Electronic document versioning method and updated document supply method using version number based on xml

Description of equivalent WO 2004045209 A1

ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT VERSIONING METHOD AND UPDATED DOCUMENT SUPPLY METHOD USING VERSION NUMBER BASED ON

XML

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electronic document request/supply

method, and more particularly, to an XML-based electronic document request/supply

method.

2. Background of the Related Art

In recent years, an extensible markup language (hereinafter, referred to as

"XML") is widely used to create electronic documents. The utilization of XML

increases rapidly throughout the world, and government and public offices as well as

general enterprises are increasingly introducing the XML. These electronic documents

are generally created on the basis of a syntax prescribed by each organization.

XML-based electronic documents are often managed in a client/server

structure that stores the documents in the server and provides desired electronic

documents according to the user's request. Such a client/ server structure is illustrated

in FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the client/ server structure that requests/ supplies

a general XML-based electronic document. As shown in FIG. 1, the client is a

document requester/user side and the server is a document provider side. Accordingly, if a system requesting and using a document has functions of storing and providing the

document at the same time, the system can simultaneously act as the client and the

server according to its role.

A language for searching XML documents includes XML query language

(XQL) ^and XQuery. These search languages are widely used to search XML documents stored in an electronic document repository of the server and

accept/ provide a result in a form of XML document desired by the requester.

However, the related art XML electronic document request/ supply methods

and apparatus have various disadvantages. In a related art system that provides a

document in accordance with a user's request, there does not exist a separate

expression method for notifying only of the modified or added content of a document.

Hence, in order to provide information on the modified or added content of the

document, the related art system has a drawback in that it has to send the overall

content of the document containing the repeated content (e.g., unchanged) which was

initially sent.

The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate

for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/ or technical

background.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to solve at least the above problems and/or

disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described hereinafter. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic document

versioning method and/or document update transmission method based on XML

using version numbers that substantially obviates one or more problems caused by

limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

Another object of the present invention to provide an electronic document

versioning method that enhances transmission efficiency of an electronic document

transmission method on XML.

Another object of the present invention to provide an electronic document

versioning method that is capable of gradual updating of an electronic document

transmitted using XML.

Another object of the present invention to provide an electronic document

versioning method in which at least one of date information and date with time

information of a modified structure of the structured electronic document are used as

version values.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic document

versioning method that is capable of changing a version value of a lower structure

when the content of the lower structure is changed by correction or addition and

capable of reflecting where such changes in a version value of a corresponding upper

structure that includes the changed lower structure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic document

versioning method that is capable of changing a version value of an upper structure so that the version value of the upper structure can determine the one or more

corresponding lower structures that have changed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an updated document

supply method based on XML in which a provider sends not the overall content of the

document but only the added or changed content by using a version value.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a document supply

method based on XML in which identifier information on the electronic document can

be used together with version values to distinguish the electronic document using the

version values when the identifier information value is used again.

To achieve at least the above objects and other advantages in a whole or in part

and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly

described herein, there is provided a method for versioning an electronic document

based on XML, the electronic document being managed using a syntax defining a

structure of the structured electronic document, the method includes identifying a

structure of an electronic document, and using date information of when a structure

content of the electronic document is changed as a version value.

To further achieve the above objects and advantages in a whole or in part and

in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for versioning an

electronic document based on XML, the electronic document being managed using a

syntax defining a structure of the structured electronic document, the method includes

determining contents of an electronic document defined by the syntax, and using date and time information of when a content of the electronic document is changed as a version value.

To further achieve the above objects and advantages in a whole or in part and

in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for requesting an

electronic document based on XML, the electronic document being managed using a

syntax defining a structure of the structured electronic document, the method includes

identifying a version value of an electronic document, and requesting an updated

information of the electronic document using the version value as a condition.

To further achieve the above objects and advantages in a whole or in part and

in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for providing an

updated electronic document based on XML, the electronic document being managed

using a syntax defining a structure of the structured electronic document, the method

includes identifying a version value of an electronic document, wherein the version

value determines at least one of date and time information of a changed content of the

electronic document, and providing an updated information of the electronic document

using the version value as a condition.

To further achieve the above objects and advantages in a whole or in part and

in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for processing an

electronic document using a version based on XML, the electronic document being

managed using a syntax defining a structure of the structured electronic document, the

method includes providing an identifier for an electronic document, and providing a

version value for the electronic document in which at least one of date information and date with time information of when a content of the electronic document is changed

are used as the version value of the corresponding electronic document, wherein the

version value is used to distinguish two electronic documents having the same identifier.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in

part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having

ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from

practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized

and attained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in detail with reference to the following

drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a related art client/ server structure that

requests/supplies an XML-based electronic document;

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an exemplary method of creating an

XML-based electronic document;

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a preferred embodiment of a method

for versioning an XML-based electronic document according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing another preferred embodiment of a

method for versioning an XML-based electronic document according to the present

invention; FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing yet another preferred embodiment

of a method for versioning an XML-based electronic document according to the

present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an exemplary syntax structure of a broadcast

program produced by an XML-based electronic document creating method to which

an electronic document versioning method according to the present invention is

applied;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an exemplary DTD showing a syntax of a broadcast

program produced by an XML-based electronic document creating method to which

an electronic document versioning method according to the present invention is

applied;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an exemplary XML schema showing a syntax of a

broadcast program electronic document produced by an XML-based electronic

document creating method to which an electronic document versioning method

according to the present invention is applied;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an exemplary broadcast program electronic document

produced by an XML-based electronic document creating method to which an

electronic document versioning method according to the present invention is applied;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an exemplary current state program electronic

document using a preferred embodiment of a method for versioning an XML-based

electronic document according to the present invention; FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an exemplary current state program electronic

document using another preferred embodiment of a method for versioning an XML-

based electronic document according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an exemplary current state program electronic

document using yet another method for versioning an XML-based electronic document

according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an exemplary updated electronic document

provided according to 'request 1' in a system a using a preferred embodiment of a

method for versioning an XML-based electronic document according to the present

invention;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an exemplary updated electronic document

provided according to 'request 1' in a system using additional preferred embodiments

of methods for versioning an XML-based electronic document according to the

present invention;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an exemplary updated electronic document

provided according to 'request 2' in a system using a preferred embodiment of a

method for versioning an XML-based electronic document according to the present

invention;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an exemplary updated electronic document

provided according to 'request 2' in a system using additional preferred embodiments

of methods for versioning an XML-based electronic document according to the

present invention; FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an exemplary updated electronic document

provided according to 'request 2' with an identifier and a system using a preferred

embodiment of a method for versioning an XML-based electronic document according

to the present invention; and

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an exemplary updated electronic document

provided according to 'request 2' with a system using an identifier and additional

preferred embodiments of methods for versioning an XML-based electronic document

according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EM BODIMENTS

Embodiments of an electronic document versioning method and embodiments

of a document supply method using a version number based on an XML according to

the present invention will now be described. XML-based electronic documents can

define syntaxes using a document type definition (DTD) or an XML schema language.

These syntaxes define a structure of an entire electronic document and restrict name

and occurrence frequency of each element, order, whether it is an essential element or

an optional element, attribute of each element, etc. The electronic documents become

valid documents with respect to the syntaxes created by these languages. According to

embodiments of the present invention, versions assigned to the electronic document

can correspond to the element, attribute or the like.

Embodiments of the present invention disclose methods and apparatus

whereby a provider can manage updated information of document depending on time using a prescribed version, element/ ttribute value of the syntax. Also according to

embodiments of the present invention, a requester can request documents after a

prescribed version value of a selected document provided to the requester from a

repository. The requester intends to be supplied with the electronic documents after

the version value so that the prescribed version value is used as a condition.

Further, an identifier of an electronic document is re-used later or after a certain

time period. Embodiments according to the present invention can provide a way to

identify a previous document having the identifier from a new or updated document.

Identifier information can be the only identification information capable of

identifying a specific document. However, the range of the identifier information is

limited. Accordingly, the identifier information is preferably orderly used from a first

or rninirnurn value. The life span of the allotted identifier value becomes a period in

which all values in the identifier range (e.g., to the last or maximum value) are used.

In a case where the number of electronic documents is increased and thus the

identifier information is used to the maximum value of its range, circulation is again

repeated (e.g., continued re-using the identifier information) using the identifier

information allotted to an invalid electronic document. In other words, an identifier

value that is no longer valid as it reaches the identifier circulation period, can be again

used in a new document.

Thus, there is a need of discrimination between an old document and a new

document having the same identifier value for reasons such as document management

and the like. It is possible to discrirninate two such documents by the version value, for example using the latest correction date and time information, according to

embodiments of the invention. That is, the two documents can be discriminated by

using the latest correction date/ time together.

Embodiments of XML-based electronic document request/ supply method can

be applied, for example, to systems including a requester who requests to be provided

an electronic document, a provider that provides the requested electronic document,

and a network coupled between the requester and the provider. Also, methods can be

applied to a system that provides only a part of a basic information in an environment

such as a broadcast program supply system, and then supplies updated information

according to user's necessity or request.

Three methods for versioning an electronic document based on XML will now

be described. However, the present invention is not intended to be so limited. FIG. 2

is a diagram schematically showing a general method of creating the XML-based

electronic document. As shown in FIG. 2, each parenthesis is indicative of a number of

lower structures that can be transited to upper structure. In order to consider all

possible cases, it is assumed that zero (0) to infinity structures are respectively possible.

A first embodiment of a method for versioning the electronic document based

on XML according to the present invention uses date information at which content of

document is added or corrected as a version value. Further, a value including the date

with time information can be used as the version value, however, only the date

information would be sufficient for the version value. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the first embodiment of a method for versioning the XML-based electronic document used

in FIG. 2 according to the present invention.

A second embodiment of a method for versioning the electronic document

based on XML according to the present invention, when a version value of lower

structure is corrected, a version value of an upper structure is changed to the latest

information (e.g., most recently changed) among the version values of corresponding

lower structures. In the second embodiment of a method, the version value can be

similar to the first embodiment of a method for versioning the electronic document

based on XML. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the second embodiment of a

method for versioning the XML-based electronic document of FIG. 2 according to the

present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the latest value among the version values of the

lower structure becomes the version value of the upper structure.

According to a third embodiment of a method for versioning the electronic

document based on XML according to the present invention, a version value of an

upper structure indicates which (e.g., or whether an arbitrary type) lower structure is

corrected or added. According to the third versioning method, if there are multiple

lower structures, changed type can be easily or directly retrieved using version values to

thereby decrease the retrieval time. In the third embodiment of a method, a version

value can be similar to the second embodiment of a method for versioning the

electronic document based on XML. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a third

embodiment of a method for versioning the XML-based electronic document of FIG.

2 according to the present invention. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a lower structure type can be expressed by a

bit masking method using a bit masking value such as decimal or hexadecimal.

However, the present invention is not intended to be so limited as other version values

instead of bit masking values and others can be used that are sufficient to supplement

the basic information such as the date information or date with time information with

an identification of the possible corresponding lower structure types. Further, the

provider can use the bit masking according to the third embodiment of a method for

the purpose of inner management, and can provide a value except for the bit masking

information as a version value when the provider provides a requester with a document

or a requested document update.

As one example application, the syntax of electronic document regarding a

broadcast program is defined as follows, and application cases of an electronic

document versioning method and an electronic document updating method based on

XML will now be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an exemplary syntax structure

of a broadcast program created by the XML-based electronic document creating

method to which embodiments of the electronic document versioning method

according to the present invention is applied.

Broadcast programs can have information such as 'version', ' broadcast

contents' and 'broadcast schedules'. It is assumed that 'Broadcast contents' have a list

on 'version' and 'broadcast content', and 'broadcast content' has information on

program contents such as 'version', 'tide', a sole 'program identifier' indicating program,

synopsis and the like. In addition, it is assumed that 'broadcast schedules' have a list on 'version' and 'broadcast schedule', and 'broadcast schedule' has broadcast-related

information such as 'version', a sole 'program identifier' indicating program, 'broadcast

company', 'broadcast time', 'broadcast duration' and the like. Schema of these syntaxes

is shown in FIG. 6.

Exemplary broadcast program syntaxes can be created as shown in FIGs. 7 and

8. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an exemplary DTD showing the syntax of the broadcast

program created by an XML-based electronic document creating method to which the

electronic document versioning method according to embodiments of the present

invention is applied, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an exemplary XML schema

showing the syntax of a broadcast program electronic document produced by the

XML-based electronic document creating method to which the electronic document

versioning method according to embodiments of the present invention is applied.

The version value may use a type of 'dateTime' because it uses date information.

However, the version value can be defined in a type of 'string', 'integer', 'float' and the

like according to the versioning and the application supplied, and then can be type-

converted into other types for use. In FIG. 8, the type of 'string' is used for the three

electronic document versioning methods according embodiments of the present

invention.

FIGs. 9, 10, 11 and 12 show the broadcast program documents substantially

created depending upon these syntaxes, and show examples of the broadcast program

electronic documents created by a XML-based electronic document creating method

using the electronic document versioning method according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary initial document

structure. FIGs. 10, 11 and 12 are diagrams illustrating a current state document

structure into which the document structure of FIG. 9 is respectively modified using

three embodiments of electronic document versioning methods.

It is assumed that, after receiving program information of FIG. 9, the requester

requests program information having the modified content up to a current requesting

line by using the version value of FIG. 9. In the above circumstance, the requester can

request all updated information using the version value ('request 1'), or can request only

updated information for a specific structure 'broadcast schedule' ('request 2'). Such

request conditions in each case for three embodiments of electronic document

versioning methods can be as follows:

'request 1': 'version' > 20020407

'request 2': 'broadcast programs /broadcast schedules/ broadcast

schedule/version' > 20020407.

As shown in FIGs. 13, 14, 15 and 16, for 'request V and 'request 2', respectively,

the electronic document repository can provide the electronic document application

system used by the user, with the updated electronic document, according to the

prescribed syntax.

For 'request 1', the updated electronic document provided by the first

embodiment of the electronic document versioning method is shown in FIG. 13, and

the updated electronic document provided by the second and third embodiments of the electronic document versioning methods is shown in FIG. 14. At this time, since the

bit masking (e.g., modified lower structure selector) in the third electronic document

versioning method is information that the provider can have internally, the electronic

documents provided through the second and third embodiments of electronic

document versioning methods can become identical with each other.

Further, for 'request 2', the updated electronic document provided through the

first embodiment of electronic document versioning method is shown in FIG. 15. The

updated electronic document provided through the second and third embodiments of

electronic document versioning methods is shown in FIG. 16.

In a case where two programs coexist at almost same time because of the short

life span of the identifier, there is a need for sending information that the previous

program is not valid any more. In this case, by providing both of the version value and

the identifier value of the invalid document, the requester can cHscriminate the invalid

document having the consistent identifier value from the documents using the previous

version values. Accordingly, the requester can use a new document having the identifier

value identical with that of the previous document.

For 'request 2', FIGs. 17 and 18 show an example of the document with

information on no-longer- valid programs being included in an element <invalid>.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of the updated electronic document

provided according to 'request 2' in a system using the first embodiment of electronic

document versioning method based on XML and identifier according to the present invention. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of the updated electronic document provided according to 'request 2' in a system using the second and third

embodiments of electronic document versioning methods and the identifier according

to the present invention.

In expressing a previous document having the identifier value 'CNN-2002-

0394' of a newly added document to be no longer valid, the previous document is

expressed by a version value of '20020110', which corresponds to a earlier (e.g., less)

date than the latest modified date of the previous document or an initial creation date

of the new document. Accordingly, so that the previous document can be

discriminated from the new document having the same identifier value.

Thus, in electronic document versioning methods based on XML and the

updated document supply method using the version according to embodiments of the

present invention, only updated information among the contents information of the

document is supplied, and the updated information is reflected on the documents, for

example being used by the requester. Thus, it becomes possible to gradually update the

document. Further, in a case where the identifier is reused, the version value based

upon the embodiments of versioning methods of the invention can make it possible to

discriminate between the new document and the previous document using the same

identifier.

As described, embodiments of methods and apparatus for electronic document

supply/ request and transmission have various advantages. According to embodiments

of XML-based electronic document versioning methods, a provider uses date and time

information of modified structures as a version value in the provider's management on the structured electronic document so that the documents can be efficiendy managed

by using the version value. Further, according to embodiments of XML-based

electronic document versioning methods, when the version value of the lower structure

is changed by any correction or addition, the changed version value of the lower

structure is reflected on the version value of the upper structure. Further, the modified

or added lower structure can be retrieved by the version value. Also according to

embodiments of electronic document versioning methods and updated document

supply method using the version number based on the XML, since the provider

separately transmits only contents that should be added or modified, an amount of

transmission can be reduced and the requester can update the contents (e.g., only

modified contents) of the previous document. In addition, according to embodiments

of document supply methods using the version value based on the XML according to

the present invention, when the identifier is reused, the new electronic document and

the previous document having the same identifier can be discriminated using the

version value.

The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not

to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teaching can be readily

applied to other types of apparatuses. The description of the present invention is

intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives,

modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In the claims,

means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents but also equivalent

structures.