business processing. However, conventionally, only individual work processing itself in business processing has been automated. In other words, the coordination between tasks has not been considered in conventional office automation.

[0003] Workflow automation has been proposed as an attempt to automate the coordination part between works to achieve total efficiency and speed of work processing. In workflow automation, a plurality of work processes that cooperate with each other through information to be worked as a medium are called a workflow, and an information processing system as a support system for automating the workflow is called a workflow system.

[0004] In a processing environment such as a networked distributed processing environment, for example, a workflow system transfers information between persons in charge of a plurality of work processes in a business process, and performs processing from receiving the information to passing it to the next work process. This is an information processing system that manages business processing by designing and defining in advance the work to be processed and the like.

[0005] This workflow system has the following processing functions. Editing function for defining the flow of work processing, work content of each work process, and rules (promises) in each work process Template function for managing defined workflows (hereinafter, defined workflows are referred to as templates) Notification function that informs the person in charge that required information has been delivered Database function that manages delivered information Routing function that passes information to the next work process according to the set work flow, rules, etc. To manage the work status Progress management function A system management function for maintaining the running workflow.

[0006] The outline of this workflow system is described in Literature 1: Nikkei BP Magazine "Nikkei Information Strategy"
August 1993, Michael D. Kern, Contributed by Makoto Yasuda, "Workflow Management Technology and Its Possibilities," P123-
P130.

In the above-described workflow, the importance of notifying the person in charge of each work process (hereinafter, the work process is referred to as a step) of the urgency of the work (work process) is described in the magazine. As it has already been recognized.

[0008] Regarding the transmission of the degree of urgency, in the electronic mail system, the transmitting side adds the degree of urgency and priority to the mail, and the receiving side accordingly stores the mail information in the mailbox. Among them, a proposal has been made to change the display pattern of the corresponding mail to make it easier to identify the difference in importance (Reference 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-312749). However, the traditional way of communicating urgency to
The urgency does not change after the other party receives it,
It is fixed.

[0009]

Here, the urgency in the workflow system will be specifically considered.
Deadline information on the degree of urgency, for example, even if there is no change in the scheduled end date of the work assigned to the person in charge of the step, the urgency of the work will inevitably increase as the scheduled end date approaches as time passes It is.

[0010] The administrator of the workflow system may
If you make a change to advance the scheduled end date as the originally set deadline information, the interval from the current date to the scheduled end date will be shorter, so the urgency will be higher than the original urgency, and conversely When the scheduled date is postponed, the interval between the current date and the scheduled end date becomes longer, and the urgency is lower than the original urgency.

However, as described above, in the conventional method of transmitting the urgency, the urgency once set is fixed, and the urgency can be changed as the scheduled end date approaches. Did not. For this reason, there is a problem that it is not possible to cope with a change in the degree of urgency over time.

Further, according to the conventional method of transmitting the urgency, when the urgency is notified before the scheduled end date is changed,
If the scheduled end date is subsequently changed by the workflow system administrator, the urgency at the time of receiving the notification is fixed and does not change, so the person in charge must keep the wrong urgency information in mind. There is a problem to proceed with the work. In other words, the conventional transmission of the degree of urgency cannot cope with a change in the degree of urgency accompanying a change in the situation.

In view of the above points, the present invention provides an information processing system capable of changing the degree of urgency and notifying a worker in response to elapse of time or a change in situation. With the goal.

[0014]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an information processing system according to the present invention, when corresponding to reference numerals in the embodiments described later, performs operations to be processed in order by a plurality of operation steps. In the information processing system that supports the work, the order of the plurality of work processes, the processing content of each work process, and the person in charge of each work process are determined. a working process identification information for identifying a time limit information about deadlines relating to the processing performed by the work process, a person identification information for identifying the person to execute the processing of each operation step, pre
A first holding unit (4) for holding in the first storage unit in correspondence with the plurality of work steps of the work to be processed in order.
4) receiving the change input of the term information and
A change means (47) for changing the term information held in the storage unit of the first storage unit and a task corresponding to the work to be processed in order.
A second storage unit (45) for storing, in a second storage unit, a determination criterion for determining the degree of urgency regarding the processing in the work process, and a person in charge specifying the person in charge and Requesting means (52) for requesting creation of information including the degree of urgency regarding the work process to be processed; and requesting means (52)
In response to a request from the first storage unit,
Work steps to be processed by the person specified by the request
And the determination held in the second storage unit
The person in charge should take action based on the standards and current calendar information.
Emergency level determination means for determining the urgency of each can work process (56)
In response to a request from the requesting means (52) ,
The work process identification information of the work process to be processed, and the work process identification information for each work process obtained by the urgency determination means (56) .
List information including information to be displayed in association with the degree of urgency ,
A list information generation means for generating per the specified person (56), and output means for outputting visualized against personnel that the identified said list information created by the list information creation means (56), It is characterized by having.

[0015]

In the information processing system having the above structure, when a requester specifies a person in charge and a request to create information including an urgency level relating to a work process to be performed by the person in charge is made, the list creating means In response to the request from the requesting means, a list of information including the work process identification information, the term information, and the urgency determined by the urgency determining means is attached to the person in charge identified by the requesting means. Created. Then, the output unit visualizes and outputs the created information list to the person in charge specified by the request unit.

Therefore, every time a request is generated by the requesting means, the degree of urgency is transmitted to the person specified by the requesting means. At this time, the term information of the work process to be processed by each person may be appropriately changed by the changing unit, but the urgency determining unit judges the degree of urgency using the changed term information. . Therefore, it is possible to transmit the urgency corresponding to the change in the situation.

In the urgency determining means, the criterion held in the second holding means, the information on the work process to be processed by each person held in the first holding means, and the current calendar Based on the information, the urgency of the work process is obtained. Accordingly, the degree of urgency determined by the degree of urgency determination means changes as time passes and the present time changes.
In other words, the degree of urgency appropriately changing with the passage of time is obtained, and is transmitted to the person in charge in response to the occurrence of a request from the requesting means.

[0018]

An embodiment of an information processing system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of the entire information processing system of this example, and shows its functions as blocks. This information processing system has the configuration of the workflow system described above, and is based on a so-called server / client model.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the server side manages the transition of the work process according to the workflow data and the transfer of information to the person in charge of the work process (user), and the system unit 10 for supporting the work process. The client side is a user interface unit 20 that provides a work environment for supporting a person in charge of each work process (hereinafter, the work process is referred to as a step).

The system unit 10 is configured as, for example, a server device having a built-in file management device. Also,
The user interface unit 20 can be constituted by, for example, an information processing terminal device such as a workstation, and can display a work environment of each work process on a display thereof. Operation input for notification to the unit 10 is performed.

The user interface section 20 can be configured so that a plurality of persons share a common one, but in this example, it is provided for each person in charge. The system unit 10 and the user interface unit 20 are connected by a communication means such as a LAN (local area network) 30 to construct a distributed processing environment.

It should be noted that the system unit 10 and the user interface unit 20 can be configured in the same device.

The system unit 10 includes a template management function unit 11, a routing function unit 12, a notification management function unit 13, a progress information management function unit 14, a user management function unit 15, a reference information management function unit 16, , A system management function unit 17. User interface unit 2
0 indicates an editing unit 21, a notification unit 22, and a progress management unit 23
And an interface control unit 24.

Editing unit 2 of user interface unit 20
In step 1, a template or a workflow to be executed (hereinafter, this workflow to be executed is referred to as an execution flow) is edited in accordance with a user's operation input.

The notification unit 22 receives a notification from the system unit 10 to notify the user, and sends an instruction or a notification to the system unit 10 in response to a user's operation instruction. Further, the progress management unit 23 includes the user interface unit 20.
Manages the work transition status in.

The template management function unit 11 of the system unit 10 stores and manages a template which is a defined workflow.

In the execution flow, the routing management function unit 12 determines whether or not to start the work of a subsequent step when the work of a certain step is completed according to a set work flow or a predefined rule. To decide. When the work of a certain step is completed, starting the work of the subsequent step is called routing to the subsequent step. If the work is not started in the subsequent step, the routing is performed. No.

The notification management function unit 13 of the system unit 10
Manages notification to users of delivery of information to be processed.
The notification to the user is performed by the notification unit 22 of the user interface unit 20. The progress information management function unit 14 manages information for managing the status of work and the history of work. The progress management unit 23 of the user interface unit 20 manages the status of work using this information.

The user management function unit 15 manages users who are in charge of each step. The reference information management function unit 16
Manage the information necessary for the work given to the person in charge of each step. The system management function unit 17 manages data of the workflow being executed and also manages the entire system unit 10.

Before explaining the main parts of one embodiment of the present invention,
In the workflow system of this example, a description will be given of a flow of processing related to delivery of work according to a defined workflow.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram in which, in the information processing system of this example, functions of a part relating to management of a flow of a workflow are extracted.

The system management function unit 17 stores data relating to the execution flow in its storage unit 17M. Data relating to this execution flow is stored in a table format in the storage unit 17M.
Is stored in Hereinafter, the data relating to the execution flow of the storage unit 17M will be referred to as a workflow table.

The execution flow can be selected from predefined workflows registered in the template management function unit 11 in advance, or the selected workflow can be corrected and stored in the storage unit 17M of the system management function unit 17.
You can also register with. Of course, all the execution flows can be created and defined from the beginning, and registered in the storage unit 17M.

As shown in FIG. 4, the workflow is represented by a graph structure including steps, which are units of work, and arcs (arrows) connecting the steps. Multiple workflows can be executed and managed simultaneously. FIG. 4 shows an example in which two workflows are executed. In order to identify a plurality of workflows, each workflow is provided with a workflow identifier (the identifier is hereinafter referred to as ID).

Also, in FIG. 4, those enclosed in squares indicate each step, and the numbers described in the squares indicate step IDs for identifying each step.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the workflow table in the case of the example of FIG. In this workflow table, each row in the horizontal direction is data on one step. In this example, each row is a workflow I
D, step ID, person in charge of the step, state of the step, processing start date, end date, scheduled start date, scheduled end date, parent step ID, child step ID,
Have as information.

As will be described later, the state of the step is rewritten as the workflow is executed. The start date and the end date are dates when the step is actually started and ended. The scheduled start date and scheduled end date are time limit information (judgment target date) for which the urgency of each step is to be determined, and are set by a system administrator as described later, and can be rewritten during execution. is there.

The parent step ID is the ID of the step immediately before the current step. The child step ID is an ID of a step one step after the step. Thereby, the execution order of the steps is defined.

In this case, the routing function unit 12 functionally includes a step state management unit 31, a routing processing unit 32, and a packet transmission / reception unit 33.

The routing processor 32 determines the actual routing based on the data in the workflow table. The routing function unit 12 manages the state of each step of the workflow based on the following four states, and manages the flow of the workflow.

A state in which the step cannot start work (hereinafter, this state is referred to as “waiting for execution”). A standby state (hereinafter, referred to as “waiting for execution”) in which the step is ready to start and is waiting for the person in charge to start work. This state is called “executable” The execution state in which the person in charge is working (hereinafter, this state is called “executing”) The state in which the person in charge has finished the work (hereinafter, this state is called “completed”) .

The routing function unit 12 basically performs the following operation in accordance with the state transition of the above steps, and the workflow proceeds by repeating this operation for each step.

At the initial stage, the state of each step in the workflow table is "waiting for execution". When the workflow is started by the person in charge, the first step is determined as the next step by the routing processing unit 32 which has been instructed by the system management function unit 17. Further, as described later, when the previous step is completed (when the state is “completed”), the next step is determined by the routing processing unit 32. In the workflow table, the state of the next step determined is set to “executable” by the step state management unit 31.

When the state of the step changes from “waiting for execution” to “executable”, the step state management unit 31
It issues a notification request to the notification management function unit 13. The notification management function unit 13 notifies the person in charge of the next step according to the notification request to urge the person in charge to start work. The notification management function unit 13 includes a storage unit 13M that stores data of a notification table that is data of notification contents.

When the person in charge gives a signal to start to the system unit 10 on the server side in response to the notification, the notification management function unit 13 receives the signal and the step state management unit 31
Inform the person to that effect. In response, the step state management unit 31 changes the state of the step in the workflow table from “executable” to “executing”.

Then, the step state management section 31 issues a packet transmission request to the packet transmission / reception section 33, and from this packet transmission / reception section 33, information such as documents, drawings, data, etc. necessary for the person in charge to perform the work is provided. A packet, which is a lump of data, is sent to the person in charge of the step.

The packet is managed by the reference information management function unit 16, and the reference information management function unit 16 has a storage unit 16M for the packet. The packet transmission / reception unit 33 forms a packet to be sent to the person in charge of the step using the information managed by the reference information management function unit 16. The reference information management function unit 16 also performs a process of storing the packet obtained from the user in the storage unit 16M.

The user in charge executes the work based on the packet delivered from the system unit 10. When the designated work is completed, the user in charge sends a packet reflecting the work contents to the system unit 10 as appropriate.
Send end signal. At this time, the step state management unit 31
Changes the column of the state of the step in the workflow table from “being executed” to “completed”.

Further, when the state of the step changes from “in execution” to “completed”, the step state management section 31 issues a processing request to the routing processing section 32. The routing processing unit 32 determines an actual routing. That is, the next step for performing routing is determined, the user in charge is determined, and the determined step and the user in charge are notified to the step state management unit 31.

The step state management unit 31 changes the state of the step for performing the routing based on the notification from the routing processing unit 32 from “waiting for execution” to “executable”.
Hereinafter, the same processing as described above is repeated to advance the workflow, and when there is no subsequent step, the workflow processing ends.

Next, a part related to transmission of the urgency which is a main part of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a part related to transmission of the degree of urgency, which is a main part of the present invention. In the functional block diagram of FIG. 1,
The part of the system unit 10 on the server side is a system unit 40
And each user interface on the client side.
The corresponding parts of the face 20 are the task boxes 5
0.

In FIG. 1, a workflow service means 41 of the system section 40 is a part of the function of the system management function section 17 and manages the workflow table TW stored in the storage section 44 (corresponding to the storage section 17M). At the same time, it manages a criterion table TR, which is stored in the storage unit 45 and serves as a criterion for determining the degree of urgency. Storage unit 44
And 45 are predetermined memory areas respectively allocated to the memories of the system unit 40, or each is a single memory.

An example of data of the workflow table TW is as shown in FIG. The criterion table TR is a table including the criterion for determining the degree of urgency set for each workflow, and it is possible to set a plurality of criterions for each workflow. The value of the criterion in this criterion table TR is
The information is set in advance by a system administrator through a criterion setting unit (not shown) and stored in the storage unit 45. In this example, the criterion is represented by the number of days, and the urgency level is determined by whether the number of days from the current date to the urgency determination target date (scheduled start date or end date) is longer or shorter than the criterion. The height is determined. As will be described later, in this example, the urgency is calculated in each task box 50 on the client side based on information provided from the server side.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the determination criterion table TR, which is set for each of the two workflows shown in FIG. 4 whose workflow IDs are "1" and "2". In this example, a case where only the criterion 1 is set is shown, but depending on the system administrator,
It is also possible to set and operate two criteria, a criteria 1 and a criteria 2. In this case, the criterion 1 has a relationship of (days of the criterion 1) <(days of the criterion 2) so that a higher urgency can be determined with respect to the criterion 2. I have to.

The notification service unit 42 is a part of the function of the notification management function unit 13 and includes a storage unit 46 (the storage unit 1 in FIG. 1).
3M (corresponding to 3M) is managed. As described above, a notification is made to the person in charge of the step in which the state becomes "executable". At this time, the information notified to the person in charge of each step is stored as a notification table TC. I have.

As described above, the notification service means 42
Generates the notification information to notify the person in charge of the step when the state of the step becomes “executable”, and notifies the person in charge of the step of the information. Together with the notification table TC
Is registered in the notification information.

FIG. 7 shows a notification table TC in this case.
In this example, one line corresponds to one piece of notification information. The notification information given to the person in charge of the step includes, as shown in FIG.
D, the address (name of the person in charge who is the destination of the notification), the transmission date of the notification, and the urgency determination target date.

The urgency determination target date is a date used for calculating the urgency. The column of the determination target date in the notification table TC indicates whether the system administrator has input or changed a scheduled start date or a scheduled end date as the determination target date, as will be described later. Thus, "scheduled start date", "scheduled end date", or "none" is entered for the step in the workflow table TW according to the state of the target step. That is, if the state of the step is “waiting for execution” or “executable”, the scheduled start date is “executing”
If, the end date is "None" if it is "Completed"
Are respectively entered in the columns of the judgment target date.

The column of the judgment target date in the notification table TC is rewritten by the workflow service means 41 when the state of the step changes according to the progress of the workflow. In other words, if the state of the step changes from "executable" to "executing", the judgment target date for that step is changed from the scheduled start date to the scheduled end date, and if the status changes from "executing" to "completed", The column for the date to be judged is "None"
Is rewritten as

As described above, the determination target date in the notification table TC is determined by the determination target date setting unit 43 provided between the workflow service unit 41 and the notification service unit 42.
Are set with reference to the workflow table TW. The determination target date setting unit 43 includes a workflow table change request processing unit 431 and a determination target date determination unit 432.

The change request unit 47 is designated by the system administrator by specifying a workflow and a step, and inputting a change of the scheduled start date or the scheduled end date (the initial start schedule) which is the urgency determination target date in the step. Date and end date).
The change request including the input workflow ID, step ID, and date information is sent to the workflow table change request processing unit 431.

The workflow table change request processing section 43
1 is a workflow table TW in response to the change request.
It requests the workflow service means 41 to write the date set by the system administrator as the scheduled start date or end date of the row of the designated workflow and step.

Then, as described above, the determination target date determination unit 432 refers to the state of each step in the workflow table, and stores the corresponding step in the workflow table in the determination target date column of the corresponding step in the notification table. Write "Scheduled start date", "Scheduled end date" or "None".

An example of the flow of the processing operation of the determination target date setting section 43 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The processing routine of the flowchart of FIG.
The process is started when the system manager receives a change input (including an initial setting input) from the system manager in response to the change request. First, in process S1, it is determined whether or not a change request from the system administrator includes a change request for a scheduled end date. If there is a request to change the scheduled end date, the process proceeds to step S2, and in the workflow table TW,
The input date is entered in the column of the expected end date of the row of the step having the designated workflow ID and step ID.

If it is determined in step S1 that the change request from the system administrator is not a request to change the scheduled end date, the process proceeds to step 3 to determine whether or not the request is to change the scheduled start date. If it is a request to change the scheduled start date, processing S4
In the workflow table TW, the input date is entered in the column of the scheduled start date of the row of the step with the specified workflow ID and step ID in the workflow table TW.

After step S2 or step S4, the process proceeds to step S5. In process S5, the workflow table TW
In step, it is determined whether the state of the designated step is “waiting for execution” or “executable”. If so, the process proceeds to step S6, and the determination target date of the corresponding step in the notification table TC is determined. , The date of the scheduled start date of the corresponding step of the workflow table TW is set.

If it is determined in step S5 that the state of the designated step is not "waiting for execution" or "executable", the flow advances to step S7 to determine whether the state of the designated step is "executing". to decide. If the process is being executed, the process proceeds to step S8, and the date of the scheduled end date of the corresponding step in the workflow table TW is set in the column of the determination target date of the corresponding step in the notification table TC. If it is not being executed, the process proceeds to step S9, and “none” is set in the column of the determination target date of the corresponding step in the notification table TC. This is the end of this processing routine.

The notification service unit 42 also receives a transfer request for information for determining the degree of urgency from the task box on the client side. In this example, this transfer request is repeatedly sent from the task box at a predetermined cycle, for example, every three hours or every day, and includes information on the name of the person in charge.

The transfer request includes a workflow ID, a step ID, a transmission date, and a judgment target date of a notification in the notification table whose address matches the name of the person in charge included in the transfer request.
It is a request for obtaining information on the determination criteria for the workflow of the workflow ID and the state of the step of the step ID.

The notification service means 42 sends the received transfer request to the workflow service means 41. Upon receipt of this, the workflow service means 41 generates information to be sent to the person in charge of the task box that issued the request and sends it out in a processing flow as shown in the flowchart of FIG. In this example, the information to be sent to the person in charge of the task box that issued the request is created by the workflow service in the form of table information called a temporary table.

That is, when the workflow service means 41 receives a transfer request from the notification service means 42 in step S11, the process proceeds to step S12, where the name of the person in charge in the notification table TC is transmitted to the notification service means 42. A search request is issued to determine whether there is a matching notification (line).

In response to the search request, the notification service unit 42 performs a search to determine whether there is a notification in which the name of the person in charge matches in the notification table TC, and notifies the workflow service unit 41 of the search result. Therefore, in process S13,
In response to this search result, it is determined whether or not there is a notification that matches the name of the person in charge. If not, the processing routine is terminated.

If the notification service means 42 finds a notification (line) having the same person in charge in the notification table TC as a result of the search, the workflow ID, the step ID, the transmission date, and the judgment target date of the line are set in the workflow. Since the service unit 42 is notified, the workflow service unit 41 acquires these in step S14. Then, in the next process S15, the acquired workflow ID, step ID, transmission date, and determination target date are stored in the temporary table TB.

Next, the process proceeds to step S16, where the workflow ID and the state of the step corresponding to the step ID stored in the primary table TB in step S15 are acquired from the workflow table TW. Store in TB. Next, the process proceeds to step S18.
From the criterion table TR, it obtains the criteria match the workflow ID stored in the temporary table TB in the processing S15, and stores it in the processing S19 to the temporary table TB.

Thus, the temporary table TB is completed.
Then, in step S20, the completed temporary table TB is sent to the person in charge of the task box that issued the request.

FIG. 10 shows the contents of the workflow table TB as shown in FIG. 5 and the notification table TC of FIG.
When the contents are as shown in, the person in charge "Stev
"e" shows an example of the temporary table TB when a transfer request is issued.

[0079] In this case, the evaluation date stored in a temporary table in the processing S15, as described above, during the current transfer request from the previous transfer request, the start date and end date by a system administrator When changed, it is the date of the change. As will be described later, the task box calculates the degree of urgency using the acquired information of the temporary table. As described above, when the date to be determined is changed by the system administrator, the changed date is displayed. Since the information can be obtained in a timely manner, the degree of urgency according to the situation change can be always obtained.

Next, the task box side will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, since each task box 50 has the same configuration, a control unit 51 for controlling the entire task box and a transfer request generating unit 52 for generating a transfer request at a constant cycle. And the criterion setting unit 53
, A storage unit 54 for storing a criterion table, a storage unit 55 for storing a task order table described later, and a task order display control unit 56.

The transfer request generator 52 automatically generates a transfer request including information on the name of the person in charge of the task box 50 at regular intervals as described above, and sends this transfer request to the system unit 40 on the server side. send. For this transfer request,
As described above, the system unit 40 creates the temporary table TB for the step in charge of the person in charge included in the transfer request, and sets the name of the person in charge as the address to the created temporary table TB in the task box 50. I will send you back. Accordingly, in the task box 50, the task order display control unit 56 receives the temporary table addressed to the person in charge via the control unit 51, and stores the temporary table in a temporary storage unit (not shown) managed by the task order display control unit 56. I do.

Then, in the task order display control section 56 of the task box 50, the received temporary table TB
, The workflow ID, step ID, transmission date,
The status information is assigned an identifier called a task order ID as an element for configuring one task order, and is stored in the storage unit 55 via the control unit 51 as a task order table.

FIG. 11 is an example of a task order table created based on the temporary table TB of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 11, in each task order of one line, an item of urgency is provided in addition to the above information.
When the task order table is created by receiving the temporary table TB, the item of this urgency in the task order table is not filled.

In the case of this example, the judgment criteria table is also stored in the storage unit 54 on the task box 50 side so that the person in charge of the step can acquire the degree of urgency according to his / her ability and circumstances. Is stored. The criterion of the task box 50 is set by the user in charge from the criterion setting unit 53. In this example, the criterion of the task box 50 is used in preference to the criterion in the temporary table TB sent from the server.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart relating to the setting of the determination criterion executed via the control unit 51. That is,
First, in step S21, the criterion setting unit 53 determines whether the user in charge has input a setting (a request for setting) of a criterion. If there is no setting input, this routine for setting the criterion is terminated. If there is, in step S22, the judgment criteria for each input workflow are stored in the storage unit 5.
4 is registered in the criterion table of FIG. FIG. 13 is an example of a criterion table of the criterion set by the user in charge.

In this example, as described above, when the criterion for determining the degree of urgency is separately set by the person in charge on the task box 50 side, the degree of urgency set by the person in charge is prioritized. The temporary table TB is rewritten so that the updated temporary table tb is generated and stored in the temporary storage unit. This process is also performed by the task order display control unit 56.

FIG. 14 is an example of the update temporary table tb recreated on the task box side. In this example, the user in charge decides
Since the workflow IDs “1” and “2” are set as shown in FIG. 13, the items of the criteria in the temporary table TB are the criteria 1 and the criteria in the criteria table of the storage unit 54. 2 is overwritten and updated, so that the criterion on the task box 50 side has priority over the criterion on the server side.

The task order display control unit 56 calculates the urgency from the item of the judgment target date and the judgment criterion in the updated temporary table tb and the current date, and calculates the importance of the calculated urgency. in performs determination of "high", "medium" and "low", according to the determination result, the task box 5
The information is displayed on a display provided at 0. The display of the task box 50 provides a work environment for the steps in cooperation with input operation means such as a keyboard and a mouse when each person performs the work of each step.

FIG. 15 shows a task order display control section 56.
1 shows an example of a functional block diagram of FIG. That is, the task order display control unit 56 includes a task order acquisition unit 561, an urgency calculation unit 562, and an urgency determination unit 563.
And a normal display processing unit 564 and a special display processing unit 565.

The flow of the control process of the task order display control unit 56 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

First, in step S31, a temporary table TB is obtained from the server. Next, in step S32, task order IDs are assigned to each row of the acquired temporary table TB in ascending order from "1". Next, processing S3
In 3, the task order ID and the corresponding workflow ID, step ID, transmission date of the temporary table TB,
The status items are sequentially written to the task order table for the task orders assigned in ascending order.

Next, the process proceeds to step S34 to calculate the degree of urgency. The flow of the urgency calculation process is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 17 in this example.

That is, as shown in FIG. 17, first, in step S41, it is determined whether or not the determination reference data of the task box is set in the determination reference table of the storage unit 54. If it is set, the process proceeds to step S42, where the determination criteria on the task box side are overwritten with the determination criteria on the task box side from the server to the updated temporary table tb, and then the process proceeds to process S43.
If the criteria on the task box side are not set,
The process proceeds directly from the process S41 to the process S43.

In the process S43, the storage unit 55 in the process S33.
It is determined whether or not there is a row for which the urgency is not set in the task order table stored in. If there is no unset one, this routine of urgency calculation ends, and the process proceeds to the processing S35 of the flowchart of FIG.

If there is a row for which the degree of urgency has not been set in step S43, the process proceeds to step S44, where the workflow ID and step ID of the line for which the degree of urgency is not set among the rows of the temporary table TB or the updated temporary table tb. In addition to extracting the judgment target date and the judgment criterion of the line that matches with, the current date information is obtained from a calendar unit (not shown). And processing S4
5 to determine whether the number of days from the current date to the date to be determined is within the number of days indicated by the criterion 1,
If so, the process proceeds to step S46 to set "high" in the item of urgency in the row of the corresponding step ID in the task order table.

If it is determined in step 46 that the number of days from the current date to the target date is not within the number of days indicated by the criterion 1, the process proceeds to step S47 to determine whether the criterion 2 is set. If the criterion 2 has not been set, the process proceeds to step S50, and “low” is set in the item of urgency in the row of the corresponding step ID in the task order table.

If it is determined in step S47 that the criterion 2 is set, the process proceeds to step S48 to determine whether the number of days from the current date to the target date is within the number of days indicated by the criterion 2. Judgment is made, and if it is within the range, the process proceeds to step S49, and "medium" is set in the item of urgency in the row of the corresponding step ID in the task order table. In addition, processing S4
In step 8, when it is determined that the number of days from the current date to the determination target day is not within the number of days indicated by the determination criterion 2, the process proceeds to step S50, and the item of the urgency in the row of the corresponding step ID in the task order table To "Low". When the state of the step is completed, the item of the determination target day in the temporary table is set to “none”, but the urgency is set to “low” for this step.

After the processes S46, S49, and S50, the process returns to the process S43, and the processes from the process S44 are repeated until there is no line in the task order table for which the item of the urgency is not set. Then, when there is no line in the task order table for which the item of urgency is not set, this urgency calculation routine is terminated, and the routine proceeds to the processing 35 in FIG.

In the process S35, it is determined whether or not there are any undisplayed task orders in the task order table, that is, whether or not all the task orders have been displayed.
If there is an undisplayed task order (one line), the process proceeds to step S36, the non-displayed task order is selected, and in the next process S37, the urgency level of the task order is “high”.
The line of the task order is displayed in a pattern corresponding to the set values of “medium” and “low”. In this example, items other than the item of urgency in the task order table are displayed. This is because the item of urgency is reflected in the display pattern. After the process 37, the process returns to the process S35.
When the display processing for all the task orders is performed, this routine ends.

In this example, the urgency level is “high”, “medium”, “low”.
As an example of a display pattern according to the set value of (1), a method of changing the background pattern of each line of the task order is adopted. That is, in this example, in the task order display control unit 56, when the urgency is “low”, the normal display processing unit 564 is in charge of the display, and no decoration is given to the background of the line. On the other hand, the urgency is "medium" or "high"
In the case of, the special display processing unit 565 is in charge of the display, and displays the background of the line in a manner that can be distinguished between “medium” and “high”.

The display method for distinguishing the importance of the urgency is not limited to the method of changing the background of each line as in this example, but a mark corresponding to the urgency is given to each line of the task order. Method, urgency section "high""medium""low"
Is displayed as it is and the display of only the item of the urgency level is changed to `` high '', `` medium '' or `` low ''. If it is a color display, the line of the task order according to the urgency is changed. Various other methods such as a method of changing a display color can be adopted.

Next, a specific example will be described. Now the current date is 2
When the urgency is calculated by the task order display control unit 56 based on the temporary table tb for the person “Steve” in FIG. 14 on the first day of the month, as shown in FIG. Step ID of "1"
The urgency of the step “12” is “low”, workflow I
The urgency of the step ID “13” of D “1” is “low”, and the step ID “2” of the workflow ID “2”
The urgency of the step “1” is “high”.

On the basis of the data of the task order table, the task order display control unit 56 displays each line of the task order table for items other than the item of the urgency, as described above. Are displayed in a pattern corresponding to the set values of “high”, “medium” and “low”. FIG. 18A shows task box 5 at this time.
0 shows an example of display on the display. In FIG. 18A, task order ID “3”, workflow ID
The background of the row of the task order of “2” and step ID “21” corresponds to the urgency “high”.

This task order table is displayed as one window in the work environment of the user in charge of the display screen. Then, as shown in FIG. 18, a “close” button (for example, a button icon) is displayed on the display screen to close (delete the display of) the window of the task order table.

Each time a transfer request is issued from the task box, the above-described calculation of the degree of urgency and display of the task order table are performed. Therefore, the urgency of each task order will be changed as the current date approaches the judgment target date, and the urgency according to the passage of time will be
The person in charge of the step can know.

Next, when a transfer request from the same person-in-charge name "Steve" is received on February 3, the system administrator sends the person-in-charge name "Steve" on February 2 of the previous day.
The case where the scheduled end date of the step ID “13” to be assigned by “ve” has been changed from February 14 to February 7 will be described.

At this time, a request for changing the scheduled end date made by the system administrator made on February 2 is sent to the judgment target date setting unit 4.
19, as described above, the workflow table TW of the storage unit 44 is, as shown in FIG. 19, based on the table shown in FIG. It will be changed.

Then, the judgment target date setting section 43 refers to the workflow table TW and determines the step ID “1”.
Since the state of the step “3” is “executing”, as shown in FIG.
The new scheduled end date February 7 is set again.

On February 3, the name of the person in charge, "Stev
When a transfer request arrives from the task box as "e", the system unit 40 creates a temporary table TB as shown in FIG. 21A and sends it to the task box side.
In the task box of the person in charge “Steve”, the temporary table TB is received, a task order table is created, and the updated temporary table tb as shown in FIG.
Will be created.

Then, the update temporary table tb in FIG. 21B
The urgency is calculated based on At this time,
Since the scheduled end date of February 7 is the determination target date and the current date is February 3, the number of days from the current date to the determination target date is four, which is the determination criterion 1. (= 3) and within the criterion 2 (= 7). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 22, the task order IDs “1” and “3” are the same as the task order table of FIG. 11, but the task order of the step with the step ID “13” of the task order ID “2”. Changes from “low” to “medium”.

When the task order table is displayed on the display of the task box, FIG. 18B
, The line of the task order ID “2” is changed to a background display pattern corresponding to the urgency “medium”. Thereby, the user in charge can recognize that the urgency has changed.

In this way, the system administrator can transmit the urgency corresponding to a change in the situation, such as a change in the scheduled start date or the scheduled end date.

In the above embodiment, the system administrator and the user in charge can set the criteria for each workflow, so that different workflows can have different criteria. In addition, since the user in charge can set the judgment criteria according to his / her preference, it is possible to realize the definition of the degree of urgency according to the ability and preference of the user in charge.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the above-described embodiment, the transfer request is generated from the task box at regular intervals.
In addition to or instead of the transfer request, the person in charge may arbitrarily issue a request.
In this case, even when the person in charge issues a request, the urgency is calculated at regular intervals, such as every day, using the temporary table stored in the temporary storage unit, and reflected in the task order table. It is good to display on a display.

The urgency may be calculated on the server side and the information on the urgency may be sent to the client. In this case, the client does not need to provide the urgency calculating unit, and the information sent from the server to the client does not need to include the information of the determination criterion and the information of the determination target date. In this case, the server may send the information including the urgency to the requesting user on the client side by a transfer request from the client side, or the server side may appropriately transmit the information on the client side. The information including the urgency may be sent by designating the user in charge. Also in this case, by transmitting the determination criteria set on the client side to the server side, it is possible for the server side to determine the urgency with priority given to the determination criteria set by the user in charge of the client side. In the case of a method in which a transfer request is issued from the client side, the criterion set by the user in charge on the client side can be included in the transfer request and sent to the server side.

Further, the following embodiment is also possible. That is, both the server side and the client side are provided with the determination criterion table, but the server side always calculates and sends the urgency level when sending the information including the urgency level to the client side by the transfer request of the client. To If the step indicating the received urgency information is a step in the workflow ID for which the criterion is registered in the criterion table, the client substitutes the urgency determined by the server. And adopt the urgency determined based on the client's criteria,
Make it visible. In the case of this example, even if the urgency is obtained on the server side, the information on the determination target date needs to be sent to the client side.

Further, the workflow system may be constituted by a host device and a terminal device, and the functions on the server side and most of the functions on the client side may be realized by the host device.

Further, in the above description, the information of the start time limit (scheduled start date) or the information of the end time limit (scheduled end date) which is the judgment target date is set in advance. At that time, referring to the state of the step, determine whether the target date for which the urgency is to be obtained is the start deadline or the end deadline, select one, and obtain the urgency for the selected target date. Can also.

[0120]

As described above, according to the present invention, the degree of urgency is calculated every time a request is generated, so that the conversion of the degree of urgency over time can be surely known. Can be. Further, when the term information serving as the basis for calculating the urgency is changed between a certain request and the next request, the urgency is calculated based on the changed term information at the time of occurrence of the next request. Therefore, the degree of urgency corresponding to the situation change can be known.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a main part of an embodiment of an information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an overall outline of an embodiment of an information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram for explaining an outline of an operation of an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a workflow.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a data table used for describing an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a data table used for describing an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a data table used for describing an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart used to explain a part of the operation of one embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart used to explain a part of the operation of one embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a data table used for describing an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a data table used for describing an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart used to explain a part of the operation of the embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a data table used for describing an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a data table used for describing an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a partial functional block diagram of an embodiment of an information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart used to explain a part of the operation of the embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart used to explain a part of the operation of the embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining a display example of the degree of urgency in one embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a data table used for describing an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a data table used for describing an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a data table used for describing an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a data table used for describing an embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 40 System unit 20 User interface unit 41 Workflow service unit 42 Notification service unit 43 Judgment date setting unit 44 Workflow table storage unit 45 Determination criterion table storage unit 46 Notification table storage unit 47 Change request unit 50 Task Box 52 Transfer request generation unit 53 Judgment criterion setting unit 54 Judgment criterion table storage unit 55 Task order table storage unit 56 Task order display control unit TW workflow table TR Judgment criterion table (server side) TC notification table TB Temporary table (server) Side) tb update temporary table (client side) TO task order table

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] A work to be processed in an order is divided into a plurality of work processes, and the order of the plurality of work processes, the processing content of each work process, and a person in charge of each work process are determined. In the information processing system supporting the work, work process identification information for uniquely identifying each of the work processes, time limit information on a time limit related to a process performed in the work process, and processing of each work process are executed. a person identification information for identifying the should do personnel, the sequence
First holding means for holding the first storage unit in correspondence with the plurality of work processes of the work to be set up and processed, and receiving the change input of the time limit information,
A changing means for changing the time limit information held in the section, and a setting means corresponding to the work to be processed in the order.
A second storage unit for storing a determination criterion for obtaining an urgency regarding the processing in the work process in a second storage unit; and a work process to identify the person in charge and to process the person in charge. Requesting means for requesting creation of information including the degree of urgency, and in response to a request from the requesting means,
Retained and handled by the person identified by the request.
The deadline information of the work process to be performed and the second storage unit.
The charge based on the lifting been criterion, and the current calendar information
Means for determining the degree of urgency for each work process to be processed by the operator, and the person in charge performs the processing in response to a request from the requesting means .
The work process identification information of the work process to be performed and the urgency of each work process obtained by the urgency determination means are paired.
The list information includes information displayed with response, and list information generation means for generating per the identified person, with respect to personnel that the identified said list information created by the list information creating means An information processing system comprising: output means for visualizing and outputting. 2. The work to be processed in order is divided into a plurality of work processes, and the order of the plurality of work processes, the processing contents of each work process, and the person in charge of each work process are determined. In the information processing system supporting the work, work process identification information for uniquely identifying each of the work processes, time limit information on a time limit related to a process performed in the work process, and processing of each work process are executed. First holding means for holding, in a first storage unit, person identification information for identifying a person to be handled, in association with the plurality of work steps of the work to be processed in order; Changing means for receiving the change input of the time limit information and changing the time limit information held in the first storage unit; and an urgency level related to the processing in the work process, which is set corresponding to the person in charge. The format for seeking A second holding unit for holding a criterion in a second storage unit; a requesting unit for specifying the person in charge and requesting creation of information including the degree of urgency regarding a work process to be processed by the person in charge; In response to a request from the request means, the deadline information of the work process to be processed by the person specified by the request, which is held in the first storage unit, and the deadline information, which is held in the second storage unit An urgency determination means for determining an urgency for each work process to be processed by the person in charge based on the determination criteria and the current calendar information; and an operation to be processed by the person in charge in response to a request from the request means A list to be created for the identified person in charge, including list information including information for displaying the work process identification information of a process in association with the urgency of each work process obtained by the urgency determination means. Information creation means, and the list information The information processing system comprising: an output means for outputting visualized, the said list information created for the identified person by creating means. 3. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs the list information in a visualized form.
An information processing system, wherein each operation process has a different display mode according to each urgency. 4. The information processing system according to claim 2, wherein, in addition to a criterion set in correspondence with the person in charge, the criterion held in the second storage unit includes A common criterion can be set for all of the tasks to be processed. In the case where the urgency determining means holds a criterion set in association with the person in charge in the second storage unit, Is an information processing system, wherein priority is given to a criterion set in correspondence with the person in charge, and the criterion is used as a criterion for determining the degree of urgency. 5. The information processing system according to claim 2, wherein, in addition to the criterion set in correspondence with the person in charge, the criterion held in the second storage unit is the same as the criterion. A judgment criterion corresponding to the work to be processed can be set. In the case where the urgency judgment means holds the judgment criterion set corresponding to the person in charge in the second storage unit, An information processing system characterized in that a determination criterion set in correspondence with the person in charge is prioritized and used as a determination criterion when determining the degree of urgency. 6. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the criterion is expressed by a period up to a deadline, and different first and second criterions are set by the first and second criteria. 2 is stored in the storage unit, and the urgency determination unit determines whether the urgency of each work process is high, medium, or low based on the first and second determination criteria. Characteristic information processing system. 7. The work to be processed in order is divided into a plurality of work processes, and the order of the plurality of work processes, the processing contents of each work process, and the person in charge of each work process are determined. An information processing method for supporting the work, comprising: work process identification information for uniquely identifying each of the work processes; time limit information on a time limit for processing performed in the work process; a person identification information for identifying the person to execute the process of steps, the order
A first holding step of storing and holding the first storage unit in correspondence with the plurality of work steps of the work to be processed in a vertical manner;
A changing step of changing the time limit information stored in the storage unit of the set corresponding to the work to be processed upright the order
A second holding step of storing and holding a determination criterion for determining the degree of urgency regarding the processing in the work process in a second storage unit; and specifying the person in charge and performing the processing by the person in charge. It is necessary to generate a request to create information including
Request generation step, and when the creation request generated in the request generation step is received
In response to the request for creation stored in the first storage unit,
Information on the work process to be processed by the
A broadcast, the determination references held in the second storage unit, and the emergency level determination step of determining the personnel urgency of working steps each <br/> to be processed based on the current calendar information, the When receiving the creation request generated in the request generation process
In the said working process identification information of the person in charge work to process, the workmanship determined by the emergency level determination step
List information including information to be displayed in association with the urgency of each process
Distribution, said the list information operation <br/> forming step of creating per identified person, an output for outputting visualize the list information created by the list information creation process on the identified person An information processing method, comprising: 8. The work to be processed in an order is divided into a plurality of work processes, and the order of the plurality of work processes, the processing contents of each work process, and the person in charge of each work process are determined. An information processing method for supporting the work, comprising: work process identification information for uniquely identifying each of the work processes; time limit information on a time limit for processing performed in the work process; Person in charge identification information for identifying a person in charge of executing a process is stored in a first storage unit in correspondence with the plurality of work steps of the work to be processed in order. A first holding step to be performed, and when the change input of the term information is received, the first
And a change step of changing the term information held in the storage unit of the storage unit, and a determination criterion for determining the urgency of the process in the work process set in correspondence with the person in charge is stored in the second storage unit. A second holding step for identifying and holding the person in charge, and a request generating step of generating a request for creating information including the urgency regarding a work process to be performed by the person in charge; When the generated creation request is received, the term information of the work process to be processed by the person specified by the creation request, which is held in the first storage unit, and the second storage unit An urgency determination step of obtaining an urgency level for each work process to be processed by the person in charge based on the held determination criteria and the current calendar information, and when the creation request generated in the request generation step is received. Should be handled by the person in charge Create list information including information for displaying the work process identification information of the work process in association with the urgency of each work process obtained in the urgency determination step for the specified person in charge. An information processing method comprising: a list information creating step; and an output step of visualizing and outputting the list information created in the list information creating step to the specified person in charge. 9. The information processing method according to claim 7, wherein, in the output step, in the visualization output of the list information, each work step has a different display mode according to each urgency. An information processing method, comprising: 10. The information processing method according to claim 8, wherein, in addition to a criterion set in correspondence with the person in charge, the criterion held in the second storage unit includes A common criterion can be set for all of the tasks to be processed. In the urgency determining step, when the criterion set corresponding to the person in charge is held in the second storage unit, A priority is given to a criterion set in correspondence with the person in charge, and the criterion is used as a criterion for determining the degree of urgency. 11. The information processing method according to claim 8, wherein, in addition to the criterion set in correspondence with the person in charge, the criterion held in the second storage unit is the same as the criterion. A criterion corresponding to the work to be processed can be set. In the urgency determining step, when the criterion set corresponding to the person in charge is held in the second storage unit, An information processing method, wherein a priority is given to a criterion set in correspondence with the person in charge and used as a criterion for determining the degree of urgency. 12. The information processing method according to claim 7, wherein the criterion is represented by a period up to a deadline, and different first and second criterions are set in the first and second criteria. In the urgency determination step, it is determined whether the urgency for each work process is high, medium, or low based on the first and second criteria. Characteristic information processing method.