Patent Application
20070094740
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-311177 filed in Japan on Oct. 26, 2005, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document management apparatus and a document management method for controlling a user's access right with respect to a document.
2. Description of the Related Art
To be abreast with the development of an information device and the demand for a paperless environment promoted in an office and the like of recent years, a document management apparatus for fetching a document drawn up on a paper using a scanner and registering the fetched document on a personal computer, a server or the like as an image document has been widely used so as to realize a consolidated document management. Further, as an example of a complex apparatus including a printing function, a scanning function, a facsimile function and the like which has also been widespread, a document management function for storing the document is installed in the complex apparatus itself in order to deal with an increasingly larger capacity of a memory device such as a hard disc.
When the scanned document inputted via the complex apparatus including the scanner unit and an electronic document drawn up in an application software on the personal computer are registered in the document management apparatus, an access right for browsing, editing and the like is often previously set per document and per user in accordance with an attribute of the document so that any confidential information is not needlessly leaked or falsified by a third party.
An example of the foregoing apparatus is a document management apparatus that sets a security information indicating terms for allowing the disclosure of the document when the document is registered in the document management apparatus and provides an access right to the document for members/hierarchy/collective entity permitted to browse the document in accordance with the set information, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2001-265636. Another example is an apparatus that acquires a confidentiality policy for the document from a management server and encrypts the document based on a certification specified by the acquired confidentiality policy, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2004-151163.
However, in the case of the document management apparatus recited in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2001-265636, the document management apparatus itself controls the permission/prohibition of the browse of the document registered therein. Therefore, when a user allowed to make a browse access copies the document and consequently releases the document from the control of the document management apparatus, the apparatus loses the control over the prohibition of the document browse. As a result, any user who is not permitted to access the document can browse the document, which may disadvantageously result in the leakage or the falsification of the confidential information. In the case of the document management apparatus recited in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2004-151163, no one other than a predetermined user can undo the encryption even after the document is no longer controlled by the document management apparatus because the document is encrypted based on the certification specified by the confidentiality policy. As a result, the document can be protected. However, the document registered in the document management apparatus is not always in a finalized mode. For example, the mode of the document when registered in the apparatus may be differently set such that the document is merely registered prior to the editing process, currently subjected to the editing process, or have already been finalized after the completion of the editing process. Accordingly, a range of the users demanding the access to the document was different in accordance with each mode, which made it necessary to change the setting of the access right based on the mode every time when the mode was changed. As a result, a complicated operation was demanded when the setting was changed.
A main object of the present invention is to provide a document management apparatus capable of protecting a document in accordance with a mode thereof even after the document is no longer under the control of the document management apparatus without demanding any complicated operation by a user.
A document management apparatus according to the present invention includes:
a document management unit for managing a mode indicating a registration state of a registered document;
a rule management unit for managing a rule restricting a function that can be executed by a user in relation to the document;
a rule application unit for selecting the rule in accordance with the mode of the document; and
an encryption unit for encrypting the document based on the rule.
The document management apparatus may further include a signature addition unit for adding a signature to the document.
The document management apparatus may further include a document registration unit for requesting the document to be registered, wherein the rule application unit selects a rule for encrypting the document so that only a registered user can read and write the document as a rule corresponding to a registered mode set when the registration of the document is requested.
The document management apparatus may further include a document-mode change instruction reception unit for receiving an instruction for changing the mode of the document, wherein the rule application unit selects the rule in accordance with the changed mode.
The rule may be set with respect to each of a plurality of folders. Further, the rule may be set with respect to a file name.
The encryption unit may encrypt the document by means of a public key encryption method. The signature addition unit may add the signature by means of the public key encryption system.
The document may be a PDF document.
A document management apparatus according to the present invention includes:
a document management unit for managing a mode indicating a registration state of a registered document;
a rule management unit for managing a rule restricting a function that can be executed by a user in relation to the document;
a rule application unit for selecting the rule in accordance with the mode of the document; and
a signature addition unit for adding a signature to the document based on the rule.
A document management method according to the present invention includes:
selecting a rule restricting a function that can be executed by a user in accordance with a mode indicating a registration state of a registered document; and
encrypting the document based on the rule.
The document management method may further include:
managing a mode indicating a registration state of a registered document; and
managing a rule restricting a function that can be executed by the user in relation to the document.
The document management method may further include adding a signature to the document.
The document management method may be realized in the form of a document management program executed on a computer. In that case, a document management program executes a document management method including steps below on a computer:
selecting a rule restricting a function that can be executed by a user in accordance with a mode indicating a registration state of a registered document; and
encrypting the document based on the rule. The document management can be executed as described earlier when the document management program is executed on the computer. The document management program is not necessarily executed on MFP, but may be executed on a conventional computer not including a printing unit and a scanner unit.
The document management program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.
According to the document management apparatus of the present invention, an appropriate access right can be automatically given in accordance with the respective operations with respect to the document even when the document is taken out of the document management apparatus. Further, a certification of who finally edited the document can be automatically given.
The present invention will become readily understood from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by like reference numeral and in which:
Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the document management apparatus according to the present invention is described referring to the drawings. In the drawings, like components are substantively indicated by like references.
As shown in
a) The log-in is accepted (S01). The log-in request from the log-in requesting unit 41 of the user terminal 30 is accepted by the log-in processing unit 11.
b) It is judged whether or not the user who logged in is the registered user (S02). An inquiry is made to the user management unit 12 so as to confirm whether or not the logged-in user is the registered user. When the logged-in user is the registered user, the processing advances to a next step S03 upon the judgment that the log-in was successful. When the logged-in user is not the registered user, the log-in requesting unit 41 of the user terminal 30 is requested to try the log-in again and the processing goes back to the log-in acceptance upon the judgment that the log-in was unsuccessful.
c) The document transmitted from the user is received (S03). The document creator transmits the document from the document transmission unit 42 of the user terminal 30, and the document reception unit 13 of the document management apparatus 10 receives the transmitted document and delivers the document to the document registration unit 14. After that, the document registration request is transmitted from the document registration unit 14 to the document management unit. In the document, the “registration mode” is set by the document creator.
d) It is judged whether or not the storage folder is designated (S04). Then, various information (registered user's name, storage folder, registered file name, and the like) are transmitted together with the document to be registered from the document management unit 17 to the rule application unit 18. The rule application unit 18 makes an inquiry about the presence/absence of the rule to be applied to the rule management unit 19. When the storage folder is designated, the processing advances to a next step S05. When the storage folder is not designated, for example, a default rule shown in the following Table 3 is obtained (S07), and the processing advances to a next step S08.
e) The presence/absence of the rule corresponding to the storage folder is judged (S05). For example, in the example shown in
f) The document is encrypted based on the obtained rule (S08). The encryption process can be executed by the encryption unit 20. The rule corresponding to the “registration mode” in the example of the default rule shown in Table 3 is “encrypted so that only document creator can read and write, document creator's signature is added, time stamp is added”. Then, the document is encrypted so that only the document creator can read and write the document based on the rule. The document can be encrypted by means of a method of encrypting the document so that only the document creator can read and write the document based on the rule. For example, when the document creator's public key is used to encrypt the document according to a public key encryption method, the document creator alone can decode the encryption. Therefore, the document creator alone is allowed to read and write the document. The encryption method is not limited to the public key encryption method.
g) The document creator's signature is added (S09). The signature addition unit 21 can be used to provide the signature. For example, the public key encryption method may be used as the signature method. Further, the document may be simply provided with the signature without being subjected to the encryption process.
h) The time stamp is added (S10). The time stamp addition unit 22 can be used to add the time stamp. The addition of the time stamp enables time authentication to be realized. In the foregoing manner, the document management can be carried out in the registration mode for registering the document.
a) The log-in is accepted (S11).
b) It is judged whether or not the user who logged in is a registered user (S12). When the logged-in user is the registered user, the processing advances to a next step S13 upon the judgment that the log-in was successful. When the logged-in user is not the registered user, the log-in is accepted again upon the judgment that the log-in was unsuccessful.
c) The selection of the document whose mode is to be changed is accepted (S13).
d) The document-mode change instruction is accepted (S14). In the present case, the document mode setting is changed from the “registration mode” to the “editing mode”. The change of the document mode from the “editing mode” to the “public mode” is not described here, however, is similarly processed.
e) It is judged whether or not the accepted mode change is “registration mode->editing mode” (S15). When the accepted mode change is “registration mode->editing mode”, the processing advances to a next step S16, while advances to a step S18 otherwise.
f) It is judged whether or not the user who logged in is the document creator (S16). When the logged-in user is the document creator, the document mode is changed as “registration mode->editing mode”, the processing advances to a next step S20. The document mode is not changed when the logged-in user is anyone but the document creator (S17), the processing is terminated.
g) When the mode change is not “registration mode->editing mode”, it is judged whether or not the logged-in user is the document editor (S18). When the logged-in user is the document editor, the document mode is changed as “editing mode->public mode”, and the processing advances to the next step S20. When the logged-in user is anyone but the document editor, the document mode is not changed (S19). Then, the processing is terminated.
h) The presence/absence of the corresponding rule is judged (S20). Then, various information (registered user's name, storage folder, registered file name, and the like) are transmitted together with the document whose mode is to be changed from the document management unit 17 to the rule application unit 18. The rule application unit 18 makes an inquiry about the presence/absence of the rule to be applied to the rule management unit 19. In the present case, the presence/absence of the rule corresponding to the storage folder is judged (S20). In the presence of the rule, the rule is obtained (S21). For example, the rule shown in Table 2 may be obtained. In the absence of the corresponding rule, the default rule shown in Table 3 is obtained (S22).
i) The document is encrypted based on the acquired rule (S23). The encryption process can be executed by the encryption unit 20. For example, the rule corresponding to the changed mode, for example, the “editing mode” is “encrypted so that document creator can read, encrypted so that document editor can read and write” in the rule A in the example shown in Table 2. Then, the document is encrypted based on the foregoing rule so that the registered “document creator” can read and the registered “document editor” can read and write the document. When the document mode is changed to the “public mode”, the rule corresponding to the “public mode” is “encrypted so that only document reader can read” in the example shown in Table 2. Based on the rule, the document is encrypted so that only the registered “document reader” can read the document.
j) The signature is added (S24). For example, the public key encryption method may be used to provide the signature. Further, the document may be simply provided with the signature without being subjected to the encryption process.
k) The time stamp is added (S25). The time stamp addition unit 22 can be used to add the time stamp.
In the foregoing manner, the document management can be carried out in response to the mode change of the document.
In the foregoing description, there are three examples of the document mode, that are the “registration mode”, “editing mode” and “public mode”, however, the document mode is not limited to the three modes. For example, “editing termination mode”, which indicates a state where the “editing” has been terminated, may be provided. According to the document management method, the document is encrypted in such manner that only the specific registered user can read and write or only read the document in accordance with the set mode, the signature is added whenever necessary, and the time stamp is added. For example, in the “registration mode”, the user who has registered the document is judged to be the “document creator”, and the document is encrypted so that only the document creator can read and write the document. In the “editing mode”, the document is encrypted so that the user registered as the “document creator” can read the document and the user registered as the “document editor” can read and write the document. The editing mode may be set in such manner that the user registered as the “document creator” cannot read and write the document unless he/she is also registered as the “document editor”. In the pubic mode, the document is encrypted so that only the user registered as the “document reader” can read the document. The public mode may also be set in such manner that the user registered as the “document creator” and the “document editor” cannot read and write the document unless he/she is also registered as the “document reader”.
a) The log-in is accepted (S31).
b) It is judged whether or not the user who logged in is the registered user (S32). When the logged-in user is the registered user, the processing advances to a next step S33 upon the judgment that the log-in was successful. When the logged-in user is not the registered user, the log-in is accepted again upon the judgment that the log-in was unsuccessful.
c) The selection of the document to be operated is accepted (S33).
d) The presence/absence of the access request is judged (S34). In the presence of the access request, the processing advances to a next step S35. In the absence of the access request, the selection of the document is accepted again.
e) A user information of the user who made the access is obtained (S35).
f) It is judged whether or not the user is the document creator (S36). When the user is the document creator, the processing advances to a next step S37. When the user is not the document creator, the processing advances to a step S39. In the present example, the “document creator” can access the document in any mode.
g) When the user is the document creator, the document is decoded (S37). Next, the document is set in such manner that the read and write are allowed (S38). Then, the processing is terminated.
h) It is judged whether or not the user is the document editor (S39). When the user is the document editor, the processing advances to a next step S30. When the user is not the document editor, the processing advances to a step S41.
i) It is judged whether or not the document mode is the editing mode (S40). When the document mode is the editing mode, the processing advances to the step S37, in which the document is decoded (S37). Next, the document is set in such manner that the read and write are allowed (S38), and the processing is then terminated. When the document mode is not the editing mode, the processing advances to a step S42.
j) It is judged whether or not the user is the document reader (S41). When the user is the document reader, the processing advances to the next step S32. When the user is not the document reader, the decoding of the document is prohibited (S45), and the processing is then terminated.
k) It is judged whether or not the document mode is the public mode (S42). When the document mode is the public mode, the document is decoded (S33). Then, the document is set in such manner that the browsing is allowed (S44). Then, the processing is terminated. When the document is not the public mode, the decoding of the document is prohibited (S45), and the processing is terminated.
In the foregoing manner, when the user in the document management system operates the document, only the specific user who is allowed to access the document can operate the document in accordance with the mode set in the document.
a) The selection of the document from the user PC70 is accepted in the document management apparatus 10 (S50).
b) The presence/absence of the access request is judged (S51). In the presence of the access request, the processing advances to a next step S52. In the absence of the access request, the processing goes back to the acceptance of the document selection.
c) The user information of the user who has made the access is obtained (S52).
d) It is judged whether or not the user is allowed to decode the selected document (S53). When the user is allowed to decode the document, the processing advances to a next step S54. When the user is not allowed to decode the document, the decoding of the document is prohibited (S58), and the processing is then terminated.
e) The selected document is decoded (S54).
f) It is judged whether or not the user is allowed to read and write the selected document (S55). When the user is allowed to read and write the document, the document is set in such manner that the read and write are allowed (S56). When the user is not allowed to write the document, the document is set in such manner that the browsing is allowed (S57), and the processing is then terminated. In the foregoing manner, the document operation by the user terminal 70 outside the document management system can be handled.
According to the document management method, the rule shown in Table 1 may be set in place of the default rule. Below is described a case where a folder creator sets the rule to be applied when the document is stored in the relevant folder.
a) The log-in is accepted (S61).
b) It is judged whether or not the user is the registered user (S62). When the user is the registered user, the processing advances to a next step S63. When the user is unregistered, the processing goes back to the step S61 in which the log-in is accepted.
c) The folder selection is accepted (S63).
d) It is judged whether or not the logged-in user is the folder creator (S64). When the logged-in user is the folder creator, the processing advances to a next step S65. When the logged-in user is not the folder creator, the processing goes back to the step S63 in which the folder selection is accepted.
e) A rule setting screen is displayed (S65).
f) The rule is set (S66).
g) It is judged whether not the processing is terminated (S67). When it is judged that the processing is terminated, the set rule is stored in the rule management unit 19 (S68), and then, the processing is terminated. When it is judged that the processing is not terminated, the processing goes back to the step S65 in which the rule setting screen is displayed.
In the foregoing manner, as shown in the example of
The document management method can be executed on a conventional computer not including the printing unit 7 and the scanner unit 8. Therefore, the document management method can be realized as a document management program that can be executed on the conventional computer.
The present invention can be effectively applied to a document management apparatus and a document management method for controlling a user's access right to a document.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims, unless they depart therefrom.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005--311177 | Oct 2005 | JP | national |
