Work flow system

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a workflow system that creates a BP (business process) definition that describes a circulation path of a digitized document and automates the circulation of the digitized document by referring to the definition. Regarding a workflow system that determines the circulation destination of digitized documents across multiple departments by linking the BP definition that describes the circulation route within the department that is independently managed by the department when it spans multiple departments. ..

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

Recently, with the shift to office automation of paperwork, a workflow system for efficiently circulating electronic documents among persons in charge has been attracting attention. Nikkei Computer May 2, 1994 No. 336, pp.57-pp.67, describes a workflow system that supports the work performed jointly by the group. Also, in "CONTROL LED WORKFLOW SYSTEM" of USP 4,503,499, "APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING DATA PROCESSING ACROSS A PLURALITY OF LOCI OF CONTROL" of USP 4,932,026, and "E-mail circulation method and e-mail circulation system" of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-77030. The workflow system is described. In USP 4,503,499, the digitized documents to be circulated are limited to those stored in one server, and the method of circulating the digitized documents distributed to a plurality of servers is not disclosed. Also, USP 4,932,026 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-77030 disclose a method for circulating digitized documents distributed on a plurality of servers, with the following restrictions.

【0003】

(1) The circulation route must be determined when the digitized document is created. (2) In order to change the circulation route on the way, the user needs to interactively change the circulation route using the route editor.

【0004】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In the conventional workflow system, the workflow system administrator describes the entire business process as one BP definition. This method has the advantages of "creating a highly complete BP definition" and "easy to manage the BP definition", but "the creator understands the entire business process to be defined". There are disadvantages such as "it is necessary" and "the BP definition is not maintained in a timely manner according to the execution status because the administrator of the BP definition and the executor of the business process described in the BP definition are different." .. In a large-scale workflow system, the business process to be defined is large, and it is difficult for the workflow system administrator to understand it by himself. Also, since there are multiple sites that execute business processes, it is difficult for a workflow system administrator to manage all BP definitions by himself. Therefore, in a large-scale workflow system, it is desirable to manage BP definitions in a distributed manner at multiple sites and to link them to circulate electronic documents.

【0005】

An object of the present invention is to provide a workflow system for efficiently circulating an electronic document even if the BP definition is scatteredly managed. That is, an object of the present invention is to achieve the following functions.

【0006】

-It is possible to circulate digitized documents distributed to multiple departments by linking multiple BP definitions that are managed in a distributed manner. -When creating a BP definition, make sure that the linked interfaces of the distributed BP definitions are aligned with each other. -Provide a security function for BP definition linkage to avoid confusion due to improper BP definition linkage.

【0007】

[Means for solving problems]

In the present invention, information defining the entrance and exit of circulation is provided in the BP definition that describes the circulation route of the digitized document, and the exits and entrances of different BP definitions are linked. Further, in the present invention, the BP definition is provided with a call port and a return port in addition to the entrance and the exit, and the call port and the entrance, and the exit and the return port in different BP definitions are linked. Further, in the present invention, the BP definitions collectively created by the user are divided to generate a plurality of BP definitions that can be linked, and these are distributed to each management site, and the BP definitions that can be linked from the newly created BP definition are generated. Template is created and it is held as a base for creating the linked BP definition. Further, in the present invention, cooperation security is provided for the BP definition.

【0008】

[Action]

In the present invention, the exit and the entrance provided in the BP definition are linked, the call port and the entrance, and the exit and the return port are linked, and the BP definition describing the business process in the department that is distributed and managed in each department. By linking with each other, digitized documents can be circulated across multiple departments. In addition, multiple BP definitions that can be linked by dividing the BP definitions created collectively by the user are created, distributed to each management site, and further, a template of the BP definition that can be linked from the newly created BP definition. By creating and holding it as the base for creating the linked BP definition, the problem of consistency of the linked interface when linking the distributed managed BP definitions is solved. Further, according to the present invention, security that becomes a problem when linking distributed BP definitions is maintained.

【0009】

[Example]

(Example 1) FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the workflow system of the present invention. In the system shown in FIG. 1, a workflow subsystem (180) consisting of one server (110) and a plurality of clients (120) is connected to a plurality of WANs (Wide Area Network) (140). .. When the workflow subsystem is connected to the WAN as in this example, each workflow subsystem indicates a locally distributed business base such as a business office in Tokyo or a business office in Osaka. When each workflow subsystem indicates a department with distributed functions such as a labor section or a material section, each workflow subsystem is connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) instead of a WAN. When the number of clients (120) included in the workflow subsystem (180) is large, the load is distributed by using a plurality of servers (110). The server (110) included in the workflow subsystem (180) manages the following three pieces of information.

【0010】

-BP definition (150) that describes the circulation route of documents circulated in the workflow subsystem. -Cooperation information used when linking one BP definition and the other BP definition (170) -Circulation document being circulated in the workflow subsystem (160) FIG. 2 is a related diagram of the processing blocks constituting the server (110). First, the processing elements of the server (110) will be described. The network control unit (210) controls communication via the network (260) with the client (120) in the workflow subsystem (180) and the server (110) belonging to another workflow subsystem (180). In the communication with the client (120), in response to the request from the client (120), the circulation document (160) and the information regarding the circulation status of the circulation document (160) are sent to the client (120). In communication with the server (110) in the other workflow subsystem (180), the circulation document (160) is sent to the other server (110) in response to a request from the document management unit (220), and other The circulation document (160) sent from the server (110) in the workflow subsystem (180) of is received and passed to the document management department (220).

【0011】

The document management unit (220) manages the circulation document (160) and the circulation destination described in the BP definition (150) in association with each other, and refers to the cooperation information (170) to transfer the circulation document (160) to another server. Perform preprocessing for sending to (110). The cooperation information management unit (230) and the BP definition management department (240) store the cooperation information (170) and the BP definition (150) created by the user, respectively, and perform a search process for the search request for them to search. Notify the result to other processing units. The input / output control unit (250) receives the input from the user via the input device (270) and receives the input from the user to the document management unit (220), the cooperation information management unit (230), or the BP definition management unit (240). The processing request is issued, or the processing result obtained from the document management unit (220), the cooperation information management unit (230), or the BP definition management unit (240) is displayed on the display device (280).

【0012】

Example 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the operation example shown in FIG. Figure 3 is a conceptual diagram showing that BP definition 1 (300), BP definition 2 (350), and BP definition 3 (370), which are managed independently by server A, server B, and server C, are linked. is there. In FIG. 3, the BP definition (150) is described by the data flow model, and the circulation destination and the circulation route are described by nodes and arcs, respectively. One BP definition (150) contains an entry node and an exit node in addition to a processing node that represents one process processed in the workflow subsystem (180) to which the server (110) that manages the BP definition belongs. is there. The entry node is a node that performs processing to accept data from other BP definitions, the exit node is a node that performs processing to send data to other BP definitions, and the entrance node and exit node are other BP definitions. It is a node for matching with. For example, in BP definition 1, node2 (310), node3 (315) and node4 (320) are processing nodes, node1 (305) is an entrance node, and node5 (325) and node6 (330) are exit nodes.

【0013】

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the circulation method of the circulation document (160) in the workflow subsystem (180). The document management unit (220) is provided with an IN queue (410) and an OUT queue (420) for storing circulation documents corresponding to the processing node in the BP definition, and the OUT queue (420) is provided at the entrance node. Only the exit node has only the IN queue (410). The business performer and application on the client (120) take out the circulation document (160) from the IN queue (410) associated with the processing node to which it is assigned, perform processing, and when the processing is completed, the circulation document is processed. Return (160) to the OUT queue (420) associated with the processing node. The document management unit (220) moves the circulation document (160) in the OUT queue (420) to the IN queue (410) associated with the next processing node with reference to the BP definition (150). The exit node can be linked with the entry node of another BP definition (150) by the cooperation information (170). In this case, the document management unit (220) manages the circulation document (160) of the IN queue (410) corresponding to the exit node and the BP definition (150) of the cooperation destination by referring to the cooperation information (170). Send to server (110).

【0014】

The BP definition linkage table (500) in Fig. 5 and the security table (600,650) in Fig. 6 are the linkage information used to link BP definition 1 (300) with BP definition 2 (350) and BP definition 3 (370). This is an embodiment of (170). The BP definition linkage table (500) in FIG. 5 is managed by server A, the security tables (a) and (600) in FIG. 6 are managed by server B, and the security tables (b) and (650) in FIG. 6 are managed by server C. The BP definition linkage table (500) contains the linkage source information (510) consisting of the BP definition name (511) and the exit node name (512), the BP definition name (521), the entry node name (522), and the management server name ( It consists of the cooperation destination information (520) consisting of 523), and stores the information for linking the exit node and the entrance node. In the example of FIG. 5, the exit nodes node5 (325) and node6 (330) in BP definition 1 (300) are in the inlet nodes node1 (355) and BP definition 2 (370) in BP definition 2 (350). It is shown to be linked with the entrance node node1 (375) respectively.

【0015】

The BP definition linkage table (500) is also used to link the BP definitions (150) managed by the same server. In that case, the management server name (523) in the BP definition linkage table (500) ) Can be omitted. The security table (600,650) is composed of the linkage destination BP definition name (610) and the linkage source information (620) consisting of the BP definition name (621) and the management server name (622), and is used for linkage of the BP definition (150). Information for security is stored. In the security tables (a) and (600) of FIG. 6, BP definition 2 (350) allows cooperation from BP definition 1 (300) managed by server A, and in security tables (b) and (650), BP definition. 3 (370) allows cooperation from BP definition 1 (300) managed by server A.

【0016】

Figure 7 shows the linkage source when the exit node and the entry node are linked and the two BP definitions (150) managed by the respective servers (110) belonging to different workflow subsystems (180) are linked. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the processing procedure of a server and a cooperation destination server. In the flowchart of FIG. 7, a circulation document (160) having the data structure shown in FIG. 8 is used. That is, the circulation document (160) has two types of information, the information for controlling the circulation of the circulation document (160) and the information for controlling the circulation of the circulation document itself (830), and the information for controlling the circulation of the circulation document includes information for controlling the circulation of the circulation document. The following data is included. -Circulation source information (810) consisting of server name (811), BP definition name (812), and exit node name (813) -Circulation destination information (820) consisting of server name (821), BP definition name (822), and entry node name (823) Hereinafter, the processing procedures of the cooperation source server and the cooperation destination server will be described according to the flowchart of FIG. The document management unit (220) of the cooperation source server has the BP definition name (150) and the exit node name in which the circulation document (160) currently exists for the circulation document (160) in the IN queue (410) of the exit node. Is given to call the search function held by the cooperation information management unit (230) (705). The called search function searches the entry in the BP definition linkage table (500) whose BP definition name and exit node name given as arguments match the linkage source information (170) (710), and obtains the search result. The linkage destination information (520) in the entry of the BP definition linkage table (500) to be created is returned to the document management unit (220) (715). The document management unit (220) sets the cooperation destination information (520) obtained from the cooperation information management department (230) as the circulation destination information (820) in the circulation document (800) (720), and the circulation document (160). ) Is given as an argument to call the delivery function of the network control unit (210) (725). The delivery function refers to the server name (821) of the circulation destination information in the circulation document (800) and delivers the circulation document (160) to the server (110) (730).

【0017】

The circulation document (160) delivered from the other server (100) is received by the network control unit (210), and the input function of the document management unit (220) is called by giving the circulation document (160) as an argument. (735). The input function is the BP definition name (811) and server name (812) in the circulation source information (810), and the BP definition name in the circulation destination information (820) from the circulation document (160) given as an argument. (822) is taken out (740), those values are given to the argument, and the inspection function possessed by the cooperation information management unit (230) is called (745). The check function searches for entries in the security table (600) that match the BP definition name (812) and server name (811) of the circulation source and the BP definition name (822) of the circulation destination given as arguments ( 750), the flag indicating the presence or absence of the corresponding entry is returned to the document management department (220) (755). When the check function returns a flag with an entry, the input function holds the circulation document (160) given as an argument by the entry node in the BP definition (150) pointed to by the circulation destination information (820). If it is stored in the IN queue (410) and the check function returns a flag with no entry, the linkage error is processed (760).

【0018】

(Example 2) Next, Example 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to the operation example shown in FIG. The second embodiment is a case where another BP definition is called in the flow of one BP definition. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing that BP definition 4 (900) and BP definition 5 (950), which are independently managed by server D and server E, are linked. BP definition 4 (900) in FIG. 9 includes a CALL node in addition to a processing node, an entrance node, and an exit node. The circulation document (160) sent from the CALL node to the processing node in the other BP definition (150) is again the CALL node when the circulation document (160) has been circulated according to the destination BP definition (150). Return to.

【0019】

For example, in the case of FIG. 9, BP definition 5 (950) is called from CALL node node3 (915) in BP definition 4 (900), and in BP definition 5 (950), two exits from the entrance node (955). After the document is circulated up to the node (975, 980), it returns to BP definition 4 (900) again, the circulated document from the two exit nodes (975, 980) is output from the CALL node (915), and BP. The circulation document is circulated to the next node (920, 925) in Definition 4.

【0020】

The BP definition linkage table (1000) in FIG. 10 and the BP definition return table (1100) in FIG. 11 are linkage information (170) used for linking BP definition 4 (900) and BP definition 5 (950). It is an embodiment. The BP definition linkage table (1000) in FIG. 10 and the BP definition return table (1100) in FIG. 11 are managed by server D.

【0021】

The BP definition linkage table (1000) in FIG. 10 is managed by the linkage source information (1010) consisting of the BP definition name (1011) and the CALL node name (1012), and the BP definition name (1021) and the entry node name (1022). The circulation document (160) that is composed of the cooperation destination information (1020) consisting of the server name (1023) and reaches the exit node of the BP definition (150) managed by the own server is sent to the server (180) in the other workflow subsystem (180). Information to be sent to the entry node of the BP definition (150) managed by 110) is retained. In the example of FIG. 10, the CALL node node3 (915) in the BP definition 4 (900) managed by the server D and the entrance node node1 (955) in the BP definition 5 managed by the server E are linked.

【0022】

The BP definition return table (1100) in Fig. 11 shows the linkage source information (1110) consisting of the BP definition name (1111) and the CALL node name (1112), the BP definition name (1121), the exit node name (1122), and the management server. The local server (110) manages the circulation document (160) returned from the other server (110), which is composed of the cooperation destination information (1120) consisting of the name (1123) and the cooperation source return node name (1130). Information for entering the return node of the BP definition (150) is retained. In the example of FIG. 11, node2 (975) and node3 (980) in BP definition 5 (950) managed by server E are returned to node3 (915) in BP definition 4 (900) managed by server D. Information for sending the circulation document (160) to the next node4 (920) and node5 (925), respectively, is retained.

【0023】

In FIGS. 12 and 13, two BP definitions (150) managed by servers (110) belonging to different workflow subsystems (180) are transferred from the CALL node to the entrance node and from the exit node to the return node, respectively. It is a flowchart which showed an example of the processing procedure of the cooperation source server and the cooperation destination server at the time of linking. In the flowcharts of FIGS. 12 and 13, the circulation document (160) of the data structure shown in FIG. 14 is used. That is, the circulation document (160) contains two pieces of information, information for controlling the circulation of the circulation document (160) and information (1430) of the circulation document (160) itself, and controls the circulation of the circulation document (160). The information to do so includes the following data:

【0024】

-Circulation source information (1410) consisting of server name (1411), BP definition name (1412), and exit node name (1413) -Circulation destination information (1420) consisting of server name (1421), BP definition name (1422), and entry node name (1423) -Management stack of linkage source information (1440) with server name (1441), BP definition name (1442), and CALL node name (1443) as one stack entry. Hereinafter, the procedure for delivering the circulation document from the cooperation source server to the cooperation destination server will be described according to the flowchart of FIG. The document management unit (220) of the linkage source server has a BP definition name (150) and a CALL node name in which the circulation document (160) currently exists for the circulation document (160) in the IN queue (410) of the CALL node. , And the server name is pushed to the linkage information stack (1440) in the circulation document (1400) (1205). Next, the document management unit (220) calls the search function of the cooperation information management unit (230) by using the BP definition name and the CALL node name in which the circulation document (160) currently exists as an argument (1210). The called search function searches the entry in the BP definition linkage table (1000) whose BP definition name and exit node name given by the argument match the linkage source information (170) (1215), and obtains the search result. Return the linkage destination information (1020) in the entry of the BP definition linkage table (1000) to be returned to the document management department (220) (1220). The document management department (220) sets the cooperation destination information (1020) obtained from the cooperation information management department (230) as the circulation destination information (1420) in the circulation document (1400) (1225), and the circulation document (160). ) Is given as an argument to call the delivery function of the network control unit (210) (1230). The delivery function refers to the server name (1421) of the circulation destination information in the circulation document (1400) and delivers the circulation document (160) to the corresponding server (110) (1235).

【0025】

The circulation document (160) delivered from the other server (110) is received by the network control unit (210), and then the input function of the document management unit (220) is called by using the circulation document (160) as an argument. (1240). The input function extracts the circulation destination information (1420) from the circulation document (160) given by the argument (1245), and the IN queue (IN queue) of the entrance node in the BP definition (150) pointed to by the circulation destination information (1420). Circulation document (160) is stored in 410) (1250).

【0026】

Hereinafter, the procedure for returning the circulation document from the cooperation destination server to the cooperation source server will be described according to the flowchart of FIG. The document management unit (220) of the cooperation destination server pops the cooperation source information (1441,1442,1443) from the cooperation source information stack (1440) in the circulation document (1400) (1305), and circulates the cooperation source information. Set to the circulation destination information (1420) in the document (1400) (1310). Next, the document management unit (220) sets the BP definition name (150) in which the circulation document (160) currently exists and the exit node name to the circulation source information (1410) in the circulation document (1400) (1315). , Call the delivery function of the network control unit (210) with the circulation document (160) as an argument (1320). The network control unit (210) refers to the server name (1421) of the circulation destination in the circulation document (1400) given to the argument, and delivers the circulation document (160) to the circulation destination server (1325).

【0027】

The circulation document (160) delivered from the other server (110) is received by the network control unit (210), and the return input function of the document management unit (220) is called with the circulation document (160) as an argument. (1330). The return input function extracts the circulation destination information (1420) and the circulation source information (1410) from the circulation document (160) given by the argument (1335), and gives them to the argument to the cooperation information management unit (230). The return search function of is called (1340). The return search function searches for an entry in the BP-defined return table (1100) that matches the circulation destination information (1410) and the circulation source information (1420) given by the argument (1345), and the return port in that entry. The node name (1130) is returned to the document management department (220) (1350). The return input function puts the circulation document in the IN queue (410) held by the node pointed to by the return node name (1130) returned by the return search function and the BP definition name (1422) of the circulation destination in the circulation document (1400). (1355).

【0028】

(Example 3) When a plurality of end users link BP definitions independently created on a plurality of servers, a problem of inconsistency in the linking interface between the BP definitions tends to occur. Therefore, in Examples 3 and 4, examples of providing support for matching the cooperation interface will be described.

【0029】

When an end user creates one business process as one BP definition (150) and registers it with the server (110), the server (110) divides the BP definition (150) and creates multiple BP definitions (150). Then, the third embodiment of distributing them to the management server (110) will be described. In the third embodiment, consider a case where the end user creates the BP definition (1500) shown in FIG. 15 and registers it in the server (110). In addition to the node name, the processing node in the BP definition (1500) in FIG. 15 is given the name of the user who performs the processing indicated by the processing node and the server name to which the user belongs. The BP definition management unit (240) divides the processing nodes in the BP definition into several groups according to the grouping rules shown below.

【0030】

-In the processing nodes connected by arc, if the server to which the business performer who performs processing belongs is the same, those processing nodes belong to the same group. -If the servers to which the business performers who perform processing belong are different in the processing nodes connected by the arc, those processing nodes belong to different groups.

【0031】

According to the above rules, the processing nodes in the BP definition (1500) shown in FIG. 15 are a group consisting of node2 (1510), node3 (1515), node4 (1520), a group consisting of only node5 (1525), and node6. It is divided into three groups consisting of (1530) and node8 (1540). Next, the BP definition management unit (240) adds an entry node and an exit node according to the following rules in order to create one BP definition (150) for each group.

【0032】

-In a graph consisting of processing nodes belonging to a group and arcs entering and exiting the processing node, if the arc does not have a start node, an inlet node is added at the start position of the arc. -In a graph consisting of a processing node and arcs entering and exiting the processing node, if the arc does not have a start node, an exit node is added at the end position of the arc.

【0033】

Figure 3 already shown shows three BP definitions created by dividing Figure 15. Further, the BP definition management unit (240) creates cooperation information (170) for linking the added exit node and entrance node in order to link the divided BP definition (150). 5 and 6 are cooperation information (170) created by the BP definition management unit (240) in order to link the three BP definitions (150) after the division shown in FIG. Finally, the BP definition management unit (240) creates a system document by collecting the divided BP definitions and the cooperation information (170) that links them for each management server. A system document is a special document used in operation by a workflow system.

【0034】

When the BP definition management department (240) gives the system document as an argument and calls the input function of the document management department (220), the document management department (220) sets up the system document and circulates the system document according to the BP definition. To do. The setup BP definition defines the circulation route of the system document at the time of introducing the workflow system, and by circulating the system document according to this definition, the work necessary for the operation of the workflow system is performed. In the above example, the system document including BP definition 1 (300) and BP definition linkage table (500), the system document including BP definition 2 (350) and security table (a) (600), and BP definition 3 (370). And three system documents are created, including security tables (b) (650). Then, the above system documents are delivered to the server A, the server B, and the server C according to the setup BP definition, respectively. The system document delivered to the other server (110) is circulated according to the setup BP definition of the server (110), and finally the BP definition (150) and the cooperation information (170) are circulated according to the server (110). It is managed by the above BP definition management department (240) and cooperation information management department (230).

【0035】

(Example 4) When the end user creates a BP definition (150) including a CALL node and registers it in the server (110), the server (110) creates a template of the BP definition linked from the BP definition (150). Then, it is sent to the management server (110) of the cooperation destination. In the cooperation destination server, an example in which the end user creates the BP definition (110) based on the sent BP definition template will be described.

【0036】

Assume that the end user creates the BP definition (900) shown in FIG. 16 and registers it in the server (110). The BP definition (900) in FIG. 16 includes a CALL node, and the linkage information (170) in the CALL node includes the BP definition linkage table (1000) in FIG. 10 and the BP definition return table (1100) in FIG. Is set. At this time, the BP definition management unit (240) creates a BP definition template (1700) as shown in FIG. The BP definition template (1700) consists only of an entry node and an exit node linked to the CALL node and the return node. In the BP definition template (1700), the BP definition name, the entrance node name, and the exit node name are given the names specified in the cooperation information (170) of FIGS. 10 and 11.

【0037】

Next, the BP definition management unit (240) creates a system document including the BP definition template (1700), gives it as an argument, and calls the input function of the document management unit (220). The document management unit (220) circulates the system document according to the setup BP definition and sends it to another server (110). The other server (110) circulates the system document according to the setup BP definition of that server (110). By circulating the system document, the user creates a BP definition (150) based on the sent BP definition template (1700), and the created BP definition (150) is the BP definition management department (240). It is managed by.

【0038】

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of BP definitions managed in a distributed manner can be linked. As a result, the department can independently manage the BP definition that describes the business process in the department, and it becomes easy to change the BP definition according to the operational status. Further, according to the present invention, support for distributed management of the BP definition is provided, so that when describing a business process that spans a plurality of departments, the linkage interface of the BP definition is automatically matched.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

It is an example of the block diagram of the workflow system which concerns on this invention.

[Figure 2]

It is an example of the block diagram of the workflow server which concerns on this invention.

[Fig. 3]

It is a figure which conceptually expressed the cooperation of the BP definition used for explaining this embodiment.

[Fig. 4]

It is a figure which conceptually expressed the circulation control of the circulation document used for explaining this Example.

[Fig. 5]

It is a figure which shows the BP definition cooperation table which is one of the cooperation information in this Example.

[Fig. 6]

It is a figure which shows the security table which is one of the cooperation information in this Example.

[Fig. 7]

It is a flowchart which shows the cooperation process in this Example.

[Fig. 8]

It is a figure which shows the data structure of the circulation document in this Example.

[Fig. 9]

It is a figure which conceptually expressed the cooperation of the BP definition used for explaining this embodiment.

[Fig. 10]

It is a figure which shows the BP definition cooperation table which is one of the cooperation information in this Example.

[Fig. 11]

It is a figure which shows the BP definition return table which is one of the cooperation information in this Example.

[Fig. 12]

It is a flowchart which shows the cooperation process in this Example.

[Fig. 13]

It is a flowchart which shows the cooperation process in this Example.

[Fig. 14]

It is a figure which shows the data structure of the circulation document in this Example.

[Fig. 15]

It is a figure which shows the BP definition used for explaining this Example.

[Fig. 16]

It is a figure which shows the BP definition used for explaining this Example.

[Fig. 17]

It is a figure which shows the template of the BP definition used for explaining this Example.

[Explanation of symbols]

110 ... Workflow server that controls the circulation of the circulation document, 120 ... Client that processes the circulation document, 130 ... LAN that connects the server and the client, 140 ... Servers in different workflow subsystems WAN to connect, 150 ... BP definition that describes the circulation route of the circulation document, 160 ... Circulation document, 170 ... Linkage information that is information for linking different BP definitions, 180 ... Workflow system Workflow subsystems that make up