JP6132651B2 - File transmission / reception management system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a file transmission / reception management system.

  Conventionally, by connecting the accounting firm's advisory terminal and the server machine installed in the accounting office via the Internet, both the advisory terminal and the server machine can directly send / receive files. Techniques that can be known are known.

  The connection between the consultant terminal and the server machine is necessary to maintain security by performing authentication processing at the time of connection. For example, as a technique for improving security, a technique for communicating encrypted data between an advisory terminal and a server machine by VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection is known.

  As a technique for improving security, for example, a dedicated center (for example, a relay server) that relays between a consultant terminal and a server machine performs authentication, and when authentication is successful, all communication is routed through the center. A technology for connecting an advisor terminal and a server machine is known.

  WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning) is used as a protocol that allows a client (web browser) to manage files and folders on a web server. WebDAV extends HTTP to send documents created on the client to the server for publication, obtain a list of files and folders on the server, and copy, move, and delete files and folders it can.

JP 2002-135867 A JP 2009-77127 A JP 2007-11749 A

  Accounting data and various form data exchanged between the accounting office and the advisor are important confidential documents, and it is necessary to transmit and receive data with high security. However, in the technology for performing communication using encrypted data by the VPN connection described above, authentication and connection procedures before communication between the consultant terminal and the server machine are complicated. Therefore, there is a problem that the communication load increases and the communication speed decreases. At the same time, there is a problem that both accounting firms and advisors are difficult for those who are not familiar with computers. Further, for accounting firms having a plurality of advisors, there is a possibility that the file of the advisor is erroneously transmitted to another advisor.

  In addition, in the technology for connecting the consultant terminal and the server machine via the above-mentioned center, since all communication passes through the center, the communication speed and safety depend on the center, and the communication speed and safety are reduced. There existed a subject that there exists a possibility that it may fall.

  In addition, there is a problem that it is impossible to determine whether the file registered on the server has been sent by the accounting firm or the consultant. At the same time, there is a problem that it is impossible to determine whether the other party has already viewed the registered file on the server.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, simplifying a secure connection, reducing a decrease in communication speed due to a communication load, and an accounting firm mistakenly consulting The purpose is to prevent the previous file from being sent to another consultant.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides an office server to which one or more in-office terminals are connected and one or more advisor terminals, which are connected by a network, and the office server and a specific advisor terminal. Is a system for managing the sending and receiving of files in a securely connected state,
The storage means of the office server is
In-office file storage area, which is a storage area for managing files of each advisor,
A private storage area that can be accessed from each advisor terminal, and for each advisor, a private folder for specific advisors that is set to be accessible only to the advisor terminal of the advisor and the office terminal is registered. A private storage area,
It is accessible only from the terminal in the office, and is divided into a private storage area set to be inaccessible from the outside including the advisor terminal,
In the limited public folder for specific advisors, a folder group for each one or more advisors having a directory structure for managing files for each advisor is stored.
The private storage area stores the configuration information of each folder for each advisor, extracted from the limited public folder for specific advisors,
An advisory DB that contains account information for each advisor to manage multiple advisors;
Management information for all folders in the private storage area, and
The control means of the office server is
A means for accepting designation of a destination folder using a user interface generated based on configuration information of each folder for each of the advisors, the file stored in the file storage area in the office as a specific advisor A transmission designation receiving means for receiving in the user interface which folder in the private folder for the specific advisor for the advisor to be stored,
An erroneous transmission preventing means for preventing the file from being transmitted to a party other than the intended advisor;
When the designation of a file stored in the in-office file area and an instruction for selecting a private folder for a specific advisory destination of an advisory destination as a transmission destination are received from the terminal in the office by the transmission designation receiving unit,
Based on the information of the adviser destination associated with the limited public folder for the specific adviser specified and obtained from the advisory DB by the erroneous sending prevention means, after checking the adviser destination of the destination,
The file instructed to be selected is stored in a limited public folder for a specific advisor in the limited public storage area.

  According to the present invention, for data exchanged between an accounting office and a consultant, transmission data and reception data can be managed separately to perform secure data transmission / reception. In addition, reliability can be improved by strengthening a foolproof function that does not transmit to another advisor at the time of transmission from the accounting firm to the advisor.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the file transmission / reception management system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the consultant terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the authentication management server according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of data in the contract information management table. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the firewall according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of data in the port management table. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a data example of the consultant terminal IP management table. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of DNS information data. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the server according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of data in the ID management table. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of company master data. FIG. 12 shows an example of user contract code data. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of data in the access management table. FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining an overview of authentication processing and connection processing in the file transmission / reception management system. FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining remote connection processing in the file transmission / reception management system. FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of connection processing by the file transmission / reception management system. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a screen at the time of server connection in the advisory file management application. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a data example of a file access (unread / read) recording unit including update date / time information in addition to read / unread information as an example of file management information. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of data in the determination table. It is an image figure which shows the outline | summary of the file transmission / reception in the file transmission / reception management system of this invention. FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a folder configuration example of the public file storage unit in the server storage unit. FIG. 22 is a screen example showing files registered in the transmission BOX and the reception BOX in the advisory file management application. FIG. 23 is an example of a screen showing files registered in the transmission BOX and the reception BOX in the accounting office file management application. FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the file transmission / reception management system of the present invention, and shows a case where file transmission / reception is performed from an accounting office to a consultant. FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the file transmission / reception management system according to the present invention, and shows a case where file transmission / reception is performed from the advisor to the accounting office. FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining a pre-preparation flow for connection from the advisor to the accounting office server. FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining the flow of transmitting a file from the accounting office to the consultant. FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining a flow of operating a file transmitted from the accounting office to the consultant at the consultant. FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining a flow of transmitting a file from the advisor to the accounting office. FIG. 30 is a diagram for explaining a flow of operating a file in which a file is transmitted from the advisor to the accounting office at the accounting office. FIG. 31 is a sequence diagram for explaining the role of each element when a file is transmitted from the accounting firm to the consultant. FIG. 32 is a sequence diagram for explaining the role of each element when a file is transmitted from the advisor to the accounting office. FIG. 33 is a diagram for explaining the operational feeling and advantages of the file accounting system of the present invention. FIG. 34 is a diagram showing a modification of the configuration of the server shown in FIG. FIG. 35 is a diagram for explaining history management such as update date and time of a file in the transmission / reception box.

  Exemplary embodiments of a file transmission / reception management system and a file transmission / reception management method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

  In the following embodiment, the configuration of the file transmission / reception management system according to the first embodiment, the configuration of the consulting terminal, the configuration of the authentication management server, the configuration of the firewall, the configuration of the server, and the processing flow of the file transmission / reception management system will be described in order. Finally, the effect of the first embodiment will be described. In the following, a case will be described as an example where a firewall, a server, and a client PC are installed in the accounting office, and the user of the advisor uses the advisor terminal from outside the accounting office.

[Configuration of File Transmission / Reception Management System According to Embodiment 1]
First, the configuration of the file transmission / reception management system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a file transmission / reception management system according to the first embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, a file transmission / reception management system 100 according to the first embodiment includes an advisory terminal 10, an authentication management server 20, a firewall 30, a server 40, and a plurality of client PCs (Personal Computers). 50a to 50c. In the file transmission / reception management system 100, the consultant terminal 10, the authentication management server 20, and the firewall 30 are connected via the Internet 60. Note that the client PCs 50a to 50c are referred to as client PCs 50 when they are not particularly distinguished.

  The advisor terminal 10 is, for example, an information processing apparatus such as a desktop PC, a desktop personal computer, a tablet PC, or a notebook PC, and is a terminal used in an office of an advisor. The consultant terminal 10 holds a URL for accessing the authentication management server 20 as preparation. Then, the consultant terminal 10 uses the consultant file management application software, accesses the authentication management server 20 using the URL, inputs the ID and password, and enters the firewall 30 via the authentication management server 20. An authentication request is made and a remote connection of the server 40 is requested. Then, after the remote connection with the server 40 is established, the advisor terminal 10 can directly operate a specific folder in the server 40 in the same manner as a folder in the local drive by remote access.

  The authentication management server 20 is a server that manages information related to authentication and information related to user contracts, and accepts authentication requests from the consultant terminal 10. For example, in the authentication management server 20, the user receives an inquiry about the contract status from the server 40 and responds with the contract status.

  The firewall 30 is a device equipped with software having a function of preventing unauthorized entry from the outside into the network in the accounting office. In the default state, the firewall 30 allows only access from the authentication management server 20 and rejects access from other devices to ensure safety. Further, as will be described later, the firewall 30 receives instructions from the authentication management server 20, and the authentication management server 20 permits remote connection only to the consultant terminal 10 that has been successfully authenticated. Yes.

  The server 40 is a server device installed in the accounting office, is connected to the client PCs 50a to 50c installed in the accounting office, and manages information about folders that can be accessed by the advisor. In addition, as illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 26, the server 40 accepts registration of a user ID, a password, and an advisor to permit access from each of the client PCs 50a to 50c, and the user ID and password will be described later. Store in the ID management table 43a.

  The client PC 50 is a PC installed in the accounting office. For example, the client PC 50 is an information processing apparatus such as a desktop PC and is a terminal used in the accounting office. The accounting office can use the accounting office file management application software to move or copy the file stored in the server to the desired consultant folder.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the consultant terminal 10, the configuration of the authentication management server 20, the configuration of the firewall 30, and the configuration of the server 40 will be described in order with reference to the drawings.

[Configuration of Advisory Terminal 10]
First, the configuration of the advisor terminal 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the consultant terminal 10 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the consultant terminal 10 includes an input unit 11, an output unit 12, a communication unit 13, a control unit 14, and a storage unit 15. The processing of each of these units will be described below.

  The input unit 11 is used to input a user ID, a password, a file move or copy selection instruction, and includes a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, and the like. The output unit 12 also includes an authentication screen (see FIG. 17 described later) on which a user ID and password can be input, a screen displaying a list of file names to be operated (see FIG. 22 described later), a monitor (display, A touch panel) and a speaker.

  The communication unit 13 controls communication related to various information exchanged between the authentication management server 20 and the firewall 30 to be connected. Specifically, the communication unit 13 transmits a user ID and password to the authentication management server 20 and receives information on the connection destination server 40 from the authentication management server 20. Further, the communication unit 13 receives the connection destination server information and the port number from the firewall 30, and transmits a remote connection request to the firewall 30.

  The control unit 14 includes a file management application that defines various processing procedures according to the present invention and an internal memory for storing necessary data, and executes various processes using them, but is closely related to the present invention. Related items include an authentication request unit 14a, a selection instruction unit 14b, a remote connection request unit 14c, and a file management unit 14d.

  The authentication request unit 14 a requests authentication from the advisory terminal 10 to the firewall 30 via the authentication management server 20 and notifies the global IP of the advisory terminal 10. Specifically, when making an authentication request, the authentication request unit 14a uses a specific URL in which the DNS (Domain Name System) in the firewall 30 and the URL of the authentication management server 20 are combined to perform authentication management. Access the server 20. This specific URL is notified from the server 40 in advance, and is registered in the file management application software for the consultant.

  The remote connection requesting unit 14 c requests the firewall 30 for remote connection with the connection destination server using the address information and port number of the connection destination server received from the firewall 30. Specifically, the remote connection request unit 14c acquires a connection address and a port number from the consultant file management application software, and requests the firewall 30 for remote connection.

  The file management unit 14d performs a file operation on a file to be transmitted to an accounting office, which will be described later, and a process of setting a read flag to a file in the transmission folder when the transmitted file is viewed on the accounting office side.

  The storage unit 15 stores data necessary for various processes by the control unit 14, files, and programs such as file management application software for consultants, and includes, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory). A semiconductor memory device such as a flash memory or a storage device such as a hard disk or an optical disk. The client PC 50 has substantially the same configuration as that of the consultant terminal 10 and will not be described.

[Configuration of Authentication Management Server 20]
Next, the configuration of the authentication management server 20 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the authentication management server 20 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the authentication management server 20 includes a communication unit 21, a control unit 22, and a storage unit 23. The processing of each of these units will be described below.

  The communication unit 21 controls communication related to various information exchanged between the consultant terminal 10 and the firewall 30 to be connected. Specifically, the communication unit 21 receives the user ID and password from the advisor terminal 10 and transfers them to the firewall 30. Further, the communication unit 21 receives the connection destination server information from the firewall 30 and transfers it to the advisory terminal 10.

  The storage unit 23 stores data and programs necessary for various processes by the control unit 22, and stores a contract information management table 23a.

  The contract information management table 23a is a table in which information on contract status is registered. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the contract information management table 23 a includes a “user contract code” that is a code for uniquely identifying a contract and a “contract” indicating whether the contract is valid or invalid. "Status" is stored in association with each other. For example, in the example of FIG. 4, the contract information management table 23a stores the user contract code (trade name code) “1001” and the contract status “valid” in association with each other. This indicates that the contract of the user contract code (trade name code) “1001” is “valid”.

  The control unit 22 has an internal memory for storing a program that defines various processing procedures and the necessary data, and executes various processes using these programs. Particularly, as closely related to the present invention, It has the authentication connection part 22a and the confirmation part 22b.

  The authentication connection unit 22a accepts input of a user ID and a password from the advisor terminal 10. Then, the authentication connection unit 22a acquires the global IP of the advisory terminal 10 and transmits the global IP of the advisory terminal 10 to the firewall 30 together with the received user ID and password.

  When the confirmation unit 22b receives an inquiry from the server 40, the confirmation unit 22b confirms whether the contract status is valid and transmits the result of the confirmation to the server 40. Specifically, when the confirmation unit 22b receives an inquiry to confirm the contract status together with the user contract code from the server 40, the confirmation unit 22b contracts a user contract code that matches the user contract code (trade name code) received from the server 40. A search is made from the information management table 23a, the contract status (valid or invalid) corresponding to the user contract code is acquired, and the contract status is returned to the server 40.

[Configuration of Firewall 30]
Next, the configuration of the firewall 30 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the firewall 30 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the firewall 30 includes a communication unit 31, a control unit 32, and a storage unit 33. The processing of each of these units will be described below.

  The communication unit 31 controls communication related to various types of information exchanged with the connected consultant terminal 10, the authentication management server 20, the firewall 30, and the server 40. Specifically, the communication unit 31 receives a user ID and password from the authentication management server 20, and transmits an inquiry about the user ID and password to the server 40. Further, the communication unit 31 receives connection destination server information from the server 40 and transmits it to the authentication management server 20.

  In addition, the communication unit 31 transmits the connection destination server information and the port number of the port to be opened to the advisory terminal 10. Further, the communication unit 31 receives a remote connection from the advisor terminal 10.

  The storage unit 33 stores data and programs necessary for various processes performed by the control unit 32, and stores a port management table 33a, an advisory terminal IP management table 33b, and DNS information 33c.

  The port management table 33a stores the IP address of the connection destination server in association with the port number and trade name code of the open external port. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the port management table 33a uniquely associates the “IP address” of the connection destination server with the “external port” indicating the port number of the port to be opened, and the advisor. The associated business name code is stored in association with each other. For example, referring to the example of FIG. 6, the IP address “172.16.1.11”, the external port “9004”, and the trade name code “1001” are stored in association with each other.

  The advisory terminal IP management table 33b stores the global IP of the advisory terminal 10 that has requested authentication. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the consultant terminal IP management table 33 b stores “consultant terminal global IP” that is the global IP of the consultant terminal 10 that has requested authentication. For example, referring to the example of FIG. 7, “192.0.2.0/24” is stored as the consultant terminal global IP.

  The DNS information 33c is the DNS of the firewall 30. For example, the storage unit 33 stores “jw401000011.example.jp” as the DNS information of the firewall 30 as illustrated in FIG. The storage unit 33 may store a fixed IP of the firewall 30 instead of the DNS information. For example, “111.222.33.44” is stored as the fixed IP of the firewall 30.

  The control unit 32 has an internal memory for storing a program that defines various processing procedures and necessary data, and executes various processes by these, and performs an authentication unit 32a, a storage unit 32b, a registration unit 32c, and a transmission A section 32d, a connection establishment section 32e, and a disconnection section 32f.

  When the authentication unit 32 a receives an authentication request from the advisor terminal 10 via the authentication management server 20, the authentication unit 32 a authenticates the advisor terminal 10. Specifically, the authentication unit 32 a receives a request for authentication from the advisor terminal 10 via the authentication management server 20, and receives a user ID, a password, and the global IP of the advisor terminal 10. Then, the authentication unit 32a inquires whether or not the user ID and password match those registered in advance in the server 40, and the user ID and password match those registered in the server 40 in advance. If it is, it is determined that the advisor terminal 10 is valid.

  When the registration unit 32c receives the IP address and the trade name code from the server 40 that is the connection destination server, the registration unit 32c registers the IP address, the trade name code, and the port number that identifies the port permitted to connect to the consultant terminal 10 in association with each other. To do. Specifically, when receiving a port mapping instruction from the server 40 together with the IP address of the connection destination server from the server 40, the registration unit 32 c permits the connection of the IP address, the trade name code of the connection destination server and the consultant terminal 10 from the server 40. Are registered in the port management table 33a.

  The transmission unit 32d transmits the IP address and port number of the registered connection destination server to the advisory terminal 10. The transmitting unit 32d may perform encryption and send the IP address and port number to the consulting terminal 10. For example, it is conceivable to further improve the security level without reducing the processing speed as much as possible by encrypting only the TCP header (port number) or encrypting only the user data. In addition, it is conceivable to improve the security level by scrambling the port number.

  When the connection establishing unit 32e receives a remote connection request from the advisor terminal 10, the connection establishment unit 32e acquires the global IP of the advisor terminal 10, and acquires the acquired global IP and the global IP stored in the advisor terminal IP management table 33b. If both global IPs match, remote connection between the consultant terminal 10 and the connection destination server is established.

  The disconnecting unit 32f monitors whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 1 hour) has elapsed after establishing a remote connection between the advisory terminal 10 and the connection destination computer by the connection establishing unit 32e. In this case, close the port that allowed the connection and disconnect the remote connection. The timing for disconnecting the remote connection can be arbitrarily set. For example, when the user operating the advisor terminal 10 ends the session, the port may be immediately closed to disconnect the remote connection.

[Configuration of Server 40]
Next, the configuration of the server 40 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the server 40 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the server 40 includes a communication unit 41, a control unit 42, and a storage unit 43. The processing of each of these units will be described below.

  The communication unit 41 controls communication related to various information exchanged between the connected firewall 30 and the client PC 50. Specifically, the communication unit 41 receives a user ID and password inquiry from the firewall 30. In addition, the communication unit 41 transmits a contract status inquiry to the authentication management server 20. In addition, the communication unit 41 transmits a port mapping instruction to the firewall 30 together with the IP address of the connection destination server.

  The storage unit 43 stores data and programs necessary for various processes by the control unit 42, and includes an ID management table 43a, a user contract code 43b, an access management table 43c, a company master 43d, a determination table 43e, and a file access record. A unit 43f, a public file storage unit 43g, and a private file storage unit 43h.

  The ID management table 43a stores a set of user ID, password, and trade name code registered in advance preparation. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the ID management table 43a stores “user ID”, “trade name code” uniquely identifying a user, and “password” used at the time of authentication in association with each other. To do. For example, referring to the example of FIG. 10, the ID management table 43a stores a user ID “digital”, a password “Fridday 13”, and a trade name code “1001” in association with each other.

  The user contract code 43b is a code for uniquely identifying a contract. For example, the storage unit 43 stores “1001” as the user contract code (trade name code) as illustrated in FIG. 12. The server 40 inquires of the authentication management server 20 about the contract status based on the user contract code.

  The access management table 43c stores the path of a folder that can be connected remotely for each user. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 13, the access management table 43 c includes items of “trade name code” and “access permission folder path”, and associates “trade name code” with “access permission folder path”. Stores accessible paths and prohibits access to folders other than permitted paths. For example, referring to the example of FIG. 13, an accessible folder path of the trade name code “1001” is “¥¥ abc ¥ 1001−digital”.

  The company master 43d stores the basic information of the consultant, such as a trade name code, consultant name, business type, and settlement month. More specifically, as illustrated in the company master 43d, FIG. 11, "trade name code", "consultant name", "business type", and "financial month" are stored in association with each other. For example, referring to the example of FIG. 11, the company master 43d associates a trade name code “1001” with a consultant name “digital electronics industry”, an industry type “manufacturing industry”, and a settlement month “March”. to manage.

  As described above, the common name code is assigned to the ID management table 43a, the user contract code 43b, the access management table 43c, the company master 43d, the port management table 33a, and the contract information management table 23a. By using, the advisor can be managed uniquely.

  The determination table 43e is used to prevent transmission of a file from an accounting office to an advisor to another advisor. As will be described in detail later, when a file is registered in a folder (transmission BOX) of a specific advisor in the public area, a part of the advisor information associated with the folder (“trade name code”, etc.) Is registered in the determination table 43e. This is collated with the consultant information input by the accounting office user. If they match, the file is registered in the transmission BOX as the correct consultant is selected.

  The public file storage unit 43g is a file storage area that can be remotely connected from outside the accounting office. In the public file storage unit 43g, folders are created for each consultant and files are stored. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 21, there are a transmission folder and a reception folder under a folder for each consultant, and files are stored in the respective folders of the transmission folder and the reception folder. The private file storage unit 43h has no file entity, and records the directory configuration of the public file storage unit and the configuration information obtained by extracting the file attribute information.

  The control unit 42 has an internal memory for storing a program that defines various processing procedures and the necessary data, and executes various processes by these, and performs a pre-registration unit 42a, an inquiry unit 42b, and a list notification unit 42c. Address notification unit 42d, file management unit 42e, and verification unit 42f.

  The pre-registration unit 42a receives the user ID and password from the client PC 50 and registers them in the ID management table 43a in advance. That is, the pre-registration unit 42a manages the valid user ID and password in advance in order to authenticate whether or not the user ID and password that are input when the consultant terminal 10 requests authentication. Register in the table 43a. In addition, a pre-registration request from the advisor terminal 10 may be received and pre-registered.

  The inquiry unit 42b authenticates and manages whether or not the contract for establishing a remote connection between the advisory terminal 10 and the connected computer is valid when the advisory terminal 10 is authenticated by the firewall 30. Queries the server 20. Specifically, the inquiry unit 42b reads the user contract code from the storage unit 43 when the advisory terminal 10 is authenticated by the firewall 30 and authenticates the authentication based on the user contract code. The server 20 is inquired about the contract status. Then, the inquiry unit 42b receives a contract status indicating whether the contract is valid from the authentication management server 20.

  The notification unit 42c notifies the advisory terminal 10 when the contract is valid.

  If the advisory terminal 10 is authenticated by the firewall 30 as being valid, the address notification unit 42d notifies the firewall 30 of the IP address of the connection destination server to which the advisory terminal 10 is connected. Specifically, if the advisory terminal 10 is authenticated by the firewall 30 as being valid, the address notification unit 42d notifies the firewall 30 of the IP address of the server to which the advisory terminal 10 is connected, and the port 30 Direct the mapping.

  The file management unit 42e performs a process of setting a read flag for a file in the transmission folder when an operation is performed on a file transmitted to or received from the consultant or when the transmitted file is viewed on the consultant. In one embodiment, file operations and the like are performed using a known WebDAV protocol.

  The collating unit 42f performs collation to prevent transmission to another advisor when sending a file from the accounting office to the advisor. That is, when a file is registered in a folder (transmission BOX) of a specific advisor in the public area, a part of the advisor information associated with the folder (for example, “trade name code” and “advisor name”). ") Is registered in the determination table 43e, and the" trade name code "and" consultant name "are inquired to the accounting office user. The inputted “trade name code” and “consultant name” are collated with the registered contents of the determination table 43e, and if they match, it is determined that the correct consultant is selected. Although not shown in FIG. 9, the storage unit of the server of this system includes a folder managed by the file system in the accounting office, as will be described later with reference to FIG. In order to manage files, a file storage area in the accounting office is provided for recording a folder for each advisor having a predetermined directory structure.

  As described above, the configurations of the consultant terminal 10, the authentication management server 20, the firewall 30, and the server 40 included in the connection authentication system 100 have been described. Here, the outline of the authentication process and the remote connection process in the connection authentication system 100 as a precondition process of the file transmission / reception management method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an overview of authentication processing and connection processing in the connection authentication system.

  As shown in FIG. 14, in the connection authentication system 100, the consultant terminal 10 that requests authentication first requests authentication via the authentication management server 20 (see (1) in FIG. 14). Here, since the firewall 30 permits only access from the specific authentication management server 20, the firewall 30 does not directly perform the authentication process with the consultant terminal 10, but instead consults the advisor via the authentication management server 20. Authentication of the destination terminal 10 is performed. For this reason, the safety | security of an authentication process can be improved.

  When the firewall 30 permits remote connection of the advisor terminal 10 as a result of authentication, the firewall 30 notifies the advisor terminal 10 of the port number of the external port to be opened (see (2) in FIG. 14). . Thereafter, the remote connection between the advisor terminal 10 and the server 40 is established (see (3) in FIG. 14). The above authentication process is performed via the authentication management server 20, but the connection process is directly performed by the consultant terminal 10 and the server 40 through the firewall 30. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the communication load and reduce the communication speed as compared with the case where encryption processing such as VPN is performed or an external authentication server is interposed in the middle. In the example of FIG. 14, for convenience, the advisory terminal 10 and the server 40 are directly connected by an arrow as remote connection, but it is assumed that they are actually connected through the firewall 30.

  Therefore, a connection process in the connection authentication system 100 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining remote connection processing in the connection authentication system. In the example of FIG. 15, it is assumed that the advisor terminal 10a and the server 40 are remotely connected, and the advisor terminal 10b and the server 40 are also remotely connected. In the example of FIG. 15, the IP address of the advisor terminal 10a is “A”, the IP address of the advisor terminal 10b is “B”, and the IP address of the server 40 is “172.16.1.11”. ”.

  In the example of FIG. 15, the firewall 30 has the IP address “172.16.1.11”, the external port “9004”, and the trade name code “1001” of the server 40 in the port management table 33 a illustrated in FIG. Assume that the IP address “172.16.1.11” is associated with the external port “9005” and the trade name code “2356”.

  When the firewall 30 receives the packet addressed to the external port “9004” from the consulting terminal 10a, the firewall 30 acquires the IP address “172.16.1.11” associated with the external port “9004” from the port management table 33a. Then, the packet is transferred to an internal port “3389” (not shown) corresponding to the IP address “172.16.1.11”.

  Similarly, when the firewall 30 receives a packet addressed to the external port “9005” from the advisor terminal 10b, the firewall 30 assigns the IP address “172.16.1.11” associated with the external port “9005” to the port management table. The packet is acquired from 33a and transferred to the internal port “3389” corresponding to the IP address “172.16.1.11”.

  As described above, the firewall 30 associates an IP address, a port number, and a trade name code, that is, performs port mapping, and the authenticated consultant terminal 10a permits communication only for 40a and 10b only for 40b. Therefore, for example, even if a terminal other than the terminal authenticated by the person 70 who performs the unauthorized communication is used to illegally enter the local LAN in the accounting office, the intrusion can be prevented.

[Connection processing]
Next, connection processing by the file transmission / reception management system 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of connection processing by the file transmission / reception management system.

  First, in the file transmission / reception management system 100, the processing of step S1 to step S3 is performed as advance preparation before performing the authentication processing and the connection processing. As shown in FIG. 16, the server 40 of the file transmission / reception management system 100 accepts registration of a user ID and password from the client PC 50 as a preliminary preparation (step S1), and sets a combination of the user ID, password, and trade name code in an ID management table. Register to 43a.

  Subsequently, the server 40 acquires the DNS information 33c from the firewall 30 (step S2). A fixed IP may be used instead of the DNS information. Then, the server 40 creates a URL for accessing the authentication management server 20 and a key file necessary for connection, and notifies the advisory terminal 10 by mail (step S3). This URL is a combination of the DNS information in the firewall 30 and the URL of the authentication management server 20.

  Then, the advisory terminal 10 uses the advisory file management application software using the URL and the connection key received by e-mail, accesses the authentication management server 20, and inputs the user ID and password for authentication. A request is made (step S4).

  Here, FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a screen displayed on the consultant file management application software when requesting authentication in step S4. As shown in FIG. 17, the “connection destination address” that is the DNS information of the firewall 30 is automatically input from the URL parameter of the access destination received by mail, and the “connection key” is automatically input from the attached connection key file. In addition, the account of the advisor is entered in the items of “user ID” and “password”.

  Next, when receiving the input of the user ID and password from the advisor terminal 10, the authentication management server 20 acquires the global IP of the advisor terminal 10, and together with the received user ID and password, the global IP of the advisor terminal 10 is acquired. Is transmitted to the firewall 30 (step S5).

  When the firewall 30 receives the user ID, the password, and the global IP of the consulting terminal 10 via the authentication management server 20, whether or not the user ID and the password match those registered in the server 40 in advance. (Step S6). As a result, the firewall 30 determines that the advisory terminal 10 is valid when the user ID and password match those registered in the server 40 in advance. If the firewall 30 determines that the consulting terminal 10 is valid, the firewall 30 stores the global IP of the consulting terminal 10 in the consulting terminal IP management table 33b.

  Then, when the advisory terminal 10 is authenticated by the firewall 30 as valid, the server 40 authenticates whether the contract for establishing the remote connection between the advisory terminal 10 and the connection destination computer is valid. The management server 20 is inquired (step S7). Thereafter, when receiving an inquiry from the server 40, the authentication management server 20 checks whether the contract status is valid and responds to the server 40 with the contract status (step S8).

  Then, when the advisory terminal 10 is authenticated by the firewall 30, the server 40 notifies the firewall 30 of the IP address of the connection destination server to which the advisory terminal 10 is connected, and instructs port mapping. (Step S9). When the firewall 30 receives a port mapping instruction from the server 40 together with the IP address of the connection destination computer, the firewall 30 associates the connection destination IP and the port number for identifying the port permitting the connection of the advisory terminal 10 from the server 40. Register in the port management table 33a.

  Subsequently, the firewall 30 notifies the consulting destination terminal 10 of the IP address and port number of the connection destination server (step S10). The firewall 30 monitors the timeout immediately after the notification. Then, the consultant terminal 10 obtains the connection address and port number from the consultant file management application software, and requests remote connection to the firewall 30 (step S11).

  Subsequently, when receiving a remote connection request from the advisor terminal 10, the firewall 30 acquires the global IP of the advisor terminal 10, and acquires the acquired global IP and the global IP stored in the advisor terminal IP management table 33b. Authentication is performed by comparing with IP (step S12).

  As a result, if the two global IPs match, the firewall 30 establishes a remote connection between the advisor terminal 10 and the connection destination server (step S13). Further, when establishing a remote connection or data communication between the consultant terminal 10 and the connection destination server after the establishment, security is maintained by encryption.

  Thereafter, the firewall 30 monitors whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 1 hour) has elapsed after establishing a remote connection between the consultant terminal 10 and the connection destination server. The port that has been permitted is closed to disconnect the remote connection (step S14).

  The processing on the accounting office side from the above-described steps S1 to S3 will be further described with reference to FIG. The accounting office file management application is running on the client PC 50 of the accounting office and calls its server management setting screen (not shown) (a1). On this screen, the accounting office user has the advisor user account (ID, password), the folder name for the advisor provided in the public area of the storage area of the server 40 (and the advisor in the corresponding private area). (Transmission / reception BOX) is registered, and the access right of the accounting office user to the transmission / reception BOX is set (a2). This access right setting is linked to the transmission / reception BOX, and only authorized accounting office users can perform file operations on the transmission / reception BOX. The file management application acquires the advisor list from the company master 43d of the server 40 and presents it to the user (a3). The user selects the consultant if it exists in the presented list (a4: Y, a7). If not, the user newly registers and designates the consultant (a4: N, a5-a7). The file management application associates the information (at least “verification code”) of the advisor with the transmission / reception BOX (created newly in the case of new registration) of the advisor in the public area of the storage unit of the server 40, and connects the key file. Is transmitted to the advisor (a8-10).

[Overview of file transmission / reception]
FIG. 20 is an image diagram showing an outline of file transmission / reception in the file transmission / reception management system of the present invention. It is assumed that an advisory file management application is operating on the advisory terminal 10 of each advisory, and an accounting office file management application is operating on the server 40. The storage unit 43 of the server 40 includes a public area (public file storage unit 43g) that can be accessed from an advisor, and an office area (private file storage unit 43h) that can be accessed only from within the accounting office. Accounting data (accounting file) for each consultant created at the accounting office or book data such as financial statements and document files are originally stored in the office area (file system in accounting office in FIG. 24). The When a desired file in the office area is to be transmitted to the advisor, when the file is input to the transmission box in the office area, the file is registered in the folder of the advisor in the public area 43g. As a result, a remotely connected consultant terminal can view and download files registered in the folder of the consultant in the public area. On the other hand, when the client wants to send from the advisor to the accounting office, the advisor file management application processes the desired file to be sent from the unique file management area of the advisor (the advisor file system in FIG. 24). When it is input to the transmission box of the advisor, it is stored in the folder of the advisor in the public area. As a result, the file created in the advisory terminal 10 is transmitted to the public area 43g of the server 40 via the advisory file management application, and the accounting office can view it or save it in the office area 43h. Can be.

  As shown in FIG. 21, in the public area 43g, a folder is created for each advisor, and there are a transmission folder and a reception folder under the folder for each advisor. When the public area 43g is viewed from the client PC 50 of the accounting firm, a transmission BOX 71 and a reception BOX 72 for each advisor are displayed as illustrated in FIG. On the other hand, when the public area is viewed from the consultant terminal 10, as shown in FIG. 22, the folders of other consultants are hidden, and only the reception BOX 73 and the transmission BOX 74 of the company's folder are visible. This is based on the folder structure created for each advisor in the file system within the accounting office, and based on the account information of the advisor, only the folder for each advisor is cut out and stored. This is realized by replicating the entire folder structure created in the above, and making the folder of the advisor only accessible. More specifically, the consultant folder is linked to the consultant code (see FIG. 13), and the consultant is identified from the ID (account information for each consultant) obtained when accessing from the consultant or the consultant code. Discriminating and storing a part of the folder structure created for each advisor in the accounting file system within the accounting office, or duplicating all advisor folders and browsing / manipulating only those folders Realized by making it possible. It should be noted that lower folders such as by year and by type may be further provided below the transmission BOX and the reception BOX. The folder structure created for each advisor in the accounting office file system is not shown, but it is similar to the folder structure for each advisor shown in the transmission BOX of the private area in FIG. It is.

Server file processing
The server 40 monitors and manages whether a file has been transmitted from the advisor terminal to the file storage unit of the server storage unit. Specifically, the file management unit 42e in the control unit 42 illustrated in FIG. 9 monitors and manages file accesses made to the public file storage unit 43g in the storage unit 43.

  When a file is transmitted from the advisor terminal, the file management unit 42e detects the behavior and records it in the file access recording unit 43f in real time.

  The file access recording unit 43f is data in which information related to file access is recorded as an example of file management information. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 18, the file access recording unit 43 f records a file access history, and is a code that uniquely identifies to which consultant the file belongs. Associating the “trade name code” with the “path” indicating the storage location of the file, the “file name” indicating the file name, the “unread / read” indicating whether the file is accessed, or the information indicating the file update date / time Record. In the example of FIG. 18, the trade name code “1001”, the path “¥¥ abc ¥ 1001-digital”, the file name “kessan.pdf”, unread / read “unread” (unread indicates unread, already read) The update date and time “2013/01 / **” is associated with each other.

[Overview of file transmission procedure from accounting firm to consultant]
FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram showing a procedure for sending a file from an accounting office to a consultant. Premise processing (transmission processing for sharing folder configuration information in the background) will be described in the order of circle numbers. The following processing is performed when the consultant terminal 10 and the client terminal 50 of the accounting office are connected.
1. After authentication of a specific advisor, a folder for each advisor is generated in the public area by account control on the server 40 side. The accounting office server 40 manages the entity of each advisor folder in the public area and extracts the configuration information of each folder (directory configuration of the folder and attribute information of the file stored in each folder). To the advisory terminal to notify the advisor about the structure of the advisory folder in the public area (management of the file of the advisory folder in the public area and the latest folder) Communication of configuration information). Similarly, as a service for the terminal in the accounting office, a service for notifying the configuration of the advisor folder in the public area is performed. As a result, the update status of the advisor folder in the latest public area (that is, the status of the send / receive file stored in the public area) is notified to the accounting office and the consultant, and the file send / receive status via the public area. Can be transmitted.
2. The consultant terminal 50 acquires configuration information (folder configuration) and folder management information (read information / directory attributes, etc.) from the public area of the server 40.
3. The client PC 50 of the accounting office acquires configuration information and file management information from the public area of the server 40. In this case, based on the IP address and user ID acquired by the login process of the client PC 50, all of the folders of one or more advisors to which the access right is given to the client PC or the user are acquired and can be browsed.

The transmission procedure from the server 40 to the advisory terminal 10 will be briefly described. The following processing is performed in the order of circle numbers.
1. From the client terminal 50 of the accounting office, selection of a desired file in the folder for each advisor built in the file system in the accounting office and an instruction to move the file in the non-public area of the server 40 to the transmission BOX are accepted. . This process is performed by drag & drop or the like by user operation.

  For example, in FIG. 24, the transmission box is provided with a file system-like GUI (graphical user interface) that allows browsing and selection of the folder structure for each advisor, and a transmission activation icon (postal mail) for activating a transmission instruction. Post-like icon) is provided, and from a folder having a predetermined directory structure (not shown) managed for each advisor in the accounting office file system, a predetermined file to be transmitted (in the figure, cash register 2506) ) Is dragged and dropped to the transmission activation icon, the transmission process is activated, and the state of interlocking with the erroneous transmission prevention process is shown. Here, when a predetermined file to be transmitted (the cash register 2506 in the figure) is inserted into the transmission activation icon by a drag and drop operation, the transmission destination folder is not directly shifted to the transmission activation process and the erroneous transmission prevention process. In response to a drag-and-drop operation, the process may be shifted to a transmission activation process and an erroneous transmission prevention process.

  In the example of FIG. 24, the cash register 2506 file in the folder for the consultant B in the office file system is selected. Here, there are a lot of folders for each advisor in the file system in the accounting firm. In addition, when browsing the folders below each advisor, it is difficult to see the names of the advisors in the upper hierarchy. When doing so, there is a risk of sending a file of another consultant by mistake in ordinary mail transmission / reception software and general file sharing system. In the present invention, the following means are used to check the mail-like visual transmission / reception destination (this is difficult to understand in the file sharing system, either transmission / reception) or the mail transmission / reception software has. While using the light drag-and-drop operation and combining the advantages of the file sharing system with the mail transmission / reception software, such as the friendly management of the folder management of the file sharing system, it prevents erroneous transmission. I am trying.

  In FIG. 24, for the convenience of the resolution of the drawing, only the information on the folder structure and the file name is described in the transmission box on the accounting office side or the reception box on the advisory side. As shown, the file management information includes transmission / reception date / time information (update date / time information) as file attribute information in addition to the read / unread information of the file (read / read as part of the file management information). As shown in FIG. 35, it is configured such that history information such as when a file is transmitted (updated) can be seen at a glance.

2. If there is a lower level folder for each advisor in the sending BOX by year, type, etc., specify and select the user to store (send) to which folder of the advisor's folder to which the file is sent Accept (specify destination folder). In the example of FIG. 24, the 2013 folder of the account book data of the advisor B is designated.

3. In order to prevent erroneous transmission, the user is requested to input a trade name code, etc., and collated with the trade name code associated with the designated folder. If the verification fails, the user is prompted to re-select an advisor or re-enter a trade name code.

4). If the verification is successful, the file is stored in the corresponding advisor folder in the public area. At this time, “unread” is set as the file attribute.

5. The public area is accessed from the consultant terminal 10 to obtain file management information. In the example of FIG. 24, since the cashbook 2506 file is stored in the folder for 2013 in the cashier data in the folder of the advisor B in the public area, such information is transmitted to the advisor terminal and the advisor A state of being displayed in the inbox B is shown. As a result, the advisor side can obtain a GUI that can be seen at a glance as a reception BOX, and it is a file related to transmission / reception in combination with the transmission BOX described later. There is an effect that can be grasped at a glance. In the case of files having the same file name, it is possible to distinguish at a glance whether the file has been audited by the accounting office or whether the file has been corrected and added by the advisor.

  In other words, in the mail transmission / reception software, in order to perform management in units of folders, after the transmission / reception is finished, a predetermined transmission folder (and a folder constructed in a lower level) or a reception folder (and a folder constructed in a lower level) are manually performed. ) Must be stored, which is complicated. In addition, files related to transmission may be mistakenly stored in the folder on the receiving side, and because there are many unspecified parties, there are many destination folders, and folders other than the other party who sent them. There was an inconvenience of storing it by mistake. According to the present invention, a predetermined file transmission / reception process and transmission are performed in the manner of using a mail-like transmission / reception box while maintaining a mode that is preliminarily created and conforming to the folder structure for each advisor (folder-like). / History management can be performed with distinction of reception, and the file in the office that is put into the folder by the function of preventing erroneous transmission by interlocking with the existing accounting office file system and company DB (company master) The system has the effect of enabling transmission and reception in a familiar manner with the system, and it is a fusion that cannot be realized by only one of the mail transmission / reception software and file management system, or simply combining both systems A mechanism can be provided.

6). The updated file management information is reflected on the reception BOX screen of the consultant terminal 10. Thereby, it is shown that the accounting book 2506 file has been transmitted from the accounting office to the terminal of the advisor B. A necessary file is browsed or stored in the local storage of the advisory terminal 10 by an operation of the advisory user on the receiving side. When the received file is opened or when an operation for storing the received file in the consultant file system is performed, this operation information is sent to the server 40 (as read information). In this case, not only can you perform operations to store in the advisory file system on a file basis, but you can also perform operations to store in the advisory file system on a folder basis, in which case it is stored in that folder. The unread information of each unread file that has been read is updated to the read information and sent to the server 40.

7). In the server 40, information obtained by browsing and saving the file at the advisor is acquired.

8). This information is reflected in the transmission BOX of the file management application, and “read / unread” is switched.

[Overview of file transmission procedure from advisor to accounting firm]
FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing a procedure for sending a file from the advisor to the accounting office. This precondition process is the same as that in FIG. Briefly describing this transmission procedure, the following processing is performed in the order of circled numbers.
1. Registration of the file created by the consultant terminal 10 in the transmission BOX of the file management application is accepted. This process is performed by drag & drop or the like by the operation of the advisor user.
2. When there is a lower level folder by year, type, etc. under the transmission BOX, the designation / selection of the user for the folder to be registered is accepted and reflected on the screen. At this time, “unread” is set as the file attribute.
3. Files and file management information are transmitted to the server 40.
4). The server 40 stores the file in the designated folder in the public area. These processes are performed using a known protocol such as WebDAV.
5. When the file management application is operated on the client terminal 50 of the accounting office, the updated folder information is reflected in the reception BOX. When the file is browsed and saved by the operation of the accounting office user, the information is sent to the consultant terminal 10.
6). In the consultant's terminal 10, information obtained by browsing and saving the file on the accounting office side is acquired, reflected in the transmission BOX of the file management application, and “read / unread” is switched.
7). On the accounting office side, the transmitted file is stored in the accounting office file system by, for example, a drag-and-drop operation, and used for the service of each consultant. In this case, after selecting a file in the reception BOX without using a drag-and-drop operation, it is automatically stored in a corresponding folder by pressing an icon such as a “registration button” provided separately in the reception BOX. You may do it.

[Explanation when sending a file from the accounting firm server to the advisor]
27 and 28 are flowcharts for explaining the procedure outlined in FIG. 24 in more detail. FIG. 27 shows a processing flow for storing the file in the transmission BOX at the accounting office, and FIG. 28 shows a flow for acquiring the file put in the transmission BOX at the consultant. At the accounting office, financial accounting files of advisors such as financial statements and trial balance tables are registered and managed in the private file storage unit 43h for each advisor. In FIG. 27, when the accounting office file management application is activated (b1), authentication processing of the client terminal 50 or its user is performed by inputting an ID or password as necessary. Based on the IP address and the user ID of the client terminal 50 acquired here, the server 20 refers to the user registration information (not shown, see step a2 in FIG. 26) stored in the storage unit and notifies the terminal or user. Folder configuration information and file management information for only the folder to which the access right is granted are generated and sent to the client terminal 50. This is displayed on the client terminal 50, and as shown in FIG. 21, the folder structure to which the access right is given to the user is displayed.

  The accounting office user selects the file to be sent from the folder for each advisor managed by the accounting office file system, and the office that is realized by the file management application by drag & drop or copy & paste ( It registers in the transmission BOX of the desired consultant folder in the non-public area (b2-b3). At this time, for example, the file management unit 42e detects a data registration operation to the transmission BOX and executes a collation process so that the file of the advisor A is not erroneously transmitted to the advisor B.

  The verification process is executed by the verification unit 42f of the control unit. Specifically, the collation unit 42f first collates with the company master 43d in the storage unit 43, acquires a part of the advisor information associated with the transmission BOX, and copies it to the determination table 43e. The verification unit displays the questions of “trade name code” and “advisor name” to the accounting office user on the screen and accepts the input of the accounting office user. The collation unit collates “trade name code” and “advisor name” input by the accounting office user with the determination table (b4-b7). When all the collation results match, the collation unit notifies the file management unit, and the file management unit executes registration in the transmission BOX (b8). If verification is not possible, re-entering the trade name code is required. Here, the accounting firm user's questions are “trade name code” and “advisor name”. However, by adding more question items such as “financial month”, it is possible to multiplex prevention of erroneous transmission. is there. The data stored in the transmission BOX is transmitted to the consultant (b9).

  Note that the erroneous transmission prevention check function is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, a character string included in data to be transmitted may be analyzed, and if a trade name code and / or consultant name associated with a specified folder exists, it may be determined that the destination is a correct destination. .

  When sending a file from the accounting firm to the advisor, it is possible to drag and drop the file only to the transmission BOX seen from the accounting firm, and drag and drop the file to the receiving BOX seen from the accounting firm. Drop is not allowed.

  Referring to FIG. 28, when the advisory file management application is started in the advisory terminal (c1), the connection process with the server 40 is performed by the process described in FIG. 16, and the remote connection is established. At this time, the server 40 identifies a consultant based on the acquired IP address and / or user ID of the consultant terminal 10, and folder configuration information and file management information of only the folder for the consultant in the public area. Is transmitted to the consultant terminal 10. This is displayed on the consultant terminal 10 and the folder structure of the consultant is displayed as shown in FIG. The advisory file management application is started at the same time as the startup of the advisory terminal 10, acquires the folder structure information and file management information of the reception BOX, and notifies the advisory user when there is unread data. Good.

As can be seen by comparing FIG. 22 and FIG. 23, the file transmitted from the accounting firm is registered in the reception BOX as seen from the advisor. The above-described file management unit manages the transmission BOX and the reception BOX in the following relationship, and displays how the same folder looks on the application when viewed from the accounting office and the consultant. .
When viewed from the accounting office (transmission BOX) = When viewed from the advisor (reception BOX)
When viewed from the accounting office (reception BOX) = When viewed from the advisor (transmission BOX)

  Here, when unread data exists in the reception BOX 73, it is highlighted. If there is unread data, the consultant user selects the reception BOX of the file management application (c2), and moves the desired data to the desired area of the local storage (c3). This process is performed by drag & drop, copy & paste, and the like according to user operations. Or, after selecting a file in the reception BOX without using a drag-and-drop operation, it is automatically stored in a corresponding folder by pressing an icon such as a “registration button” provided in the reception BOX. Anyway. At this time, the file management application downloads the actual data from the public area of the server 40 (c4), and when copying it to the local storage, changes the data in the received BOX to read (c5-c6). This information is acquired by the file management unit 14d, sent to the accounting office server 40, and the display of the transmission BOX of the accounting office file management application is changed to read (c7). In the case of drag and drop or cut and paste (c5: N), the advisory file management application deletes the target data from the received BOX (c8), and the information is transmitted to the server 40, and the accounting office file management application. Deletes the target data from the transmission BOX in the public area (c9). Here, considering that the reception BOX has a role as a history of whether or not the file is obtained by reception, the deletion process (steps c8 and c9) may not be provided. In the above description, data is transmitted and received in units of files. However, as described above, a folder may be selected and all actual data in the folder may be transmitted and received and / or stored in the local storage. Good.

[Explanation when sending a file from the advisor terminal to the accounting firm server]
29 and 30 are flowcharts for explaining in more detail the procedure for transmitting a file from the consultant outlined in FIG. 25 to the accounting office server 40. FIG. 29 shows a processing flow in which data is stored in the transmission BOX at the consultant accounting office, and FIG. 30 shows a processing flow in which data is acquired from the reception BOX on the accounting office side. Referring to FIG. 29, data to be transmitted by the user in the consultant terminal 10 is registered in the transmission BOX (d1). This process is performed by drag & drop, copy & paste, and the like according to user operations. In this case, since the file management application for advisors is specialized to transmit only to the accounting office server, no erroneous transmission prevention function is provided. However, the system of the present invention can be provided with a data transmission function from a consultant to a plurality of destinations (not limited to accounting firms, consultant lawyers, business partners, etc.). In that case, the processing described with reference to FIG. An erroneous transmission prevention function by collating a transmission destination code, a transmission destination name, or the like may be provided. In this case, the configuration of the advisory file management application and the advisory terminal 10 is substantially the same as that of the accounting office file management application and the server 40, and detailed description thereof will be omitted in this document.

  The data registered in the transmission BOX in this way is transmitted to the accounting office server 40 (d3), and is registered as unread data in the reception BOX of the advisor at the server 40 (d4). In this case, the entity data may be sent to the server 40 as soon as it is registered in the transmission BOX of the advisory terminal 10, or only the folder configuration and file management information of the transmission BOX are sent to the server 40, and the folder information is changed. It is updated, and the entity data may be transmitted to the server 40 for the first time when the accounting office user operates the file (opens the file, saves it in a non-public area, etc.). When file transmission is executed from the advisor terminal, the file management unit 42e of the server sorts and stores the file in the reception folder of the advisor in the public file storage unit 43g.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 25, when the “Account book 2505” stored in the local drive is dragged and dropped from the advisor A to the advisor transmission box, transmission processing to the accounting office is performed. This is executed, and “Account book 2505” is registered and displayed on the reception BOX of the consultant A in the reception BOX of the server public area. In the accounting office, files are registered and managed in the server transmission BOX and server reception BOX by subdividing the advisory name + reception BOX and advisory name + transmission BOX in units of advisors. ing.

  When sending a file from the advisor to the accounting office, it is possible to drag and drop the file only to the transmission BOX as seen from the advisor, and to drag and drop the file to the receiving BOX as seen from the advisor It is impossible.

  Referring to FIG. 30, when the accounting office file management application is started in the client PC 50 of the accounting office (e1), authentication processing of the client terminal 50 or its user is performed by inputting an ID or password as necessary. Based on the IP address and the user ID of the client terminal 50 acquired here, the server 20 refers to the user registration information (not shown, see step a2 in FIG. 26) stored in the storage unit and notifies the terminal or user. Folder configuration information and file management information for only the folder to which the access right is granted are generated and sent to the client terminal 50. This is displayed on the client terminal 50, and as shown in FIG. 21, the folder structure to which the access right is given to the user is displayed. If there is unread data here, it is highlighted. The file management application for the accounting office is started at the same time when the client PC 50 is started, acquires the folder configuration information and file management information of the reception BOX in the public area of the server 40, and if there is unread data, the accounting office The user may be notified.

  If there is unread data, the accounting office user selects the reception BOX of the file management application (e2), and moves the desired data to a desired location in the private area of the server 40 (e3). This process is performed by drag & drop, copy & paste, and the like according to user operations. At this time, if the data as the entity has not been transmitted to the server 40 yet, the entity data is transmitted from the advisory terminal 10 to the server 40. When copying data to the non-public area, the file management unit 42e updates the unread / read information in the file access (unread / read) recording unit illustrated in FIG. 18 from “unread” to “read”. (E5-e6). This information is sent to the consultant terminal 10, and the display of the transmission BOX of the consultant file management application is changed to read (e7). In the case of drag and drop or cut and paste instead of file copy (e5: N), the file management application of the server 40 deletes the target data from the received BOX (e8), and the information is transmitted to the consultant terminal 10 for consulting. The destination file management application deletes the target data from the transmission BOX (e9). Here, in consideration of the role of the reception BOX as a history of whether or not it is a file acquired by reception, the deletion process (steps e8 and e9) may not be provided. In the above description, entity data is transmitted and received in units of files, but as described above, a folder may be selected and all entity data in the folder may be transmitted / received or stored in the accounting office file system. Good.

  31 and 32 are sequence diagrams in the case where the processes of FIGS. 24 and 25 are divided for each component. Most of the processing is as described above, and detailed description is omitted. As shown in FIGS. 31 and 32, data transmitted and received between the accounting office and the consultant is encoded and transmitted, and the receiving side Decrypted with This is executed when both file management applications transmit / receive data.

[Effect of Example 1]
As described above, in the file transmission / reception management system 100 according to the first embodiment, the authentication process is performed through the authentication management server 20 to improve safety, while the connection process is performed through the firewall 30 to the advisory terminal. The communication load is reduced by performing the processing directly between the server 10 and the server 40. As a result, the authentication connection server 100 can reduce the decrease in communication speed due to the communication load, increase the safety, and connect the advisor terminal with the server 40 in an easy procedure. Compared with a method such as attaching an e-mail, file transmission / reception can be easily and securely performed between the accounting office and the accounting office without worrying about the capacity of the file.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to prevent erroneous transmission by providing multiple checks when a file is transmitted from an accounting office to a consultant.

  Furthermore, a part of the effect of the file transmission / reception management system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 33, according to the present invention, it is possible to intuitively determine whether the data is sent or sent by giving the directionality to the data and managing it by the transmission BOX and the reception BOX. Also, by checking the state of the transmission data, it can be determined whether it has been read or not. With these elements, important accounting data can be exchanged between the advisor and the accounting office as if they were contacted by email without worrying about security concerns.

  In addition, it is possible to transmit data as if accessing data in a storage device in the office without being conscious of data transfer from outside in the accounting office. Furthermore, if the public area is set to be accessible only from the file management application for accounting firms, and if user authentication is performed when the application is started and operated, there is a possibility that multiple users may use the same terminal. Even in some cases, high security can be maintained. As described above, in addition to the easy distinction between transmission and reception as seen in email transmission / reception software, it combines folder-like file management, which was not good with email transmission / reception software, By inheriting the GUI of the drag and drop operation that was possible in the shared system, transforming it into a drag and drop operation that includes the meaning of transmission / reception distinction, and taking measures to prevent erroneous transmission at the optimal stage in the transmission operation For a large number of advisors, file transmission / reception management can be suitably performed in an accounting office that manages various files over many years.

  Note that each component of each illustrated apparatus is functionally conceptual and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. In other words, the specific form of distribution / integration of each device is not limited to that shown in the figure, and all or a part thereof may be functionally or physically distributed or arbitrarily distributed in arbitrary units according to various loads or usage conditions. Can be integrated and configured. Further, all or any part of each processing function performed in each device may be realized by a CPU and a program analyzed and executed by the CPU, or may be realized as hardware by wired logic.

  In addition, among the processes described in this embodiment, all or part of the processes described as being performed automatically can be performed manually, or the processes described as being performed manually can be performed. All or a part can be automatically performed by a known method. In addition, the processing procedure, control procedure, specific name, and information including various data and parameters shown in the above-described document and drawings can be arbitrarily changed unless otherwise specified.

  The file transmission / reception management method described in the present embodiment can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program can be distributed via a network such as the Internet. The program can also be executed by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-ROM, an MO, and a DVD and being read from the recording medium by the computer.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is described as a file transmission / reception management system exchanged between an accounting office and a consultant. However, the present invention is not limited to a system for an accounting office, and a plurality of suppliers. It can be used as a file transmission / reception management system in other industries that transmit and receive important confidential data. This type of business includes, for example, law firms, patent offices, judicial scrivener offices, etc., as well as general manufacturing and sales that send and receive important document data via communication networks with multiple business partners. A wide variety of industries are included.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Advisor terminal 11 Input part 12 Output part 13 Communication part 14 Control part 14a Authentication request part 14b Selection instruction part 14c Remote connection request part 14d File management part 15 Storage part 20 Authentication management server 30 Firewall 40 Server 42e File management part 42f Collation Part 43f file access recording part 43g public file storage part 43h private file storage part 50a-50c client PC
100 File transmission / reception management system

Claims (6)

An office server to which one or more in-office terminals are connected and one or more advisor terminals are connected by a network, and the office server and a specific advisor terminal are securely connected to each other. A system for managing transmission and reception,
The storage means of the office server is
In-office file storage area, which is a storage area for managing files of each advisor,
A private storage area that can be accessed from each advisor terminal, and for each advisor, a private folder for specific advisors that is set to be accessible only to the advisor terminal of the advisor and the office terminal is registered. A private storage area,
It is accessible only from the terminal in the office, and is divided into a private storage area set to be inaccessible from the outside including the advisor terminal,
In the limited public folder for specific advisors, a folder group for each one or more advisors having a directory structure for managing files for each advisor is stored.
The private storage area stores the configuration information of each folder for each advisor, extracted from the limited public folder for specific advisors,
An advisory DB that contains account information for each advisor to manage multiple advisors;
Management information for all folders in the private storage area, and
The control means of the office server is
A means for accepting designation of a destination folder using a user interface generated based on configuration information of each folder for each of the advisors, the file stored in the file storage area in the office as a specific advisor A transmission designation receiving means for receiving in the user interface which folder in the private folder for the specific advisor for the advisor to be stored,
An erroneous transmission preventing means for preventing the file from being transmitted to a party other than the intended advisor;
When the designation of a file stored in the in-office file area and an instruction for selecting a private folder for a specific advisory destination of an advisory destination as a transmission destination are received from the terminal in the office by the transmission designation receiving unit,
Based on the information of the adviser destination associated with the limited public folder for the specific adviser specified and obtained from the advisory DB by the erroneous sending prevention means, after checking the adviser destination of the destination,
The file transmission / reception management system characterized in that the file instructed to select is stored in a limited public folder for a specific advisor in the limited public storage area. In the file transmission / reception management system according to claim 1,
The office server further includes:
When there is a request for access to the private storage area in the office server from a specific advisor terminal, based on the account information of the advisor terminal, a private folder for a specific advisor dedicated to the advisor Permission means to allow access to,
When permitted, it comprises folder management information extraction and transmission means for extracting the folder management information of the limited public folder for the specific advisor and sending it to the advisor terminal,
The control means of the advisor terminal is
Folder management information acquisition means for accessing the office server and acquiring folder management information from the folder management information extraction transmission means of the office server;
A consultant dedicated folder display browsing means for creating display information for browsing the contents of a folder having a predetermined directory structure of a private folder for a specific consultant dedicated folder based on the acquired folder management information; Prepared,
When the folder management information acquisition means of the advisor terminal accesses the limited storage area of the office server as needed, a new file to the limited folder for the specific advisor of the advisor at the office server When there is registration, to obtain the updated folder management information including which folder in the private folder for the specific advisor is stored,
A file transmission / reception management system characterized in that, in the consultant terminal, the latest folder structure after update and the existence of a registered file can be browsed by the consultant dedicated folder display browsing means. In the file transmission / reception management system according to claim 2,
The advisory terminal further includes:
When a specific folder or file is instructed to be selected from the display information created by the consultant dedicated folder display browsing means, the entity of the selected folder or file is acquired from the office server and the advisor is selected. A file transmission / reception management system comprising file acquisition means for storing in a storage means of a destination terminal. In the file transmission / reception management system according to claim 3,
The office server has server-side folder management information acquisition means for detecting that a specific file has been acquired by the advisory terminal by the file acquisition means of the advisory terminal, and folder management of the private storage area A file transmission / reception management system comprising file management means for switching information of the file in the information from unread to read. The file transmission / reception management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The erroneous transmission prevention means inquires the user of the office terminal about the information of the advisor to whom the file is to be transmitted, the obtained answer, and the limited disclosure for the specified adviser specified from the advisor DB. A file transmission / reception management system characterized by collating information of a consultant associated with a folder and storing the file in a private folder for a specific consultant of the consultant only when they match. An office server to which one or more in-office terminals are connected and one or more advisor terminals are connected by a network, and the office server and a specific advisor terminal are securely connected to each other. A system for managing transmission and reception,
The storage means of the office server is
A private storage area that can be accessed from each advisor terminal, and for each advisor, a private folder for specific advisors that is set to be accessible only to the advisor terminal of the advisor and the office terminal is registered. A private storage area,
It is accessible only from the terminal in the office, and is divided into a private storage area set to be inaccessible from the outside including the advisor terminal,
In the limited public folder for specific advisors, a folder group for each one or more advisors having a directory structure for managing files for each advisor is stored.
Configuration information of each folder for each advisor, extracted from the limited public folder for the specific advisor,
An advisory DB that contains account information for each advisor to manage multiple advisors;
Management information for all folders in the private storage area, and
The control means of the office server is
A means for accepting designation of a destination folder using a user interface generated based on the configuration information of each folder for each advisor destination, and a file stored in the private storage area is sent to a specific advisor destination A transmission designation accepting means for accepting by the user interface which folder in the private folder for a specific advisor for the advisor to be stored,
An erroneous transmission preventing means for preventing the file from being transmitted to a party other than the intended advisor;
When the transmission designation accepting unit accepts designation of a file stored in the private storage area from the terminal in the office and an instruction to select a private folder for a specific advisor of a consultant as a transmission destination,
Based on the information of the adviser destination associated with the limited public folder for the specific adviser specified and obtained from the advisory DB by the erroneous sending prevention means, after checking the adviser destination of the destination,
The file transmission / reception management system characterized in that the file instructed to select is stored in a limited public folder for a specific advisor in the limited public storage area.

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