JPS6259819B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (1) Technical field of the invention The present invention relates to an electronic filing system,
In particular, the present invention relates to an electronic filing system having functions for automatically erasing empty files and automatically generating files when a non-existent file is specified.

(2) Background of the technology Recently, electronic filing systems configured using large-capacity storage devices, processing devices, terminals, etc. have been attracting attention. This is because it has been recognized for its superior performance, such as the ability to quickly access each file. Additionally, a file in such a system is generally composed of one or more documents and a title section that stores the name of the document, but as electronic filing systems are frequently used, many documents and Additions and deletions are made to the title section. As a result, an "empty" file exists where only the title section exists and no document actually exists, and a file that previously existed may no longer actually exist.

(3) Prior art and problems Conventionally, the above-mentioned empty file has been deleted by the user inputting a deletion command from the terminal, and if the user specifies a file that does not exist, the file is deleted. It was necessary to display on the user terminal that the file has already been deleted or that the file no longer exists.

However, in the conventional type, the system has to store an empty file unless the user inputs an erase command, so it is inconvenient that the storage area cannot be used effectively. In addition, processing is required when an erase command is input to a non-empty file, such as displaying to the user that a non-empty file has been specified and requesting the user to modify the command. Furthermore, even if a user attempts to read a file that does not exist, a process such as displaying the fact is required, which causes the inconvenience of complicating the process of the user interface section in the electronic filing system. Furthermore, in the conventional type, when a user inputs an erase command or the like to the system, it is necessary to do so while being aware of the file status, which makes the operation of the electronic filing system complicated. It was hot.

(4) Purpose of the Invention The purpose of the present invention is to provide an electronic filing system in view of the problems of the conventional type described above.
Based on the concept of automatically erasing empty files when certain conditions occur on the system side,
The purpose of the present invention is to effectively utilize the storage area of an electronic filing system, reduce processing at a user interface section, and simplify the operation of the electronic filing system.

(5) Structure of the invention According to the present invention, this object includes a processing device,
In an electronic filing system comprising a terminal and a mass storage device storing files each comprising a title and one or more documents,
This is achieved by providing an electronic filing system characterized in that when a predetermined condition occurs, the processing device searches each of the files and deletes the title of an empty file in which only a title exists and no document. Ru.

(6) Embodiments of the invention Examples of the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an electronic filing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system shown in the figure comprises a processing device 1, terminals 2, 3, and a mass storage device 4, such as a magnetic disk device or a magnetic bubble memory device, for storing files. The terminals 2 and 3 are, for example, graphic display devices with keyboards.

Further, FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a plurality of files stored in the mass storage device 4 of the system of FIG. 1. That is, one file includes one title and one or more documents. That is,
Title part 21, documents 31, 32, 33, title part 22
and documents 32 and 34, title section 24 and documents 35 and 36
Each constitutes one file, and the title section 23 is an empty file with no document. Here, each document 31 to 36 is referred to as a document, data, or other information unit as a management unit of the electronic filing system. Furthermore, a file refers to a collection whose constituent elements are documents. The title section contains data such as the name of the file and the title of the document included in the file, so that
It connects the title section and the document that make up one file.

In such an electronic filing system, a user can read out a given document in a given file or all documents in a given file by commands from the terminals 2, 3, etc. Documents can be stored in designated files from the terminal. When such a command is input from a terminal, the processing device 1 reads the document specified in the command from the mass storage device 4 in response to the command and outputs it to the terminal. Also, if you want to store a certain document in a file,
The title of the document is written in the title section of the file specified in the command, and the document is stored in a predetermined area of the storage device 4. Furthermore, the user can move a document belonging to a certain file to another file or delete a document belonging to a certain file by using a predetermined command. When moving a document from one file to another, you only need to rewrite the title section of each file; when deleting a document, delete the data such as the document title and document storage address written in the title section. Bye.

However, if the text belonging to a file is deleted or moved to another file in this way, an empty file is created. conventionally,
Such empty files were deleted by the user inputting a deletion command from the terminal.
In contrast, in the present invention, the information is automatically erased on the system side when a predetermined condition occurs. Here, the occurrence of a predetermined condition means, for example, at the end of the day's work of the electronic filing system, when there is sufficient processing capacity of the processing device, or when each user
This is at the end of a delimiting task, ie, a session. Furthermore, a session is a unit of work from the beginning to the end of using the system in a conversational manner. That is, when such a predetermined condition occurs, the processing device 1 searches the title section of each file in the storage device 4, detects an empty file, that is, a file that does not have a document, and searches the title section of the file accordingly. Delete part.

If the user specifies a file that does not exist, such as a file that has already been deleted, for example, if the user instructs to store a document in a file that does not exist, the processing device 1 generates a new file corresponding to the specified file. do. That is, the title portion including the name of the designated file and the title of the document stored in the file, and the document are stored in a predetermined area in the storage device 4.

(7) Effects of the Invention Therefore, according to the present invention, since empty files are automatically deleted when a predetermined condition occurs, it is possible for an electronic filing system to store empty files for a long period of time. Since there is no file storage area, the file storage area can be used effectively. In addition, the user does not have to take into account the status of files in the system, ie, whether or not files have been created or deleted, which simplifies the operation of the electronic filing system. Furthermore, in the present invention, since an empty file is not erased by a command, there is no need to input an erase command to an empty file, which simplifies processing related to the user interface.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram showing an example of an electronic filing system for carrying out the method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the file configuration in the system of FIG. 1... Processing device, 2, 3... Terminal, 4... Mass storage device, 21, 22, 23, 24... Title section, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36... Document.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an electronic filing system comprising a processing device, a terminal, and a mass storage device for storing files each having a title section and one or more documents, when a predetermined condition occurs, the processing is executed. An electronic filing system characterized in that a device searches each of the files and deletes empty files that do not contain documents. 2. When an access request is received from a user specifying a file that is not stored in the electronic filing system, the processing device generates a new file in the mass storage device that contains only the title and does not contain any documents. An electronic filing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: