JP2006172161A - File management apparatus and program for causing computer to execute file management method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a file management device for controlling access to a file without extending the function of the file management device. <P>SOLUTION: This file management device for managing a file including contents to be stored and meta information added to the contents for managing the contents is provided with: a meta information table 203 for storing attribute information including restriction information being information related with the restriction of the use of contents separately from the contents for a plurality of files; and a meta information management program 202 for restricting the use of contents whose use is requested based on the restriction information stored in the meta information table 203 when the use of contents is requested. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a file management apparatus for managing files used on a computer and a program for causing a computer to execute a file management method, and particularly to a file management apparatus and a file capable of restricting the use of browsing the contents of the file. The present invention relates to a program for causing a computer to execute a management method.

  Content data used by a computer such as a PC is generally stored as a file in a storage medium such as a CD (Compact Disc) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) or a storage device built in the computer. The operator selects the desired content and displays it on the display device. Such processing related to selection of content and display of the selected content is a matter that directly affects the operability of the apparatus, and it is desirable that the processing be performed more smoothly and in a short time.

  In order to meet such demands, computers are generally provided with a mechanism for attaching attribute information indicating data attributes to data to be saved as files and managing the files using the attribute information. As a conventional example of such a mechanism, for example, there is a file management system described in Patent Document 1. The configuration according to the file management method described in Patent Document 1 includes a configuration for managing attribute information (additional information in Patent Document 1) of main body information in addition to a configuration for managing main body information of a file.

In the file management method of Patent Document 1, main information of each file, additional information data, and a file management table that is management information of each file are stored in a storage device. In the file management table, information for managing additional information is managed in addition to the main body information. The information for managing the additional information indicates, for example, the size and storage location of the additional information.
In the file management method of Patent Document 1, when a user program tries to access file body information, the file management program searches for a file management table corresponding to the file that the user wants to access. When access is permitted, the user program detects the storage location of the main body information from the file management table, acquires the main body information at the storage location, and passes it to the user program.

According to such a conventional technique, the user program does not need to manage the storage location of the file body information and additional information. In addition, a function for managing additional information can be provided, and a function for managing main body information originally possessed by the file management apparatus can be expanded.
Incidentally, in recent years, a thin display device called electronic paper has been developed. Many of such display devices are portable with characters and drawings (referred to as images in this specification) displayed, and can be handled in the same manner as paper media for books and notebooks. Such electronic paper is suitable for the trend of paper resource saving in recent years, and is considered to be increasingly popular.

  However, since electronic paper handles images as electronic data, this data has a drawback that it is more easily illegally copied than a paper medium. In addition, since electronic paper is used to display different contents on the same medium, there is a possibility that an unauthorized person will view contents that are confidential or age-restricted for browsing. For this reason, it is desirable to limit the browsing of content when electronic paper is widely used.

In the invention described in Patent Document 1, when restrictions are placed on browsing of content, browsing of the content can be controlled by attaching a flag for controlling access to the file management table.
JP-A-1-243144

  However, the value that can be set in the flag is often determined by the standard of the file management apparatus. For this reason, when an existing file management device such as that described in Patent Document 1 performs access control using a flag, the range of processing that can be controlled is fixed, and it is not possible to arbitrarily set the limiting processing. There is a bug. That is, when the access is controlled using the invention of Patent Document 1, even though it is possible to restrict the reading of the file, the read prohibition flag is not set, so the read data is copied. It is possible that things cannot be prohibited.

It is conceivable to add a unique flag as a means for solving such a problem. However, the addition of a unique flag has an inconvenience that the existing function of the file management apparatus is expanded and the file management apparatus is out of the standard and affects compatibility with peripheral devices.
In addition, when a file management apparatus whose function is uniquely expanded is ported to another file system, the expanded function must be ported to the file system of the porting destination. Furthermore, in the technology for extending the function of the file management apparatus, it is necessary to expand the file management table and correct the program every time processing for controlling access is added. Expansion of the management table and modification of the program are undesirable because they affect the entire file system.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and causes a computer to execute a file management apparatus and a file management method capable of controlling access to a file without extending the functions of the file management apparatus. It aims at providing the program for.

  In order to solve the above problems, a file management apparatus according to the present invention manages a file including main body information to be saved and attribute information added to the main body information for managing the main body information. When attribute information storage means for storing attribute information including restriction information, which is information related to restriction on use of body information, is stored separately from the body information for a plurality of files, and when the use of body information is requested, Usage restriction means for restricting the use of the main body information requested to be used based on the restriction information stored by the attribute information storage means.

  According to such an invention, the information related to the restriction on the use of the main body information can be stored as attribute information separately from the main body information. When the use of the main body information is requested, the use of the main body information requested to be used can be restricted based on the stored restriction information. For this reason, use of main body information can be restricted irrespective of the system which manages main body information. The present invention as described above can provide a file management apparatus capable of controlling access to a file without extending the functions of the existing file management apparatus.

The file management apparatus of the present invention further includes a file storage unit for storing a file, the file storage unit includes a plurality of directories, and the attribute information storage unit stores the attribute information for each directory. It is characterized by.
According to such an invention, it is possible to obtain all the attribute information of files in a certain directory by accessing the file storage means having a smaller number than the number of files. For this reason, the number of accesses for acquiring the attribute information is reduced, and the operation speed of the apparatus for acquiring the attribute information can be increased.

In the file management apparatus of the present invention, the restriction information is information that restricts at least one of a user of the main body information and a period of use.
According to such an invention, use of the main body information can be permitted only for a specific person or for a specific time.
Further, in the file management apparatus of the present invention, the restriction information is information that restricts use of the main body information to request the use of the main body information by the requester's age, affiliation, and the device used for the request, and The use restriction means obtains information on the requester's age, affiliation, and the device used for the request, and allows or prohibits the use of the body information by comparing the obtained information with the restriction information. And

According to such an invention, the user of the main body information can be restricted based on the device used for the age, affiliation, and usage request.
The file management apparatus of the present invention is an information recording medium to which the file storage means can be attached and detached, and the attribute information is stored in the information recording medium.
According to such an invention, the file and the restriction information can be stored in the removable recording medium, so that the main body information and attribute information of the file can be stored integrally. Further, when managing files stored in a large number of information recording media, a storage device for storing attribute information is unnecessary, and the device can be reduced in size and cost.

  A program for causing a computer to execute the file management method of the present invention is a file for managing a file including main body information to be saved and attribute information added to the main body information for managing the main body information. This is a program for causing a computer to execute a management method, and acquires attribute information including restriction information, which is information related to restriction on use of main body information, for multiple files, and saves attribute information separately from the main body information And a use restriction step for restricting the use of the body information requested to be used based on the restriction information stored in the attribute information storage step when the use of the body information is requested. Features.

  According to such an invention, the information related to the restriction on the use of the main body information can be stored as attribute information separately from the main body information. When the use of the main body information is requested, the use of the main body information requested to be used can be restricted based on the stored restriction information. For this reason, use of main body information can be restricted irrespective of the system which manages main body information. The present invention as described above can provide a program for causing a computer to execute a file management method capable of controlling access to a file without extending the functions of an existing file management apparatus.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a program for causing a computer to execute a file management apparatus and a file management method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the hardware configuration of the file management apparatus according to the present embodiment. The file management apparatus according to the present embodiment is applied to a device dedicated to content browsing (content browsing terminal) such as a display device using electronic paper.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that a content browsing terminal is loaded with a card medium 107 in which a plurality of files for storing content are recorded, and the file is read from the card medium 107 and displayed. The content browsing terminal includes a card media corresponding unit 106 for mounting the card media 107. In addition, an input unit 105 used for an operation such as selecting an item desired to be browsed among files recorded on the card medium 107, and a display 104 for displaying the contents of the selected file as an image. I have. Note that the clock management unit 108 is configured to manage the date and time in the content browsing terminal. The content browsing terminal according to the present embodiment acquires date and time information from the clock management unit 108 when date and time information is required for processing.

  The content browsing terminal further includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 that executes processing for displaying an image on the display 104, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102 that stores programs and data necessary for processing performed by the CPU 101, A RAM (Random Access Memory) used for a work area for processing performed by the CPU 101 is provided.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram for explaining the software configuration of the content browsing terminal. The content browsing terminal includes a content browsing application 201 that receives an operator instruction input from the input unit 105 and outputs an image formed based on the instruction to the display 104. The content browsing terminal also includes a file system 204 that reads a plurality of files (content files) 205 in the card medium 107.

  The file management apparatus according to the present embodiment is a file management apparatus that manages a file including main body information (content) to be stored and attribute information (meta information) added to the content in order to manage the content. The content file 205 is a file for storing content data for displaying an image, and includes content and meta information. The content referred to in the present embodiment is image data for displaying an image, and the meta information is information attached for managing the content. In this embodiment in which the content browsing terminal is a display device using electronic paper, the content indicates an image of each page of the book, and the meta information indicates the title, author name, etc. of the book. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the meta information of content includes restriction information that is information related to restriction on use of main body information.

  The content browsing terminal also includes a meta information management program 202 that acquires and manages attribute information of the read content file 205, and a meta information table 203 that stores the acquired meta information separately from the content for a plurality of files. ing. In this embodiment, meta information is stored as a table, and the meta information table 203 functions as attribute information storage means.

Further, when the use of the main body information is requested via the input unit 105, the meta information management program 202 uses the main body information requested to be used based on the restriction information stored in the meta information table 203. It functions as a usage restriction means for restricting
In the present embodiment, the storage area of the card medium 107 has a directory structure. One meta information table 203 is provided in one directory, and all the meta information of files stored in one directory is stored and managed centrally. Further, the meta information table may be in the operation memory of the meta information management program 202 and managed by the meta information management program 202. Further, the contents of the meta information table 203 may be stored as a file on the card medium 107 side and read when the card medium 107 is loaded.

  The configuration described above operates as follows. That is, the file system 204 reads the content file 205 stored in the card medium 107 when the card medium 107 is loaded in the content browsing terminal. The meta information management program 202 acquires the content file 205 read by the file system 204 and stores it in the meta information table 203.

  When there is an addition to the content file 205 stored in the card medium 107, the meta information management program 202 adds the meta information of the added content file 205 to the meta information table 203. When there is an updated content file 205 stored in the card medium 107, the meta information management program 202 updates the meta information of the updated content file in accordance with the update contents. Further, when there is a deleted content file 205 stored in the card medium 107, the meta information management program 202 deletes the meta information of the deleted content file from the meta information table 203.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the meta information management program 202 generates the meta information table 203 when the card medium 107 is first attached to the content browsing terminal.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration related to the meta information table 203 in more detail. As shown in FIG. 3, the content file 205 is a file group composed of a plurality of content files. The content browsing application 201 uses a content file 205 via a file system API (Application Programming Interface).

  The meta information table 203 stores the number of content files storing meta information (the number of storages) and meta information for each of the plurality of content files for each content file. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the file name of the content file and the settings relating to access to this file are stored in the meta information table 203 as meta information of one content file. A plurality of settings concerning access may be made as shown in FIG.

  When the use of the content file 205 is requested by the operator, the meta information management program 202 refers to the meta information table 203. Then, it is determined whether or not the access is permitted by comparing the access setting of the requested file with the requested use contents. The result of the determination is passed to the content browsing application 201 via the file system API.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram specifically showing meta information of one file. In the illustrated example, the meta information table 203 stores, for one file, three pieces of information such as a file name, a book title corresponding to the contents of the file, an author name, and browsing time access restriction as meta information. The browsing time access restriction indicates a time limit for permitting browsing of content. In the example of FIG. 4, the last day when browsing of the file 1 is permitted is shown.

  The meta information management program 202 refers to the meta information table in response to a file access request. When the browsing time access restriction is set as the restriction information, the meta information management program 202 acquires the current date and time from the clock management unit 108 provided in the content browsing terminal, and is set as the acquired date and browsing time access restriction. Contrast with the date and time. If the current date and time is earlier than the set date and time, access to the file is permitted, and if it is later, access is prohibited.

FIG. 5 shows a specific description method of content to which browsing time access restriction information is attached.
If access is permitted, the operator can access the file and browse the contents of the file through the content browsing application 201. When access is prohibited, the meta information management program 202 notifies the content browsing application 201 that access is prohibited. In response to this notification, the content browsing application 201 displays a screen indicating that access is prohibited on the display 104.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a screen indicating that access is prohibited. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the meta information management program 202 refers to the meta information table 203 when the card medium 107 is attached to the content browsing terminal. Then, the meta information of a plurality of content files stored in the meta information table 203 is accessed, and the meta information is displayed on the display 104 as a list (content list).

  The operator selects content desired to be browsed from the displayed content list. When access to the file of the selected content is prohibited, the content browsing application 201 displays an access violation message on the content list, for example, as shown in FIG. With such a configuration, the operator can know that access to the content desired to be browsed is prohibited.

  In the configuration described above, the file system 204 is a system for managing the read content file 205, and is an existing configuration provided in a general file management apparatus. The file management apparatus according to the present embodiment manages meta information by providing a meta information management program 202 and a meta information table 203 separately from the existing file system 204. With this configuration, this embodiment can maintain compatibility with peripheral devices without expanding the functions of the existing file system.

  7 and 8 are flowcharts for explaining a program for causing a computer to execute the file management method executed in the content browsing terminal described above. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining processing executed when the card medium 107 of the program is loaded. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the process executed by the content browsing terminal when the operator desires to browse the content.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the card medium 107 is loaded, the meta information management program 202 acquires the meta information read by the file system 204 (S701). Then, the acquired meta information is stored in the meta information table 203 (S702). After storing the meta information, the meta information management program 202 enters a state of monitoring an operator operation performed via the content browsing application 201 (S702).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the content browsing application 201 enters an operation of browsing the content file 205 in accordance with an operator instruction (S801). At this time, the meta information management program 202 acquires time from the clock management unit 108 provided in the content browsing terminal, for example (S802). The acquired time may be anything corresponding to the browsing time access restriction. If the browsing time access restriction is the last day of the browsing possible date and time shown in FIG. 4, it is desirable to acquire the time in the date and time format. Moreover, when the browsing time access restriction is set to a time measured from a predetermined timing, it is desirable to acquire the time elapsed from this timing.

  Next, the meta information management program 202 refers to the meta information table 203 and acquires the browsing time access restriction (S803). Then, the time (system time) acquired from the file system 204 is compared with the time (viewable time) set as the browsing time access restriction (S804). As a result, if the system time is within a viewable time range (if the viewable time is a date, the system time is before the viewable time, and if the viewable time is a time interval, the system time is shorter than the viewable time) (S804: Yes), the meta information management program 202 permits the browsing operation of the content browsing application 201 (S805). Upon permission of the browsing operation, the content browsing application 201 displays the selected content file (S806).

  On the other hand, in step S804, when the meta information management program 202 determines that the viewable time is out of the system time range (if the viewable time is a date, the viewable time is the time interval after the system time is viewable. If so, the system time is longer than the viewable time) (S804: No), for example, the screen for notifying the time limit access violation shown in FIG. 6 is displayed, and the process is terminated.

  A program for causing a computer to execute the file management method of the present embodiment described above is a file in an installable format or an executable format, such as a CD-ROM, a floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD), a DVD, or the like. And recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. In addition, a program for causing a computer to execute the file management method of the present embodiment may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network.

  A program for causing a computer to execute the file management apparatus and the file management method of the present embodiment described above stores information related to restriction on use of main body information in the meta information table 203 as meta information separately from the main body information. be able to. Then, it is possible to restrict the use of the main body information requested to be used based on the stored meta information. For this reason, use of the main body information can be restricted regardless of the existing file system 204 that manages the main body information.

Since this embodiment does not expand the functions of the existing file system, it is possible to limit the use of content files while maintaining the previous compatibility between the file management apparatus and peripheral devices.
The present invention is not limited to the configuration described above. That is, in this embodiment, an example of browsing content as content usage is given. However, the use of content is not limited to browsing, and includes copying, overwriting, deleting, and the like of content.

  Further, in the present embodiment described above, an example is given in which the content browsing time is limited. However, the use of content is not limited to the time limit. For example, a user (user) for browsing or the like may be specified, and use permission may be restricted for each user. In such a case, the restriction information may restrict the user who can use the content by a device such as a PC used for requesting the age, affiliation, and browsing of the content viewer.

  In such a case, the meta information management program 202 obtains information related to the age, affiliation, and device such as a PC used for the request of the content use requester (user). The acquisition of information is given to the file management apparatus when the user inputs from the input unit 105, for example. Further, the meta information management program 202 compares the acquired information with the restriction information and permits or prohibits the use of the content.

It is a block diagram for demonstrating the hardware constitutions of the content browsing terminal to which the file management apparatus of one Embodiment of this invention was applied. It is a functional block diagram for demonstrating the software structure of the content browsing terminal of FIG. It is the figure which showed the structure concerning the meta information table shown in FIG. 2 in detail. FIG. 4 is a diagram specifically showing meta information of one file in the meta information table shown in FIG. 3. The specific description method of the content to which the access restriction information shown in FIG. 4 is given is shown. 1 and 2 are diagrams illustrating screens indicating that access is prohibited in the content browsing terminal. It is a figure explaining the program for making a computer perform the file management method, Comprising: It is a flowchart explaining the process performed when a card medium is mounted | worn. It is a figure explaining the program for making a computer perform the file management method, Comprising: It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process performed by a content browsing terminal, when an operator desires browsing of a content.

Explanation of symbols

104 Display, 105 Input Unit, 106 Card Media Corresponding Unit 107 Card Media, 201 Content Browsing Application 202 Meta Information Management Program, 203 Meta Information Table 204 File System, 205 Content File

Claims (6)

A file management apparatus for managing a file including main body information to be saved and attribute information added to the main body information for managing the main body information,
Attribute information storage means for storing attribute information including restriction information, which is information related to restriction on use of body information, separately from body information for a plurality of files;
Use restriction means for restricting use of body information requested to be used based on restriction information stored by the attribute information storage means when use of body information is requested;
A file management apparatus comprising: A file storage means for storing the file;
2. The file management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the file storage unit includes a plurality of directories, and the attribute information storage unit stores the attribute information for each directory.   The file management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restriction information is information that restricts at least one of a user of the main body information and a use period.   The restriction information is information that restricts the requester's age, affiliation, and the person who requested the use of the main body information depending on the device used for the request, and the use restricting means includes the requester's age 4. The file management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein information relating to a device used for affiliation and request is acquired, and use of main body information is permitted or prohibited by comparing the acquired information with restriction information. .   5. The file management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the file storage unit is an detachable information recording medium, and the attribute information is stored in the information recording medium. 6. A program for causing a computer to execute a file management method for managing a file including main body information to be stored and attribute information added to the main body information for managing the main body information,
Attribute information storage step for acquiring attribute information including restriction information, which is information related to restriction on use of main body information, for a plurality of files and storing it separately from the main body information;
When use of main body information is requested, based on the restriction information stored in the attribute information storage step, a use restriction step for restricting the use of main body information requested for use;
A program for causing a computer to execute a file management method comprising:

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